The price of Bitcoin rose sharply to a new 20-month high price following fake reports that the SEC had authorized the first Bitcoin ETF.
- A fake news report that the SEC had authorized the sale of a retail Bitcoin ETF sent the cryptocurrency rising to reach its highest price since March 2022. When the report was revealed to be fake, Bitcoin gave up some of its gains, but is still looking bullish overall in terms of its price action. The SEC is expected to approve the ETF today, which will be of great interest to retail trend traders.
- The past day has seen strong advances by certain stock markets, notably the NASDAQ 100 Index which made a strong gain, followed during the Asian session by the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index which again reached its highest price in 34 years for the second consecutive day. This may be a key sign of a resumption of the dominant long-term trend, which is bullish on many stock markets, especially in the USA.
- In the Forex market, the Australian Dollar has been the strongest major currency since the Tokyo open today. The Japanese Yen has been the weakest. The US Dollar is showing a little strength ahead of tomorrow’s key US inflation data release, which is expected to show a slight rise to an annualized rate of 3.2%. There remains a valid long-term bullish trend in the EUR/USD currency pair.
- Crude Oil is rising on new of further Houthi military activity directed against Israel and shipping in the Red Sea, as well as falling US stockpiles.
- Australian CPI (inflation) data released a few hours ago showed annualized inflation fell to 4.3%, lower than the expected of 4.4%. The Australian Dollar was essentially unchanged following the news.
- The Governor of the Bank of England will be testifying before the UK Parliament later today.