Edward Moya News

By Natalie Grover

Wall Street's major indexes closed higher on Wednesday with the Nasdaq's 1.6% advance leading gains, after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and comments from its top official fueled investor optimism rate hikes were done even though the central bank left the door open for more. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said policy makers would proceed carefully although they were not yet confident financial conditions were restrictive enough to get inflation as low as the central bank would like. Trading was choppy at the start of Powell's press conference but the major equity indexes started to regain lost ground after about 20 minutes, then went on to hit session highs. This was because the Fed's top official «wasn't as assertive about higher-for-longer» rates as he has been in past press conferences, according to Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management, wrote that while there is still a potential risk for the Fed to raise rates again, Powell's commentary suggests that «the bar has become higher for rate hikes.» Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda wrote that while Powell insisted he was keeping options open for a hike «he didn't seem very convincing.» The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 221.71 points, or 0.67%, to 33,274.58, the S&P 500 gained 44.06 points, or 1.05%, to 4,237.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 210.23 points, or 1.64%, to 13,061.47. Among the S&P 500's 11 major sectors only two lost ground with energy falling 0.3% while consumer staples edged down 0.06%.

Oil prices edged up in early Asian trade on Wednesday ahead of key global central bank meetings this week including the U.S. Federal Reserve, as the market also closely watches the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Brent January crude futures rose 36 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.38 a barrel by 0040 GMT, after falling $1.33 on Tuesday.

(Reuters) — Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell about 5% on Monday after key supplier Panasonic (OTC:PCRFY) Holdings said it cut automotive battery production in the September quarter, cementing concerns of a global slowdown in electric-vehicle (EV) sales.

Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday ahead of a trip by U.S. President Joe Biden to the Middle East that is likely to involve balancing support for Israel with trying to prevent any regional escalation of its war with Hamas. Following a drop of more than a dollar on Monday, Brent futures rose $0.74 to $90.39 a barrel at 10:40 a.m (1440 GMT).

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The violence in Israel that erupted this weekend is prompting a move into safe-haven assets as investors closely watch events in the Middle East to gauge the geopolitical risk to markets.

By Sudarshan Varadhan

The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 4,320.06, down 0.2 percent for the day and 2.9 percent for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3 percent to 33,963.84, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.1 percent at 13,211.81.

By Yuka Obayashi and Emily Chow

Also Read: Week Ahead: US Fed Policy, crude oil prices, FII mood among key market triggers this week as Nifty stares at record-high "This crude price rally doesn't want to stop," said OANDA analyst Edward Moya. “The oil market will likely be tight throughout the winter," reported news agency Reuters. The US continued to witness a fall in its shale oil output.

As the Federal Reserve and central banks of England, China, and Japan ready for rate decisions this week, oil longs seem to have only concern: Keeping a barrel above $90 and adding to the gains thus far for September.

By Sudarshan Varadhan

Oil prices rose to their highest level in 10 months on Friday, after China cut banks' cash reserve requirements to boost its economic recovery, and on expectations that major global interest rate hike cycles were nearing their end. Brent crude rose 46 cents, or 0.5%, to $94.16 as of 0027 GMT, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was up 0.6% at $90.74.

OPEC optimism over the resilience of energy demand in major economies.Brent futures rose $1.64, or 1.8%, to $92.28 a barrel by 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT). U.S.

Bitcoin reached an almost two-month low as risk aversion weighs on the cryptocurrency market with global government bond yields climbing to the highest in about 15 years. «When you throw in what is happening in the bond market, it becomes easy for Bitcoin prices to soften,» Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a note.

By Natalie Grover

By Alex Lawler

By Laura Sanicola

By Arathy Somasekhar and Sudarshan Varadhan

Asset manager Fidelity is expected to file with the U.S. securities regulator for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, joining other big money managers seeking to launch bitcoin ETFs, the Block reported on Tuesday citing a source familiar with the matter. In the past two weeks, BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco, VanEck, and Bitwise have filed new applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for spot bitcoin ETFs, sending the price of bitcoin to a more than one-year high of over $31,000 on June 23. Fidelity declined to comment. The Boston-based financial firm is also part of a consortium that includes market makers Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial, retail broker Charles Schwab, and venture capital firms Paradigm and Sequoia Capital, which recently launched a crypto exchange called EDX Markets.

BlackRock's plan to create a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) even as the sector faces U.S. regulatory scrutiny. BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, filed last week for the exchange which would allow investors to get stakes in the asset class. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that EDX Markets, a crypto exchange backed by Citadel Securities, Fidelity and Schwab had started operations. The global cryptocurrency industry has been caught in the crosshairs of the U.S. securities regulator on alleged violations of securities laws. Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued major crypto exchanges including Coinbase and Binance. Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, was last up 5.5% on Wednesday at 29,881.00 after hitting a high of $30,755.00. It is up roughly 81% for the year-to-date.