Citi kicks off earnings season, Oil softens on Barry impact, Gold steady, and Bitcoin pares losses post Mnuchin

US stocks pulled back from record highs as traders remain cautious ahead of earnings season and as trade war uncertainty remains high.  Citigroup kicks off earnings season with a mixed earnings report that had shares go through a rollercoaster ride.  Citigroup posted significant strength in the consumer division, while trading fell about 5% when you back at the gain made with the stake in Tradeweb.  Tuesday we will see JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo report results and if the consumer remains strong, we could that be a good sign for US equities.  Citi’s results could indicate that we could see weaker FICC and equities trading from the other major banks. 

Gold

Gold prices continue to consolidate ahead of the $1,400 an ounce as investors await trade war updates and to see if second quarter earnings will see drastic cuts to guidance as trade war uncertainty lingers. 

Oil

Crude prices softened as oil companies returned workers to offshore platforms as the effects of Hurricane Barry have subsided.  With no major damage done oil output will start coming back online and we could see crude prices pare back some of last week’s gains.  Oil’s recent rally could resume this week if we continue to see strong earnings results that paint a positive picture for the US consumer and if we continue to see shrinking US stockpiles.  Current expectations are for crude oil inventories to decline by 3.7 million barrels, down from last weeks near 10-million-barrel draw. 

Bitcoin

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin delivered a cryptocurrency press conference that reiterated the Trump administration’s concerns over digital coins, specifically calling out Facebook’s Libra and Bitcoin.  Mnuchin noted he will discuss cryptocurrencies at the G7 meeting this week.  Following the presser, Bitcoin recovered some of its earlier losses as Mnuchin did not unveil any new regulatory actions that would not severely discourage cryptocurrencies.

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Ed Moya

Ed Moya

Contributing Author at OANDA
With more than 20 years’ trading experience, Ed Moya was a Senior Market Analyst with OANDA for the Americas from November 2018 to November 2023. His particular expertise lies across a wide range of asset classes including FX, commodities, fixed income, stocks and cryptocurrencies. Over the course of his career, Ed has worked with some of the leading forex brokerages, research teams and news departments on Wall Street including Global Forex Trading, FX Solutions and Trading Advantage. Prior to OANDA he worked with TradeTheNews.com, where he provided market analysis on economic data and corporate news. Based in New York, Ed is a regular guest on several major financial television networks including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Yahoo! Finance Live, Fox Business, cheddar news, and CoinDesk TV. His views are trusted by the world’s most respected global newswires including Reuters, Bloomberg and the Associated Press, and he is regularly quoted in leading publications such as MSN, MarketWatch, Forbes, Seeking Alpha, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Ed holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University.