Summary
- Market roundup for Tuesday portrays indecision about the Fed, global geopolitical conditions and the U.S. data.
- Bitcoin dribbles at a seven-week low, Gold edges higher, while the U.S. Dollar retreats.
- Trump’s firing of Fed official, mixed U.S. data and political headlines surrounding Russia, Gaza and China weigh on sentiment.
- Cryptocurrency markets remain dull, with major coins struggling for clear directions while paring early-week gains.
Market Roundup for Tuesday: Dicey Markets in Fashion
The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments about data-dependency raised doubts about further cuts, which helped defend the USD on Monday. However, the mixed U.S. data and U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments affected the market sentiment and weighed on the Dollar afterwards.
The U.S. Dollar’s retreat pays little heed to the upbeat U.S. Durable Goods Orders for July, -2.8% versus -4.0% market forecasts and -9.3% prior. Not only the headline figures, but the Durable Goods Orders, ex-Transportation, ex-Defense, and ex-Aircraft also came in firmer. Meanwhile, the Housing Price Index for June dropped 0.2% Month-over-Month (MoM), compared to the analysts’ estimations of 0.0% and -0.1% prior (revised), whereas the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices eased to 2.1% Year-over-Year (YoY), from 2.8% previous readouts and 2.2% expected.
Further, the U.S. Consumer Confidence and Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for August both came in firmer, but failed to rally the U.S. Dollar bulls. That said, the U.S. Conference Board’s (CB) Consumer Confidence rose to 97.4 versus 96.4 market forecast, compared to an upwardly revised prior of 98.7, whereas the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index improved to -7.0 from -20.0 prior and -11.00 expected.
Trump’s firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook, over alleged mortgage fraud, sparked political backlash and raised concerns about the Fed’s independence. This weakened the USD further.
Trump also made headlines by altering his stance on Ukraine, saying the U.S. wouldn’t spend any more money on Ukraine and would focus on NATO instead. He desires to end the war in Ukraine and noted that Putin refuses to meet with Zelensky due to personal animosity.
Trump also commented on Gaza, saying it would be resolved soon, without Hamas, and within the next two–three weeks.
The U.S. President criticized the European Union’s digital taxes and expressed concern over tariffs and visa sanctions. Meanwhile, Trump mentioned that China’s President Xi had invited him to visit, but warned of a potential 200% tariff on China if they didn’t comply with U.S. demands.
On the economic front, Trump lauded his effort to acquire a 10% stake in Intel, citing government funding from the CHIPS Act. White House official Kevin Hassett and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested the government might invest in more companies. Meanwhile, political tensions in France grew as the PM called for a confidence vote over budget cuts.
Crypto, Equity Update
The Winklevoss-led Gemini joins forces with Ripple to launch a no-fee credit card that rewards spending in XRP. The partnership goes deeper, integrating Ripple’s new stablecoin, RLUSD, for seamless trading, backed by a $150 million credit line between the two crypto powerhouses. Following the announcement, Gemini overtakes Coinbase on the U.S. App Store.
Read Full Report Here: Gemini’s XRP Credit Card Launches: Earn 4% Crypto Back on Everyday Spending
Elsewhere, Bloomberg came out with the news, citing anonymous sources, to state that Galaxy Digital, Multicoin Capital, and Jump Crypto are reportedly raising $1 billion to acquire Solana (SOL) and build the largest SOL treasury ever. The plan involves taking over a public company to create a regulated investment vehicle, giving institutions streamlined access to SOL. With Cantor Fitzgerald leading the raise and the Solana Foundation backing the move, the action signals major confidence in Solana’s future.
Also read: Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, Multicoin Plan $1B Solana Treasury Backed by Cantor Fitzgerald
Further, Webull returns to the U.S. markets after a two-year gap as the Webull Corp. (BULL) announced a re-launch of its cryptocurrency services for the U.S.-based customers. Webull aims to offer 24/7 trading and access to over 50 tokens, compared to the previous limitations where the crypto transactions were limited to Webull Pay, the company’s standalone digital asset platform.
Read More: Webull Relaunches Crypto Trading in the U.S.; Know Details Here!
Bitwise Asset Management, the world’s largest crypto index fund manager, with more than $15 billion in client assets, has filed an S-1 application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce a Chainlink (LINK) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). If authorised, this would be the first ETF of its kind, offering a significant turning point for the LINK.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) just became one of the top state-linked Bitcoin holders, with crypto data platform Arkham reporting over $719 million in BTC tied to the UAE’s Royal Group’s mining operations.
Talking about the U.S. equities, Wall Street began the week with mild gains, but ended on a negative note as a broadly cautious mood joined the fears of more Intel-like stake delivery to the U.S. government, especially after White House National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that the U.S. government could take stakes in additional companies. In doing so, the U.S. shares failed to justify upbeat earnings reports from the PDD Holdings INC. and Heico Corporation.
That said, the U.S. equity benchmarks are directionless during the early hours of Tuesday, with Dow Jones almost flat around 45,300, after reversing from a record high the previous day. Further, Nasdaq gains 0.20% intraday to 21,490 while S&P 500 prints a 0.10% upside on the day to 6,445 as we write.
It should be noted that DIDI Global INC. and MongoDB, Inc. are scheduled to release their quarterly earnings on Tuesday and can entertain the equity traders.
- Gold stays firmer, up 0.30% intraday to $3,375 at the latest.
- Bitcoin (BTC) seesaws at a seven-week low, stalling a three-day losing streak while making rounds to $110K as we write.
- Ethereum (ETH) gains more than 3.0%, around $4,510 as it bounces off the short-term key support.
- U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) retreats, posting modest losses around 98.20 as we write.
- Wall Street benchmarks pare Monday’s losses but stay directionless: U.S. equities consolidate the previous day’s mild losses, with Dow Jones flat, but S&P 500, and Nasdaq printing minor intraday gains at the latest.
- WTI Crude Oil snaps four-day winning streak, down 0.90% intraday to $64.20 by press time.
Geopolitical tensions, Fed signals, and trade risks in the spotlight…
Risk appetite is likely to stay dicey amidst a lack of clarity about the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Russia-Ukraine peace deal, the Gaza war, and the U.S. tariffs.
Still, headlines about these key risk catalysts shouldn’t be missed as they might escalate the risk-aversion and could underpin the U.S. Dollar’s recovery, especially when the latest data is slightly positive.
This could exert downside pressure on the key risk assets like equities, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. However, Gold may take help from its traditional haven status to edge higher even if the USD rebounds, unless the Greenback rallies and the anti-XAU headlines cross wires.
Meanwhile, pro-industry headlines in the crypto universe have so far failed to defend the buyers, especially amid the long liquidations and the market’s cautious mood, which in turn requires traders to closely follow macro headlines for clear directions, in addition to the crypto-specific news.
