- We have a new rubric “results of the macro-week”
- She sums up the economic calendar
Bitcoin ends the week at around $26,500. These have been challenging days for the entire market. And May again confirmed its title of one of the most capricious months.
On Monday we wrote the announcement of events and macro data. Let’s summarize.
Monday. Data from China
China’s central bank maintains its benchmark lending rates without changes. 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.
Annual inflation in Hong Kong in April amounted to 2.1%which is close to market forecasts of 2% and up from March growth of 1.7%.
But investor sentiment worsened after the forecast of epidemiologists. They do not rule out a resurgence in the number of Covid-19 cases.
Interestingly, Chinese television first spoke about cryptocurrency. They did a report about regulation in Hong Kong. But then they suddenly changed their minds and deleted the recording of the report from their website.
By opinion head of Binance, such news may portend a bullish trend.
Tuesday. Negative data from Europe
According to Eurostat, construction volumes in the Eurozone in March fell by 1.5%. This was the sharpest decline in construction volumes since August 2021.
The metric caused the euro to weaken to $1.07, its lowest level since March 20. But the dollar index rose by 0.1% to a two-month high of 103.99 points. As we remember, a strong dollar means a weak bitcoin. We saw this on the charts all week.
Wednesday. Fed minutes and the fall of the US rating
Published on Wednesday, the minutes of the May meeting of the Fed showed an interesting thing. Most officials are already less convinced of the need for a further increase in interest rates. However, among them there are those who continue to insist on tough measures. So a split is brewing in the department.
But investor sentiment took a turn for the worse after Fitch Ratings placed US AAA rating to negative list. They said the protracted debt ceiling negotiations raise the risk of the government defaulting on some of its obligations.
Thursday. Home sales and US GDP
Yesterday the Pending Home Sales metric came out. It turned out to be worse than analysts’ forecasts – it stalled at 0% (instead of the expected growth of +0.5%). This has an additional negative impact on the stock and crypto markets.
According to experts, pending home sales are considered a leading indicator of the overall development of the housing market in the world’s largest economy. Following the new metrics, the real estate market is waiting for a decline.
At the same time, US GDP grew by 1.3% year on year in the first quarter. This was a faster growth than expected (1.1%). That gives the Fed an additional reason to soften its tough policy.
Another harbinger of the thaw was new data on the labor market. The number of initial jobless claims increased slightly to 229,000. But the number of unemployed is still not high enough for the regulator to urgently reduce the interest rate.
The whole week – negotiations on public debt
American politicians are approaching an agreement to raise the national debt limit – reported Reuters, citing an internal source.
US President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy cut their estimate of discretionary spending by $70 billion. The issue has been a major stumbling block in the public debt debate.
Let’s see how the situation develops further. And we remind you that other important news and events affect the crypto market. Incrypted covers them in our materials.
We wish you all a great weekend and stay in touch.
