Pre-Market Pulse 12th January – Inflation numbers dampen rate cut calls, Bitcoin ETF launch

Overnight – Inflation numbers dampen rate cut calls, Bitcoin ETF launch

Equities as investors digested data showing that U.S. consumer price inflation came in above economists’ expectations in December.

Investors also were focused on crypto markets after U.S. regulators late on Wednesday approved the first U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds to track bitcoin, a big step for the cryptocurrency world. Several ETFs tied to the spot price of bitcoin began trading in the U.S. on Thursday.

The consumer price index data raised some doubts that the Federal Reserve will cut rates as soon as some traders expect. The day’s data showed headline CPI rose 0.3% last month, for an annual gain of 3.4%. That was expected to be 0.2% and 3.2%, respectively.

Microsoft overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable company after the iPhone maker began 2024 with its worst start in years due to concerns over falling demand.

Though long expected, the green light by the SEC marks a watershed moment for the world’s best known cryptocurrency, an initial step towards legitimizing crypto as an investment grade asset class.

Standard Chartered head of digital assets research Geoff Kendrick has estimated the approval, along with bitcoin’s ‘halving’ in April, which cuts the currency’s supply and historically kick-starts price rises, could send it to $100,000 by the end of the year. “If ETF-related inflows materialize as we expect, we think an end-2025 level closer to $200,000 is possible,” he said, assuming that between $50 billion and $100 billion would flood into the new U.S. ETFs by the end of the year.

The Uranium bull run continued settling at through the psychological high of $100 a pound, another fresh 16 year high

Investor focus will soon turn to U.S. earnings season, with banking giants JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all due to report earnings on Friday