Bitcoin still below $70k, Gold rebounds, GBPUSD+ hits target ahead of Fed meeting minutes
Markets are stuck in neutral as much of Asia celebrates Lunar New Year, leaving traders to navigate thin liquidity and mixed signals.
Bitcoin (BTC/USDT) is barely budging though still below $70k, adhering to its range from the past couple of weeks since its dramatic moves on Feb 5th and 6th.
Gold (XAUUSD+) is catching a bid after a two-day slide, with bulls looking to restore the precious metal to the $5,000 handle
US stock futures are inching higher as AI-driven selling pressure shows signs of stabilizing, with the SP500 keeping its presence above its 100-day simple moving average (SMA).
The SP500's 100-day SMA has been a critical support level we'd highlighted since last week.
As for currencies, GBPUSD+ has hit the downside target we had drawn since this past Monday (Feb 16th) - with this major FX pair included on our list of "3 Assets to Watch"
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Why Markets Are Stuck, For Now?
Markets will be keeping an eye on the minutes from the Fed's late-January FOMC meeting, due 7:00PM UTC today (Wed, Feb 18th).
The Fed's policy outlook (i.e. when the next Fed rate cut may happen) remains a key driver of global financial markets.
The recent selling pressure on riskier assets, tied to artificial intelligence, appears to be stabilizing.
Yet, investor sentiment remains fragile, especially for crypto markets:
Even such "good news" of Harvard University investing into Ethereum for the first time ever, counting the world's 2nd biggest crypto among its US$ 82.5 billion worth of assets, has so far failed to excite ETH/USDT prices.
At the time of writing, ETH/USDT is still mired below the psychological $2100 level with its 14-day SMA acting as immediate resistance.
Overall, markets are still waiting on a fresh directional catalyst to move prices one way or the other.
However, even amidst lacklustre market sentiment, there are still pockets of opportunities, with the likes of PIRATE/USDT soaring 112.5% today.
