LAST WEEK BTC and ETH edged lower last week. The two cryptocurrencies were trading near $26,330 and $1,715 last Friday, down -0.6% and -6.7% from their level a week ago with ETH price decline coming from technical price factors and a broader weekly downtrend fuelled by Fed chair J. Powell\u2019s hawkish tone regarding the remainder of the rate hikes for 2023.<\/p>\n
US Equities rallied last week as investors welcomed the pause on rate hikes from the Fed, keeping the target rate unchanged at 5%-5.25%, and digested the encouraging CPI data showing a cooling of inflation. The Consumer Price Index in May rose 4%, the slowest annual pace since March 2021, lower than the expected 4.1%. S&P and Nasdaq continuously rose last week, flirting with the 4,450 and 13,870 during Friday\u2019s session before settling up +2.6% and +3.2% on the week, with S&P 500 notching its fifth positive week in a row and Nasdaq posting its best weekly gain since March.<\/p>\n
US treasuries rose over the past week as investors readjusted their interest rate outlook following the Fed\u2019s hawkish pause in June. The yields on the 10-year and 2-year Treasuries were trading near 3.77% and 4.72%, up from 3.74% and 4.60% the week before.<\/p>\n
DXY dipped last week, closing near 102.3 on Friday from 103.55 the week before, with most of the losses coming in the wake of the Fed\u2019s decision to pause its rate hike. The index flirted with the 102.00 mark on Friday before rebounding slightly this week near 102.52.<\/p>\n
Oil prices rose last week as markets digested the positive effects of OPEC+ output reductions with the WTI closing near $72 on Friday.<\/p>\n
BTC and ETH are gaining today as markets prepare for what will be a holiday-shortened week with US markets closed on Monday in observance of Juneteenth. This week\u2019s focus should be on J. Powell\u2019s semi-annual testimony on Monetary policy, taking place on Wednesday and Thursday for further hints as to where interest rates could go for the remainder of the year. Markets will also keep a close eye on Friday\u2019s Preliminary Purchasing Managers\u2019 Index (PMI) for June and the latest updates on the housing market, including building permits and housing starts for May. Lastly, a few companies are set to report this week – Accenture, Blackberry, and FedEx among others.<\/p>\n
CLIENTS PROFIT<\/strong><\/p>\n We closed our short position on ETH, realizing a +12.5% gain on the trade.<\/p>\n We kept our short position on BTC with our last short position opened when BTC neared $30,100 which currently represents strong unrealised profits.<\/p>\n We still have our long positions on some large caps – ADA, MATIC, SOL – that we opened when BTC dipped below $26,000, and a second time through DCA when Alt coins tumbled early June, bringing the long exposure to 20% of the AUM.<\/p>\n The exposure to the market is now 25% of the AUM, the rest being in cash.<\/p>\n BTC<\/strong><\/p>\n BTC edged lower last week and was trading near $26,330 last Friday, down -0.6% from its level a week ago as markets dealt with Fed chair J. Powell\u2019s hawkish tone regarding the remainder of the rate hikes for 2023.<\/p>\n Bitcoin dipped on Wednesday to a low near $24,750 on Thursday before regaining in the latter part of the week with inflation CPI data coming out lower than expected and confirming the cooling of inflation – +4% in May. BTC price ended the week near $26,330 and evolved near $26,500 over the weekend.<\/p>\n BTC is currently trading near $26,700 with major supports near $25,000 and $24,000 further below.<\/p>\n BTC\u2019s 30-day Historical Volatility \u2013 HV- increased over the past week and is now nearing 42% – from 40% last week.<\/p>\n BTC\u2019s performance for June is down -1.9%. with the YTD performance for 2023 being +61%.<\/p>\n ETH<\/strong><\/p>\n ETH dipped last week, trading near $1,715 last Friday, down -6.7% from its level a week ago with most of the losses coming from technical price factors and the interpretation of the hawkish pause from the Fed.<\/p>\n Over the past 2 weeks, ETH price has faced rejection from the MA50 currently near $1,820, and has declined below the $1,800 mark with the 200 MA acting as a major support currently near $1,640. The 200 MA is a strong indicator of the overall trend, if ETH breached below that level, the price could move downwards towards its next support near $1,370.<\/p>\n ETH\u2019s MTD performance for the month of June is currently -7.7%, with the YTD performance being +45% – from +47% as of last week.<\/p>\n OTHER MARKETS<\/strong><\/p>\n US Equities rallied last week as investors welcomed the pause on rate hikes from the Fed, keeping the target rate unchanged at 5%-5.25%, and digested the encouraging CPI data showing a cooling of inflation. The Consumer Price Index in May rose 4%, the slowest annual pace since March 2021, lower than the expected 4.1%.<\/p>\n S&P and Nasdaq continuously rose last week, flirting with the 4,450 and 13,870 during Friday\u2019s session before settling up +2.6% and +3.2% on the week, with S&P 500 notching its fifth positive week in a row and Nasdaq posting its best weekly gain since March.<\/p>\n S&P and Nasdaq\u2019s MTD performance for June are currently +5.5% and +5.8% and the YTD performances are +14.9% and +31% respectively.<\/p>\n DXY<\/strong><\/p>\n DXY dipped last week, closing near 102.3 on Friday from 103.55 the week before, with most of the losses following the Fed\u2019s decision to pause its rate hike. The index flirted with the 102.00 mark on Friday before rebounding slightly this week near 102.52.<\/p>\n The index is currently up, trading near 102.48, but is now trading below its 50 day Moving Average currently near 102.6 and above the 102 mark acting as nearest support with 101 further below. In the upside, the 105.3 mark acts as major resistance \u2013where the 200 MA is.<\/p>\n US TREASURIES<\/strong><\/p>\n US treasuries rose over the past week as investors readjusted their interest rate outlook following the Fed\u2019s hawkish pause in June. The yields on the 10-year and 2-year Treasuries were trading near 3.77% and 4.72%, up from 3.74% and 4.60% the week before.<\/p>\n The 10Y yield and the policy-sensitive 2Y are currently up, exchanging near 3.82% and 4.76% from 3.74% and 4.58% last Monday, extending the inversion of the yield curve to 94bps \u2013 from 84 bps last week.<\/p>\n\r\n