It’s been a roller‑coaster week—between volatile macro data, tariff threats, and fresh geopolitical turmoil, all jostling with record‑breaking crypto moves.
US inflation data eased a touch as CPI (core at 0.2% vs 0.3% exp) and PPI (unchanged, 0.2% consensus) both came in cooler than expected, while Retail Sales surprised to the upside, showing consumer demand still holding firm.
Equities briefly hit new highs—the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 climbed on solid earnings reports—but traders have been taking profits in today’s session. Both indices still finish the week up comfortably, except for the Dow which has really been mixed in rangebound action throughout the week.
Lower-than-expected (yet still high) inflation expectations did not do much to slow today’s selling flows.
Global Equities have also been dawdling round in the first half of July as the sudden rise in the US Dollar coming from better than expected US Data has rewired some Financial flows.
Trade tensions resurfaced as Trump floated 15–20 % tariffs on EU goods, a reminder that protectionist rhetoric remains ever‑present even as markets largely shrugged off the threat – Keep this in check for the upcoming weeks.
Meanwhile, crypto stole the spotlight: Bitcoin blasted through to a new peak of $123,230, fuelled by ETF inflows and macro hedge demand, while Ethereum outpaced BTC on the week, riding a wave of DeFi optimism and relative strength. Altcoins have been shining on this newfound Crypto trend.
Elsewhere, Australia’s jobs report was disappointing, intensifying bets on RBA rate cuts, and the UK’s employment data proved a mixed bag—wage growth held up, but unemployment ticked higher.
To cap it off, tensions flared along the Israel‑Syria border around Druze communities, adding a fresh geopolitical twist that quickly faded by Markets who don’t care too much about these headlines since the Israel-Iran tensions from the end of June.
Still, buckle up, as looking at charts and fundamentals, volatility isn’t going anywhere.