BTC Nears $100k, Inflation & More: Week Ahead & Market Recap

Last week (the week of 18 November) was another eventful week in what has shaped into an eventful month. This week, the week of 25 November, may either continue the trend or be a calmer one. 

As such, it would be helpful to take a quick look back at the week that was to understand the week to come. 

Here’s this week’s upcoming events and last week’s key news:

Last Week’s Highlights

Last week, the markets experienced key events, the main ones arguably being earnings releases from artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia (NVDA) and more key cryptocurrency milestones. 

Nvidia Drops Despite Record Earnings 

It may have come as a surprise to learn that Nvidia’s share price dropped last week (on Wednesday, 20 November) despite its strong earnings that beat expectations. 

The falls seem to have emerged from Nvidia’s Q4 gross margin outlook, which is lower than last year’s, causing concern among traders and investors. 

It will be interesting to see how the AI darling will actually fare in Q4 and whether it can sustain the momentum it built over the year on rising AI demand.

Bitcoin Nears $100k

Bitcoin (BTCUSD), the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, was nearing an astounding $100,000 over the weekend, almost marking a historical moment for the crypto sphere in general and Bitcoin in particular. 

The near-record high broke on Sunday as the cryptocurrency dropped to about $95,776. While Bitcoin’s future is still unknown, it may be worth noting that some market experts, such as Stephane Quellete, believe that “Bitcoin was extremely overbought since the election, it was bound to stall out.”

Traders will have to wait and see what this week has in store for this grand cryptocurrency. (Source: Yahoo Finance)

Other Notable Events

Other key events last week included gold (XAU) price fluctuations amid President Biden’s Army Tactical Missile Systems approval for Ukraine, added uncertainties among many traders and investors, pushing gold prices lower. 

Will the bullion regain its shine back?

This Week’s Upcoming Events

 This week’s main events are as follows:

Upcoming Inflation Reports

Both the US and Eurozone inflation figures are set to be released this week. The US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) will be released on Wednesday, 27 November, while the EZ’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be released on Friday, 29 November.

The US inflation report is expected to show an annual increase of 2.3% in October, showing that inflation is still stubbornly high despite the Fed’s attempts to tame it. 

The Eurozone’s inflation data is expected to rise 2% from 1.7% in the previous month due to volatile energy prices.

Both events are set to take place ahead of the last central bank interest rate decisions of the year. The Fed is expected to meet on 17-18 November, while the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to meet on 12 December. As such, this week’s results can affect future rate decisions.

Black Friday 

Black Friday, a key retail holiday, is set to take place on Friday, 29 November, with big retailers offering consumers notable discounts and deals, this day could reshape consumer spending and affect key retailers’ stock prices. 

It will be worth seeing how some big retailers, such as Amazon (AMZN), Target (TGT), and Lowe’s (LOW), perform following this key event.

Upcoming Earnings Releases

Earnings season will continue with reports from Dell (DELL), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Autodesk (ADSK), and HP (HPQ) on Tuesday, 26 November and VinFast (VFS) on Thursday, 27 November.

What will the data reveal about these companies and their respective sectors?

Conclusion

To summarise, last week brought notable developments and significant price swings in the markets, driven by key events. 

This week, with more critical economic releases and events on the horizon, traders and investors are likely to stay vigilant, anticipating what’s next for the markets. 

Staying informed about key news and events could prove valuable.