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US Equities Outpace Eurozone, as USD Strength Hits Commodities (For Now)
ETFS Multi-Asset Weekly – US Equities Outpace Eurozone, as USD Strength Hits Commodities (For Now)
Highlights
- Arabica coffee jumps over 14% in a week on supply fears.
- US energy infrastructure continues to benefit from the surge in US oil supply.
- US jobs confirm robust recovery and fuel further USD upside momentum.
While negative sentiment towards commodities and global equities prevailed last week, stronger fundamentals helped to lift the US energy infrastructure sector and the US Dollar. The striking improvement in the US economy and labour market should be supportive of cyclical assets once investors return to focus on the positive underlying conditions. With US non-farm payrolls surprising the market on the upside last week, investors will be keeping a close eye on the FOMC minutes this week as the recent conservative tone of the Fed could change quickly if the economic rebound continues, keeping USD buoyant.
Commodities
Arabica coffee jumps over 14% in a week on supply fears. Brazil’s worst drought in decades saw Arabica coffee prices soaring 88% since the beginning of the year. Prices have been rising on the back of fears that continued dry weather in Brazil, the biggest producer, might negatively impact next year crop. However, exports continued to increase despite fears of 2015 tightness. Wheat also continued to rise last week, as elevated domestic prices for the grain in Russia rendered Russian supply non-competitive on the market. Russia is a major player in the wheat market, accounting for 10% of global wheat exports in 2013. Meanwhile, nickel lost over 7% last week, as LME stocks surged 37% this year. However, with Indonesia, the biggest producer, sticking to an ore export ban that has already reduced the expected surplus, the recent correction appears excessive.
Equities
US energy infrastructure continues to benefit from the surge in US oil supply. The Solactive US Energy Infrastructure MLP Index TR increased by 1.3% as US oil supply nears its level 30 years ago. Meanwhile, president Draghi indicated last Thursday that it will continue to keep policy supportive of the Eurozone economy, keeping interest rate low at 0.5%. The ECB meeting failed however to support European stocks, down for the second consecutive week on lower-than-expected manufacturing PMI for September, reinforcing growth worries in the region. Short European indices rose 6% on average over the past week while the EURO STOXX 50® Investable Volatility Index witnessed its highest weekly gain since February 2013, up 10.1% over the same period. In contrast, the MSCI China A Index posted gains for the second week in a row supported by better official manufacturing activity in September.
Currencies
US jobs confirm robust recovery and fuel further USD upside momentum. Better-than-expected US jobs highlighted the underlying strength of the labour market and the rising potential of household consumption. Indeed, the unemployment rate dropped below 6% for the first time in six years. While investors will be keeping a close eye on the FOMC minutes this week, the recent conservative tone of the Fed is likely to change quickly if the strength across the economy continues. The dual mandate of the Fed is being confirmed on the jobs front, and we expect inflationary expectations too begin to follow and to move the Fed onto a tightening path in H1 2015. Such expectations necessarily will be supportive of further broad based USD strength. Meanwhile, the UK growth momentum continues to fade. Bank of England policymakers are split on when to rate hikes, we expect the latest developments to help unify the Board, and keep downward pressure on GBP.
Important Information
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The impact of US tariffs continues to dominate market sentiment and risk assets, including crypto, struggled with this uncertainty throughout the month. The Nasdaq Crypto Index™ (NCI™) fell 4.46% in March as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 dropped 5.63% and 7.61%, respectively.
Despite the macro uncertainty from Washington, US policymakers are continuing to embrace crypto in an unprecedented way, including launching a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, Digital Asset Stockpile, and engaging in expansive work at the regulatory agencies and in Congress.
Our team spent the last week of the month in Washington, meeting with regulators to share our experiences and views on what’s most important for crypto investors in the US. In his latest Notes from the CIO, Samir Kerbage shares what he learned from these meetings and how investors should be thinking about the new regulatory regime in the US.
As always, we are greatly appreciative of your trust in us and are here to answer any questions you may have.
