Wild Ride on the NASDAQ Post-FOMC! Microsoft & Meta Earnings Beat Estimates.

Yesterday we had the US Federal Reserve holding interest rates with 3 FOMC votes out of 12 looking for a rate increase.

Then, we had the press conference and the markets got very little information from Kevin Warsh.

This sent USD weaker, bond yields higher and volatility in the stock markets.

In today’s GCI Market Outlook, let’s take a look at Forex trading on AUDCAD, the S&P500, the NASDAQ, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, USDJPY, and USDCHF.

Just a reminder that these videos are intended as educational, we are only observing current market conditions, and these are not to be considered as trading advice.

Let’s try to break all this down.

As we said, USD went weaker so, we look for our News Catalyst Fade opportunities, and we see this with USDCHF on the daily chart.

Price action fell yesterday to touch this lower trend line.

Very often, when we have such quick moves like yesterday’s, the technicals may not catch up, so you may want to wait for confirmation from your favourite indicators.

We got a similar move from USDJPY, but be aware that tomorrow we have a BoJ interest rate decision where a hold is expected but as we have seen, the press conference can cause the volatility.
We can also see that the US Indices had a rough ride yesterday.
Beforehand, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Russell 2000 were ranging, and the NASDAQ was bearish due to AI and tech uncertainty.
Let’s break this down for you.
Initially, there was a sell-off based around fresh geopolitical tensions, a huge Chinese IPO that may threaten US chip makers, and pre-Fed jitters with rumours of a rate hike.
The announcement came out with no rate hike, sending the indices higher quite quickly, which we call a relief rally.
Once investors analysed the FOMC statement, they realised that 3 of the 12 members voted for a rate hike, which is a bit messy.
Then, the press conference by Kevin Warsh was confusing and contradictory, which is never a good thing.
The messy vote and the press conference combined spooked the bond market, driving yields higher, so, in turn, another sell-off.
Then, after the closing bell, after-hours earnings by Microsoft and Meta were stronger than expected, driving the futures markets higher.
Today, the Fed will be watching GDP and PCE, which will give them data regarding the strength of the US economy and inflation so we may be doing this all over again, giving us more trading opportunities.
Also, the BoE will be doing it all today and the BoJ tomorrow.
We are seeing mixed strength and weakness with GBP pairs, so we may have News Catalyst Fade opportunities later today.
And you may remember that we have been following a ranging market on AUDCAD.
Here is a link to that video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuXvxZgAPJM&t=1s
Well, overnight the latest downward leg fell to support and the take profit.
That’s all for now.
CFDs and FX are leveraged products, and your capital may be at risk.