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NASDAQ Gains Ahead of Big Tech Testimony
Tonight, the political and tech worlds will collide, as the CEO’s of Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple all get set to testify before congress.
This will be the first-time big tech CEO’s simultaneously sit before congress, in a format similar to the “too big to fail” banks during the 2008 financial crisis.
Coincidentally tonight’s testimony comes during the week where we are expecting earnings from Facebook, Google and Apple.
The NASDAQ was over 1% in mid-day trading in advance of the testimony and earnings releases.
USD Consolidates Ahead of FOMC Meeting
Markets also await the latest FOMC meeting, in what can be labelled “Super Wednesday” due to the key fundamental events taking place at the same time.
Ahead of the Fed meeting, markets expect Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to maintain a dovish tone by stating “that the Fed will do whatever it can to help the economy and labor market heal.”
Several USD related pairs have consolidated at key support or resistance levels. USDCAD traded at the 1.335 support, GBPUSD at the 1.296 resistance, whilst EURUSD hit an almost 2 year high, but looks set to consolidate at the 1.179 ceiling.
UK Housing Market Picking up Steam
A second straight day of positive UK news was not enough to lift the FTSE 100 past a key resistance level on Wednesday.
The UK index reached the 6,153 level today on the news that UK mortgage approval almost quadrupled from the previous month.
May recorded a historical low number for approvals, however June saw numbers come in at over 40,000 loans.
After reaching the resistance level the FSTE fell to 6,130.
Quote of the day: “I have learned through the years that after a good run of profits in the markets, it’s very important to take a few days off as a reward. The natural tendency is to keep pushing until the streak ends. But experience has taught me that a rest in the middle of the streak can often extend it.”
Martin Schwartz
Biggest Bull
GBPJPY: On a day of consolidation amidst key fundamentals, it was the turn of GBPJPY to dethrone Gold as bull of the day. The markets bounced from 135.415 to a high of 136.385.
Biggest Bear
UK100 (futures): In a day of limited action, the biggest notable drop in indices came as the FTSE 100 futures held the 6,153 resistance and dropped to a low of 6,124.