The possibility of another round of discussion between Russia and Ukraine and Jerome Powell’s more dovish than expected testimony saved the day for equity investors yesterday. The S&P500 rallied 1.86%, while Nasdaq gained 1.62% on Wednesday, but the 50-DMA finally crossed below the 200-DMA confirming a long-awaited death cross formation on Nasdaq’s daily chart. Elsewhere, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the short interest against the energy stocks has peaked to the highest levels in more than a year, as the latest rally in global energy stocks ‘may be petering out, even with oil prices surging to their highest levels since 2014’. But US and Brent crude continue their jaw-dropping advance this morning as OPEC+ decided to maintain its production target unchanged at 400’000 extra barrels per day from April. Among safe havens, demand in US dollar remains strong. Gold performs well, but Bitcoin becomes a risky safe haven as the latest news suggests that the US Department of Justice announced a new task force broadly designed to enforce sanctions, which will also target efforts to use cryptocurrency to evade US sanctions. Watch the full episode to find out more! 0:00 Intro 0:28 Powell cheers up investors 2:38 Market update 3:40 Short bets against energy stocks increase, as oil rallies 8:34 Bitcoin risks sanctions from the West, as well
Ipek Ozkardeskaya has begun her financial career in 2010 in the structured products desk of the Swiss Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. She worked at HSBC Private Bank in Geneva in relation to high and ultra-high net worth clients. In 2012, she started as FX Strategist at Swissquote Bank. She worked as a Senior Market Analyst in London Capital Group in London and in Shanghai. She returned to Swissquote Bank as Senior Analyst in 2020.