The FOMC minutes gave the clarity that every investors was looking for: the Federal Reserve (Fed) will be scaling back its near $9 trillion balance sheet by $95 billion per month, more than a trillion dollars per year. On top, many Fed officials noted that ‘one or more 50-bps increases in the target range could be appropriate at future meetings, particularly if inflation measures remained elevated or intensified’. Stock and bond markets didn’t react well to the cruel hawkishness of the latest FOMC minutes. Three major US indices fell, but value names lost less than the growth stocks. Good news is, China announced it will step up monetary and US crude prices are back to the levels before the war. One of the major drivers of the pullback in oil prices is European reluctance to ban the Russian oil. In other commodities, gold remains little changed near the $1920 per ounce, and palladium is back to pre-war levels after having spiked by more than 80% in the first quarter. Other commodity prices remain upbeat, but the liquidity in commodity markets remain tight as the latest wild swings pushed investors to the sidelines.

Watch the full episode to find out more!

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:22 Fed goes after inflation
• 2:31 Stocks under pressure
• 3:40 USD upbeat, EURUSD tests 1.09 support
• 4:31 But China wants more stimulus & crude oil sinks below $100pb
• 6:10 Russian sanctions update 7:;40 Gold seeks direction
• 8:16 Palladium outlook remains positive
• 9:33 Commodities hold ground in tight liquidity conditions

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.