Nickel declines as Indonesia considers selling more mining shares
Nickel prices fell on Wednesday after Indonesia said it’s preparing to sell more mining shares to investors, which would increase supplies.
Nickel three-month futures at the London Metals Exchange fell 0.6% yesterday to $17,060 a tonne.
Nickel March futures fell 1.5% on Tuesday at the Shanghai Futures Exchange to 132,430 yuan per tonne.
Prices were boosted last week as the US imposed new sanctions on Russian exports, while the issuance of mining shares in Indonesia slowed down and stymied supplies.
However, the US sanctions on Russia didn’t touch metals, including nickel supplies.
Officials at Indonesia’s mining ministry said it issued approvals for mining shares representing 145 million tonnes of nickel among other metals.
Otherwise, the dollar index rose 0.1% as of 15:21 GMT to 103.9, with a session-high at 104.2, and a low at 103.8.
Nickel spot prices fell 0.3% in American trade as of 15:34 GMT to $17.018 thousand a tonne.
Bitcoin approaches $60,000 for first time since November 2021
Bitcoin rallied over 4.5% on Wednesday on track for the fifth straight profit in a row, scaling 27-month highs and almost surpassing the psychological level of $60 thousand for the first time since 2021.
It comes amid expectations that bitcoin could go even farther and reach the record $69 thousand, amid strong investment demand from major corporations on the world’s top cryptocurrency, in addition to a fresh influx of cash into bitcoin exchange funds.
Bitcoin Today
At Bitstamp, bitcoin rallied 4.5%, or $2521 to $59,547, the highest since November 2021, with a session-low at $56.724.
At Tuesday’s close, bitcoin was up 4.75%, registering the fourth profit in a row after strong purchases by Microstrategy.
The market value of cryptocurrencies rallied by over $85 billion today to $2.330 trillion, the highest since November 2021, as both bitcoin and ethereum clocked in massive gains.
Positive Outlook
VL Max Group’s analysts now expect bitcoin to test its record highs, and potentially even break through them, especially amid increasing demand from mainstream investment sources.
MicroStrategy’s Purchases
MicroStrategy reported the purchase of 3000 new units of bitcoin on Monday, raising its holdings of the world’s top cryptocurrency to the equivalent of $10 billion.
Microstrategy is a programming company that’s prominent in the field of information technology, and it has taken a daring investment strategy by acquiring large amounts of bitcoin.
The company’s decisions are in line with recent shifts in global markets, which saw increased investments in bitcoin to diversify wallets and protect cash against volatility.
Bitcoin Exchange Funds
Bitcoin’s Exchange funds received a fresh cash influx of $6 billion since starting official trading in the US on January 11.
Such massive numbers are an indication of the increasing appeal of the cryptocurrency, which continues to attract new investors outside of the usual crypto-trading type.
Dollar hits one-week high ahead of US growth data
The dollar rose in European trade on Wednesday against a basket of major rivals, extending gains for the second session and hitting a week high on short-covering.
The gains come ahead of US growth data for the fourth quarter of last year, which might provide fresh clues on the future of interest rates.
The Index index rose 0.4% to 104.24, a week high, with a session-low at 103.81.
The index rose 0.1% on Tuesday, the second profit in three days off three-week lows at 103.43.
US Rates
Current pricing for a 0.25% Fed interest rate cut in March stands at just 1%, with a 20% chance of a rate cut in May, and a 62% chance of a rate cut in June.
Investors now expect 75 basis points of total US rate cuts this year, down from 150 basis points in previous forecasts.
US Growth Data
Now investors await important USD GDP growth data for the fourth quarter of last year to gauge the strength of the economy.
US GDP growth is estimated at 3.3% in the fourth quarter, following an excellent 4.9% growth rate in the third.
Obviously strong results will hurt the odds of early Fed rate cuts in May and June, boosting the dollar and hurting gold prices, and vice versa.
Gold under pressure ahead of US growth data
Gold prices fell in European trade on Wednesday, extending losses for the third straight session off two-week highs on profit-taking, while the dollar muscles up against major rivals.
The decline comes ahead of important US GDP growth data later today, which could provide fresh pricing for future Fed rate decisions.
Gold Prices Today
Gold prices fell 0.15% to $2,027 an ounce, with a session-high at $2,033.
The precious metal lost 0.1% yesterday on profit-taking off two-week high at $2,041.
The Dollar
The dollar index rose 0.3% on Wednesday, hitting a one-week high at 104.10 against a basket of major rivals.
A stronger dollar makes greenback-denominated gold futures costlier to holders of other currencies.
US Rates
Current pricing for a 0.25% Fed interest rate cut in March stands at just 1%, with a 20% chance of a rate cut in May, and a 62% chance of a rate cut in June.
Investors now expect 75 basis points of total US rate cuts this year, down from 150 basis points in previous forecasts.
US Growth Data
Now investors await important USD GDP growth data for the fourth quarter of last year to gauge the strength of the economy.
Obviously strong results will hurt the odds of early Fed rate cuts in May and June, boosting the dollar and hurting gold prices, and vice versa.
The SPDR
Gold holdings at the SPDR Gold Trust fell 0.87 tonnes yesterday to a total of 826.94 tonnes, the lowest since July 2019.