-Your Partners at Hashdex
Market Review
March was marked by the tariff dispute triggered by the Trump administration. Back-and-forth fiscal policies, threats, and retaliations dominated the month’s agenda. The uncertain macroeconomic environment put investors into a defensive stance and negatively impacted crypto assets. The Nasdaq Crypto Index™ (NCI™) closed the month down -4.46% after a period of high volatility. Major market indices, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, also recorded steep declines of -5.63% and -7.61%, respectively. These concurrent drawdowns across equities and crypto underscored March’s broad market caution, as trade war uncertainty prompted investors to flee risk assets.
During times of uncertainty, it is common to observe increased correlation among different classes of risk assets. This pattern played out in March: the 6-month rolling correlation of monthly returns between the NCI™ and the Nasdaq-100 surged to roughly 0.91 (see chart below), its highest level since 2021, indicating that crypto assets were moving almost in lockstep with tech stocks. This spike in correlation confirms that crypto was behaving like a high-beta extension of the tech sector—an amplified version of the Nasdaq-100. The lack of clarity in the global landscape leads investors to reduce their risk exposure and seek protection, a movement known in financial markets as “risk-off” allocation.
6-Month Rolling Correlation of Monthly Returns between the Nasdaq Crypto Index and Nasdaq-100 (Apr 2021–Apr 2025).
The chart illustrates how this correlation has been increasing since the American elections in November 2024 and spiked to approximately 0.91 in the most recent period—a multi-year high. This visual evidence reinforces the view that crypto assets have been moving closely in tandem with tech stocks, effectively acting as a high-beta version of the Nasdaq-100 during the March risk-off phase.
Following this trend, risk reduction was evident within the crypto asset class. Among the NCI’s constituents, Bitcoin (BTC) posted a decline of -1.93%, withstanding the downturn far better than other constituents such as Ether (ETH, -17.4%) and Litecoin (LTC, -34.6%). BTC’s relatively mild drop in this sell-off aligns with the idea that it increasingly trades like a high-beta proxy for large-cap tech. It still declined, but less severely, whereas smaller-cap crypto assets behaved more like speculative growth stocks and suffered outsized losses. The only exception to the negative results was Cardano (ADA), which surprised with a positive return of 3.88% despite no significant protocol developments during the month.
Thematic indices also faced a challenging environment. As highlighted in previous letters, smaller capitalization assets tend to suffer more during periods of market stress, mirroring how speculative small-cap stocks are hit hardest in equity sell-offs. The biggest negative highlight was the Digital Culture Index, which dropped -17.45%, followed by the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Smart Contract Platform (Web3) indices, which fell -16.73% and -12.07%, respectively. The Vinter Hashdex Risk Parity Momentum Index recorded a negative result of -8.26% but outperformed the three other thematic indices, benefiting from its high allocation in BTC and TRX (which gained 4.68%). The heavy weighting in BTC – the more resilient large-cap crypto – helped cushion this index, underscoring the relevance of the momentum factor in a well-diversified strategy during times of market stress.
The market remains on the lookout for the outcome of the fiscal policy discussions, hoping for a reduction in uncertainties and an end to the tariff war. That would likely mark the moment when investors regain their appetite for risk assets, including crypto assets. The U.S. government has also signaled interest in advancing the crypto agenda, a development that could drive the asset class to a new level of adoption. We remain confident in our positive outlook for the rest of the year and the long term.
Top Stories
US creates Bitcoin Strategic Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
The Bitcoin Reserve will be capitalized with BTC owned by the Department of Treasury, which could further increase via new budget-neutral acquisitions. The stockpile will also include assets owned by the Treasury. This marks a major milestone, with the US government starting to integrate major crypto assets and continues the new administration’s work to lead the global crypto economy.
Stablecoins surpass $230 billion in market value
The total stablecoins market capitalization surpassed $230 billion amid institutional demand for dollar-backed digital assets. This showcases one of the most successful applications for crypto technology enhancing traditional financial payments. It could also pave the way for new use cases that require a strong and reliable global payment system.
FDIC eases banks’ ability to engage in crypto activities
The FDIC has rescinded previous guidelines which prevented financial institutions from engaging with crypto activities without prior sign-off. By removing bureaucratic hurdles, banks may more readily over crypto-related services, potentially leading to broader adoption and integration of digital assets into the financial system.
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