Market quiet has been the theme for most of this week, with some fatigue setting in after last month’s volatility. Expectations for fewer rate cuts this year across major economies and the recent weaker dollar trend continue to develop gradually. Australia and New Zealand are still widely expected to cut rates next week.
A couple of individual companies struggled: a news report detailed a delay to Meta’s flagship AI model, while Alibaba shares fell as much as 6.7% after quarterly earnings disappointed—delivering a blow to recent momentum from China’s scaling investment in AI.
Oil looks set for its second weekly gain, driven by increased demand expectations. Comments from Iran’s foreign minister suggesting a US–Iran deal is further away than the US has indicated added upward pressure to prices this morning. Still, supply is expected to remain in surplus due to OPEC’s production plans.
Gold broke below the 50-day moving average for the first time since January yesterday but failed to sustain the move and has rebounded to $3,221. This level could face renewed scrutiny if inflationary pressures continue to fall and trade and geopolitical tensions ease—though central bank demand remains a key caveat.
Today, we have a host of US data to close out the week, with Housing Starts and University of Michigan Sentiment as the headline releases.
