Wednesday's Markets Update (June 21, 2023)

22 Jun 2023 by rate3

On Wednesday, Powell's Congressional remarks offered no surprises to markets. NASDAQ (open: 13,620, close: 13,502, -0.9%) continued to correct from its yearly highs. Meanwhile, BTC gained another 4.2%, almost reaching its yearly record of 31K, on a whales' "buy the dip" play.

Powell reporting to the Congress: "Nearly all FOMC participants expect that it will be appropriate to raise interest rates somewhat further by the end of the year. ... We will continue to make our decisions meeting by meeting, based on the totality of incoming data."

Other Markets Updates:

United Kingdom: Inflation remained stubbornly high in May, holding steady at 8.7 percent (expected: 8.4%) - well above the Bank of England's target of 2.0 percent. The rise in inflation was driven by increasing prices for air travel (31.4% vs 12.6% in April),, recreational and cultural goods and services (6.7% vs 6.3%), and second-hand cars (3.9% percent vs 1.2%). These increases were partially offset by falling fuel costs (-13.1% vs -8.9%) and slower food inflation ( (18.3% vs 19.0%). The core inflation rate rose to 7.1 percent, the highest level since March 1992.

Russia: Producer prices (PPI) fell by 3.6% YoY in May, following a 12.7% decline in April. This marks the seventh consecutive month of decline. Prices fell at a slower pace in mining and extractive industries (-7.7% vs -33.1% in April) and manufacturing (-4.6% vs -8.3%). Prices also eased for providers of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning (13.9% vs 14.9%) and water suppliers (9.4% vs 11.5%). On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 3.7%, the most in 13 months. This was driven by a rise in the cost of liquefied natural gas, silver concentrates, oil, coking coal, and gas condensate.