Meta Platforms (Facebook) quarterly report released today in the US - 27.4.2022

This morning, the US dollar index has risen for the 5th day in a row. It has updated the maximum since March 2020. The main positive is still the expectations of investors to raise the Fed rate to 1% from 0.5% at the May 4 meeting. The US currency was supported by data on the increase in orders for durable goods . The euro fell against the background of reports about the suspension of Russian gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. This morning in Australia, the Consumer Price Index for the 1st quarter of 2022 was published. Its inflation amounted to 5.1% y/y. In practice, this is a 20-year maximum. Despite such negative information, the Australian dollar strengthened. Investors are hoping for a rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at its May 3 meeting.

Since the beginning of 2022, Bitcoin has been trading in the $47,000-37,000 range. Yesterday it fell in price and approached the lower border. Several negative factors contributed to this at once. The start of trading in shares of the first Bitcoin ETF in Australia - Cosmos Asset Management was delayed due to the need for additional verification. The New York State Assembly approved a ban on cryptocurrency mining in its state, which does not use renewable energy sources. The Binance crypto exchange banned trading for Russian clients with more than 10 thousand euros in their account. Recall that earlier the crypto-exchange Coinbase limited the accounts of 25 thousand Russians and did not rule out the blocking of all accounts from Russia. The Kraken crypto exchange also issued a warning about a possible blocking of Russian accounts.

Yesterday the US stock indexes fell sharply. Moreover, the Nasdaq index collapsed by almost 4%, which was the maximum daily drop since September 2020. The main reason for this was the lockdown in China against the backdrop of a new wave of coronavirus. American high-tech companies may face a shortage of chips and electronic components. Quotes of Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia fell almost 6%. The news that Elon Musk is buying the social network Twitter, brought down the quotes of electric car maker Tesla by 12.2%. Twitter shares fell 4% yesterday, despite the fact that Elon Musk decided to pay $44 billion for this social network, despite the fact that its market capitalization is noticeably smaller and equal to about $38 billion. Recall that Elon Musk is the creator of Tesla. This morning, futures for US stock indices are rising in anticipation of good corporate reporting. S&P 500 companies' combined earnings rose 8.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, according to Refinitiv. At the beginning of the reporting season, it was expected to increase by about 6%. The S&P 500 index itself is now trading at about the same level as 12 months ago. Today will be released quarterly reports from Meta Platforms, T-Mobile, Qualcomm, Amgen, Boeing and other major corporations. In addition, data on the residential real estate market (United States Pending Home Sales) and Goods Trade Balance will be published.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday. Now U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is again trading above the psychological level of $100 per barrel. There was no particularly positive news for the oil market. Quotes are supported by investors' fears that Russia will cut hydrocarbon production due to Western economic sanctions. Now oil is slightly cheaper in anticipation of the publication of official data on its reserves in the US from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Yesterday, the independent American Petroleum Institute reported an increase in US oil inventories by 4.78 million barrels over the week.