Nyheter
Europe Preparing for Quantitative Easing
ETFS Multi-Asset Weekly Europe Preparing for Quantitative Easing
Highlights
Persistent cold forecasts drive up natural gas prices
Hopes of quantitative easing boost European equities.
Shock and awe. The SNB’s surprise moves on Thursday sent the Swiss Franc close to parity with the Euro, a 17% movement in the pair on the day.
The Swiss National Bank shocked the market by removing its 1.20 cap on the Swiss Franc against the Euro. Central banks will remain in the limelight with the European Central Bank widely expected to announce full-blown quantitative easing this week after years of resisting following the US on this path. Discussion of the modalities of the programme will no doubt drive asset price rallies – the direction dependent on how inclusive or restrictive the programme will be. Meanwhile a raft of Chinese data releases including Q4 2014 GDP will be closely observed as the market looks for further cues on where global growth will go in 2015.
Commodities
Persistent cold forecasts drive up natural gas prices. Natural gas prices surged 6.7% on predictions that cold weather conditions in the US would continue into the upcoming week. This raised market expectations of increased heating demand from the Northeast and Midwest regions of the US. Conversely, copper ended the week down -7.7% amidst selling on Asian markets spurred by the World Bank reducing its forecasts for global growth this year to 3.0% from 3.4% previously. Copper is broadly considered a barometer for global economic health due to its broad industrial applications. Finally, crude benchmarks continued to fall this week with Brent and WTI ending the week down -7.3% and -5.0% respectively as US crude inventory figures showed that oil stores are at their highest levels in 80 years . The asymmetric decline in prices caused WTI to temporarily trade at a premium to Brent, reflecting early signs that current falling prices are causing US producers to curb production.
Equities
Hopes of quantitative easing boost European equities. A ruling by the European Court of Justice increased the likelihood that a QE program will be revealed at the next central bank meeting on the 22nd January. Markets cheered the move sending European stocks higher with the German DAX rallying 1.9% in the week. The QE program is aimed at preventing the Eurozone slipping into deflation as energy prices continue to fall. Bullion ended the week up 3.6% as market volatility stimulated safe haven demand following a shock announcement by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) stating that it was abandoning its currency cap of 1.2 CHF against the Euro. The rise in the gold price buoyed the DAXglobal Gold Mining Index which finished the week up 8.3%. Both the FTSE 100 and the Solactive US Energy Infrastructure MLP Index were dragged lower by falling copper and oil prices.
Currencies
Shock and awe. The SNB’s surprise moves on Thursday sent the Swiss Franc close to parity with the Euro, a 17% movement in the pair on the day. The Swiss central bank is no doubt preparing for the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) full-blown quantitative easing (QE) programme which is widely expected to be announced this week at ECB’s policy meeting. In contrast to the US Federal Reserve, which had trodden on this path before, the ECB will need to buy sovereign debts from many Member States. There are many questions that will need to be answered in this policy meeting: How big will the programme will be?; Which country’s bonds will it buy?; Will the ECB buy the bonds itself or delegate the task to the Member States’ national central banks? After the SNB’s moves last week, the Euro had appeared to price in a fairly aggressive move by the ECB and any disappointment in the scale of the programme could drive the Euro higher over the short term.
Important Information
This communication has been issued and approved for the purpose of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (”ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (”FCA”).
President Trump announced a highly aggressive tariff package—one with broad macroeconomic implications—and global markets reacted sharply. In this environment of heightened volatility, we urge investors to maintain perspective, just as they should when prices are volatile to the upside (e.g., last year’s post-election rally).
Notably, since the election, bitcoin and the Nasdaq Crypto Index have outperformed gold, the S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100. Even in the wake of the tariffs, only gold has outpaced bitcoin and the NCI—highlighting the relative strength of digital assets amid global market declines.
Market Highlights
Stablecoin legislation advances in US
The House Financial Services Committee voted to advance a monumental bill to regulate stablecoins, the STABLE Act, following the Senate Banking Committee approval of similar legislation earlier this year.
President Trump has said he wants stablecoin legislation approved by Congress before its August recess, reinforcing the new administration’s focus on establishing clear crypto regulation.
Tokenized fund sets dividend benchmark
BlackRock’s BUIDL paid an estimated $4.17 million in monthly dividends during March.
This highlights the potential of crypto to create attractive investment instruments, such as tokenized funds, which stood out this month paying massive dividends and setting a new benchmark for the class.
SEC chair orders review of crypto guidance
Acting SEC Chair Mark T. Uyeda ordered a review of past staff guidance on crypto, including risk warnings and interpretations of the Howey test.
This move, like others before, signals a broader shift toward a more open regulatory approach, potentially strengthening the presence of bitcoin and other digital assets in the US in the near future.
Market Metrics
The NCITM constituents had another negative week, with only XRP (-7.0%) and BTC (-3.8%) avoiding double-digit losses. The overall NCITM decline of -5.2% was cushioned by BTC’s relative resilience, as it performed better as a store-of-value asset. However, the drop still reflects a broader risk-off sentiment across all markets, driven by Trump’s tariff policies and growing macroeconomic uncertainties that are prompting investors to reassess their positions.
This week, the NCITM fell -5.3%, narrowing the gap with traditional indices such as the Nasdaq 100 (-9.8%) and S&P 500 (-9.1%) which experienced sharper losses following Trump’s tariff announcements. BTC (-3.8%) performed similarly to gold (-3.3%), though gold remains the top-performing asset class year-to-date. The week reinforced the risk-off sentiment, with investors broadly retreating from risk assets. Still, it also highlighted crypto’s growing relevance, as the most volatile asset class managed to outperform traditional markets in a stressed environment.
WEL8 ETF är en satsning på globala finansföretag
Tariffs spark turmoil: BTC holds its ground
JMES ETF en aktivt förvaltad fond från JPMorgan
Världens första europeiska försvars-ETF från ett europeiskt ETF-företag lanseras på Xetra och Euronext Paris
BSE7 ETF investerar i företagsobligationer med förfall 2027
Fonder som ger exponering mot försvarsindustrin
WisdomTree lanserar europeisk försvarsfond.
Warren Buffetts råd om vad man ska göra när börsen kraschar
De bästa börshandlade fonderna för tyska utdelningsaktier
Trumps återkomst får europeiska aktier att rusa
-
Nyheter2 veckor sedanFonder som ger exponering mot försvarsindustrin
-
Nyheter4 veckor sedanWisdomTree lanserar europeisk försvarsfond.
-
Nyheter2 veckor sedanWarren Buffetts råd om vad man ska göra när börsen kraschar
-
Nyheter3 veckor sedanDe bästa börshandlade fonderna för tyska utdelningsaktier
-
Nyheter4 veckor sedanTrumps återkomst får europeiska aktier att rusa
-
Nyheter1 vecka sedanSvenskarna har en ny favorit-ETF
-
Nyheter1 vecka sedanCrypto Market Risks & Opportunities: Insights on Bybit Hack, Bitcoin, and Institutional Adoption
-
Nyheter3 veckor sedanHANetf lanserar Europa-fokuserad försvars-ETF
