Weekly Market Update ☀️
Markets climb on tech strength and easing tariffs — while crypto pops and M&A heats up.
Let’s break it down 👇
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• Weekly Moves in Global Equity Markets and Gold 🏦
➡️ Global equity markets posted modest gains over the past week, with notable strength in U.S. technology stocks.
The Nasdaq 100 climbed from 19,867 on May 7 to 21,319 by May 14, marking a robust gain of approximately 7.3% for the period.
The rally was led by large-cap technology names, with the Nasdaq Composite recording its sixth consecutive winning session by May 14, buoyed by strong performances from companies like Super Micro Computer, Nvidia, and AMD.
➡️ The S&P 500 advanced slightly, closing at 5,892 on May 14, which was flat from last week’s levels.
European equities followed the Nasdaq, supported by positive earnings and improved sentiment around trade relations.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index rose from 5,286 on May 7 to 5,500 currently, a gain of roughly 3.89%.
➡️ Gold prices declined by 6.1% over the past seven days, cooling off from their multi-month rally.
The commodity space, however, saw some softness in oil, as West Texas Intermediate futures slipped 1.2% to $62.90 per barrel on May 14.
➡️ Bitcoin (+6.6%) is consolidating above the $100,000 level after a strong upward move on Friday, currently changing hands for $103,573.
The GMCI 30 ($GM30), an index of the top 30 digital assets, stands at 166 (+11.8%), showing increased interest in risk-on assets that follow Bitcoin's positive trajectory.
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• Macro Environment, Economic Data, Policy Decisions, and Bitcoin ETF Flows 🪙
➡️ The macro backdrop this week was dominated by a mix of resilient economic data and evolving policy headlines.
In the U.S., the April jobs report exceeded expectations with 177,000 new jobs created and the unemployment rate steady at 4.2%, reinforcing the labor market’s strength.
The ISM services index also beat forecasts, rising to 51.6 from 50.8, signaling ongoing expansion in the services sector.
These positive data points tempered expectations for imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts, though markets still anticipate easing later in the year as the impact of tariffs unfolds.
➡️ On the policy front, the U.S. announced a reduction in the “de minimis” tariff on small-value Chinese shipments from 120% to 54%, effective May 14, following a bilateral agreement to de-escalate trade tensions.
This move is part of a broader rollback of tariffs imposed since early April, aiming to ease friction between the two largest economies.
Equity markets responded positively to the prospect of improved U.S.-China relations, though some caution remains amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.
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• Sector-Specific Insights 🔍
➡️ After Ethereum's successful Pectra Upgrade last week, $ETH jumped higher, currently up 56.6% over the past 30 days.
Analysts at Bernstein attributed the rally to an impending boom in stablecoin products, increased Layer 2 usage, and an unwind of $ETH short positions.
GMCI's Ethereum Ecosystem index (+19%) was only beaten by GMCI's Solana Memes Index this week, climbing +22%..
➡️ M&A activity has also seen a surge thanks to Coinbase's acquisition of crypto derivatives exchange Deribit, in a deal worth $2.9 billion.
Robinhood enters the Canadian market by acquiring crypto trading platform WonderFi for $179 million, Stripe bets big on US Dollar stablecoins following its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, and Meta voices its plans to enter the stablecoin market again.
➡️Overall sentiment has shifted considerably over the past few weeks. It has revealed that the tide lifts all boats, but not to the same degree.
Comparing price movements over the past 30 days across GMCI's index offering, one can see the Cosmos Ecosystem (+21.4%), DeFi (+27.4%), and U.S. (+27.8%) indices on the lower end, compared to the Solana Memes (+76.1%), AI (+64.1%), and Meme (+59.8%) indices at the top.
If you would like to track market movements in real-time, check out our website https://t.co/VJy5ijScWl or head to https://t.co/H3HvkLI8mH to stay informed.
See you next week!