The first half of the day was very active on the commodity and currency markets. First of all, the rates continue to be affected by all messages about the development of the trade conflict between the US and China. A new message from Donald Trump was also not an exception, as the President said something positive about negotiations process with China this time. This certainly strengthened commodity currencies, especially the Australian dollar, despite the negative data on the business confidence index in April.
News on the cryptocurrency market turned out to be unexpected: Bitcoin has risen to 8000 dollars amid the growth of investment in this cryptocurrency, mainly in China. A more traditional safe-haven asset , Gold reached $1,300 today, but retreated after the probability of a successful outcome of the trade conflict increased.
News from the EU did not surprise anyone, showing negative trends in the EU economy. The ZEW economic sentiment index was negative at -1.6, while the index was expected at +5.0. The volume of industrial production decreased by 0.3%, although this was quite expected. In March unemployment in the UK decreased by 0.1%, but the latest data for April shows an increase in the number of applications for unemployment benefits, which certainly puts pressure on the labor market.
The afternoon will be much quieter. Only the publication of the import/export price index in the US, the monthly OPEC report, and data on weekly oil reserves in the US are expected. Therefore, volatility will remain high until the end of the day on the oil market only.
