Weekly Financial News

By Jeslyn Lerh

Investing.com-- Gold prices steadied on Friday as traders hunkered down before key nonfarm payrolls data, with the yellow metal headed for a weekly loss as risk appetite improved in the wake of dovish signals from the Federal Reserve.

US Federal Reserve is done with interest rate hike cycle. Upbeat corporate earnings also boosted sentiment. The domestic equity indices rallied on Thursday amid positive global cues after the US Fed maintained a pause on interest rates.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week as the labor market continues to show few signs of a significant slowdown.

Investing.com — US crude stockpiles grew by less than half of forecast levels while gasoline and distillate balances saw modest changes as well in one of the least consequential weekly inventory reports for the year, released on Wednesday by the government.

The Solana price has gained by 5.5% in the past 24 hours, rising to $36.71 as the cryptocurrency market as a whole barely moves today.

Bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds have seen the largest single week of inflows since July of last year. The funds raked in about $326 million with expectations rising that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to approve a spot-based Bitcoin ETF, according to a report by crypto asset manager CoinShares on Monday. The optimism is also helping to boost demand for so-called altcoins, with Solana-related products seeing $24 million in inflows. Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, saw $6 million in outflows. Forecasts for the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF have been increasing since the SEC declined to appeal an August court ruling that threw out its rejection of a plan by Grayscale to convert its Bitcoin trust to an ETF. Bitcoin is trading at levels that have not been seen since the crypto market meltdown last May. However, investors are showing restraint despite the prospect of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval. “While positive for Bitcoin, this weekly inflow only ranks the 21st largest on record, suggesting continued restraint among investors,” the report said.

Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) saw their largest weekly inflows in more than a year, according to an Oct. 30 report from asset management platform CoinShares. Inflows were $326 million for the week ending Oct. 27, dwarfing the $66 million recorded over the previous week.

The bears had a relatively easy time last week as high yields, ongoing geopolitical risks, strong economic data, and, most importantly, disappointing earnings all worked in their favor.

Investing.com — Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest insider trades and institutional investor headlines you may have missed last week: Corvex doubles stake in Southwest Gas, Ancora supports Forward Air’s decision to terminate Omni Logistics merger, Satori's Dan Niles covers shorts in Tesla and Apple and looks to re-short higher, and top brass buys at Truist Financial, Nasdaq, and Commercial Metals.

By Louis Juricic and Sarina Isaacs

Investing.com — Fear across global markets is expected to hit fever pitch in the coming week, with stock markets likely tanking and favorite commodity plays oil and gold rising, as Israel enters the much-anticipated heightened phase of its war with Hamas, attacking Gaza from land, air and sea.  

Investing.com — Here is your weekly Pro Recap of the past week's biggest headlines in the electric vehicle space: EV makers are hitting pause on EV production; BP makes a deal; and Tesla escapes EU probe.

BSE Sensex posted its worst weekly decline in one month, on a sharp spike in US bond yields, high crude oil prices, and concerns arising over the geopolitical risks of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty 50 and Sensex plunged sharply lower in the past week and lost more 2.5 per cent, the steepest such drop since the week ended September 22, mostly weighed by week global cues.

During the week, about 33 smallcap stocks delivered double-digit weekly negative returns with six of them losing over 15% returns. MMTC fell the most during the week at 18.4%, followed by Sterlite Tech (-17.8%), Ion Exchange (-16.7%), and Kamdhenu Ventures (15.83%). Only eight stocks in the smallcap space delivered double-digit returns. Black Box was the top gainer in the week with 20.64% returns. In the midcap segment, none of the stocks have offered double-digit gains.

The Chainlink’s (LINK) token surged by a substantial 61.3% from Oct. 20 to Oct. 25, reaching a peak of $11.78 and marking its highest point since May 2022. LINK price then stabilized around $10.50, prompting investors to question the sustainability of this new price level.

rupee ended little changed after trading in a narrow range on Friday on a lack of fresh triggers and amid intermittent dollar sales by the central bank to prevent a fall towards the record low. The rupee closed at 83.2450 against the U.S. dollar compared with its close at 83.23 in the previous session. The central bank likely sold dollars on Friday near 83.25 levels but the intervention was not aggressive, traders said.

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits rose last week but remains historically low as the labor market continues to show strength amid high interest rates and inflation

Digital asset investment products notched a fourth week of consecutive inflow with Bitcoin (BTC) recording $55.3million as investors hovered around a spot BTC ETF approval in the United States.

1 per cent week-on-week gains for the last two weeks, on the possibility of supply disruption in the Middle East — the world's biggest oil-supplying region — if the conflict were to spread. Back home, on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil futures due for a November 17 expiry, were last trading 2.08 per cent lower at ₹7,213 per bbl, having swung between ₹7,213 and ₹7,343 per bbl during the session so far, against a previous close of ₹7,366 per barrel. Also Read: Domestic crude oil production at 2.4 MMT in September, imports rise 6.1% YoY: PPAC -The intensification of diplomatic efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from further escalation could have calmed oil prices on Monday.

At the start of the new trading week, major technology stocks are falling, also driving the U.S. equity futures lower, as the 10-year Treasury yield crossed 5% for the first time in 16 years.