- We have a new “macro week summary”
- It summarizes the economic calendar
Bitcoin ends the week at around $26,500. These have been challenging days for the entire market. And May has once again confirmed its title as one of the most capricious months.
On Monday, we wrote an announcement of events and macro data. Let’s take stock.. Data from China
The Central Bank of China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged. This is in line with market expectations and the latest economic data.
They showed that the world’s second-largest economy has yet to fully recover from three years of disruption caused by the pandemic.
The annual inflation rate in Hong Kong in April was 2.1%, close to market forecasts of 2% and above March’s 1.7% increase.
But investor sentiment worsened after the epidemiologists forecast. They don’t rule out a repeat increase in Covid-19 cases.
It’s interesting that Chinese television first talked about cryptocurrency. They did a report on regulation in Hong Kong.
But then they suddenly changed their mind and removed the report from their website. The head of Binance believes that such news could portend a bullish trend.
Tuesday. Negative data from Europe
In Eurostat data, the volume of construction in the Eurozone fell by 1.5% in March. It was the steepest drop in construction volume since August 2021.
Metrics caused the euro to weaken to $1.07, its lowest level since March 20. But the dollar index rose 0.1% to a two-month high of 103.99 points.
As we remember, a strong dollar is a weak bitcoin. We’ve seen that on the charts all week.
Wednesday. Fed minutes and the fall of the U.S. rating
The minutes of the May FOMC meeting published on Wednesday showed an interesting thing.
Most officials are already less convinced of the need for further interest rate increases.
However, there remain those among them who continue to insist on harsh measures. So a rift is brewing in the agency.
But investor sentiment worsened after Fitch Ratings placed the U.S. AAA rating on the negative.
They said the protracted debt ceiling negotiations raise the risk of the government defaulting on some of its obligations.
Thursday. U.S. Home Sales and GDP
The Pending Home Sales metric came out yesterday. It was worse than analysts’ forecasts – it stalled at 0% (instead of the expected +0.5% growth).
This has an additional negative impact on the stock and cryptocurrency markets.
The incomplete home sales are considered a leading indicator of overall housing market development in the world’s largest economy, according to experts.
Following the new metrics, the real estate market awaits a downturn.
At the same time, U.S. GDP grew 1.3% year over year in the first quarter. It was a faster growth than expected (1.1%). Which gives additional reason for the Fed to soften its tight policy.
Another harbinger of a thaw comes from new labor market data. Initial jobless claims rose slightly to 229,000.
But the unemployment numbers are still not so high that the regulator is urgently cutting interest rates.
American policymakers are moving closer to an agreement to raise the national debt limit, Reuters reported, citing an inside source.
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy cut a $70 billion estimate of discretionary spending.
This issue has been a major stumbling block in the national debt debate.
We’ll see how the situation develops further. And we remind you that the crypto market is affected by other important news and events. Incrypted covers them in our stories.
Wish everyone a good weekend, and stay tuned.