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Hello everyone, today XM Foreign Exchange will bring you "[XM Group]: Focusing on the G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting, gold prices briefly hit a rapid decline in post-3500s, and the easing of trade tensions boosts optimism." Hope it will be helpful to you! The original content is as follows:
On Wednesday (April 23, Beijing time), spot gold fell more than 1%, trading around 3346.31; gold prices fell after briefly hitting the all-time high of $3500 on Tuesday, as US Treasury Secretary Bescent said trade tensions would ease, which stimulated optimism in the stock market and boosted the US dollar. At the same time, U.S. crude oil rose more than 2%, trading at $64.35 per barrel, helped by the US imposing new sanctions on Iran and the stock market rise, and is expected to target the $65 per barrel mark.
St. Louis Fed Chairman Mousalem and Federal Reserve Director Waller delivered opening speeches at an event; the G20 Finance and Central Bank Ministerial Meeting was held.
U.S. stocks rebounded on Tuesday as a string of good quarterly earnings and signals of easing trade tensions attracted over-the-counter buyers.
The market generally rebounded, with the three major U.S. stock indexes all gaining more than 2.5%. Investors ignored Trump's fierce rhetoric towards Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, who is widely regarded as a stable force in the market.
Minneapolis Fed Chairman Kashkali said when asked about Trump's attack on Powell that the Fed's independence is the "foundation" for better economic results. But the S&P 500 has been hit hard for weeks due to the capricious and multi-line tariff disputes in the White House, and is still nearly 14% below its closing record high set on February 19.
Ryan Detr, Chief Marketing Strategist at CarsonGroup"The fierce tariff standoff has eased due to Becente's remarks, which helped push up the stock market. The roller coaster trend continues, and Washington understands that uncertainty surrounding tariffs are destroying the market, and maybe we can get some positive news on trade."
These uncertainties prompted the IMF to lower its 2025 U.S. economic growth expectations to 1.8%, citing the impact of U.S. tariffs, which have reached a 100-year high.
So far, 82 companies in the S&P 500 have announced their financial reports. According to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), 73% of the companies performed better than expected.
Analysts currently forecast overall earnings growth for S&P 500 components in the first quarter to be 8.1%, down from 12.2% forecast at the beginning of the quarter, according to LSEG data. "It's no surprise that the current earnings show a good continuation of fundamentals," said Bill Merz, head of capital market research at Bank of America Wealth Management, said, adding that investors are analyzing corporate guidance to "clear the business' plans for coping with tariff policies."
Industrial enterprise group 3M rose 8.1%, after the company announced better-than-expected first-quarter profit expectations, but the company said its 2025 profit could be hit by tariffs. Northrop Graman's stock price plummeted 12.7% after a sharp drop in profits.
Aerospace and defense company RTX plummeted 9.8% after it said tariffs could have a $850 million impact on its annual profit.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.66% to 39,186.98 points; the S&P 500 rose 2.51% to 5,287.76 points; and the Nasdaq rose 2.71% to 16,300.42 points. Gold prices fell more than 1% on Tuesday, briefly hitting an all-time high of $3,500 earlier in the session as U.S. Treasury Secretary Becent Becent suggested trade tensions would ease, sparking stock market optimism and boosting the dollar.
Spot gold fell 1.5% to $3372.68 per ounce, and rose 2.2% to $3500.05 intraday. Meanwhile, the settlement price of US gold futures fell 0.2% to $3,419.40. "The (U.S. Treasury Secretary) remarks this afternoon suggest that the trade war may ease, but this is when (gold) starts to be sold off," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. "Bester said Tuesday that he believes trade tensions will ease, but he said future negotiations will be a "hard" negotiation that has not yet begun.
The U.S. stock market rose more than 2%, and the dollar rebounded after Becente said the tariff deadlock was unsustainable. The dollar index rose 0.7%, making gold for other currenciesIt is more expensive for holders. "Today's rise in stocks and the U.S. dollar index is not good for the gold market," said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at KitcoMetals.
Similarly, spot gold has risen 29% so far this year, hitting the 28th all-time high on Tuesday, hitting the $3,500 mark for the first time.
JPMorgan said in a report on Tuesday that it expects gold price gains to continue and expects gold prices to break above $4,000 an ounce next year amid rising recession risks, raising U.S. tariffs and continued trade tensions.
Traders will also look at the speeches of several Fed officials later this week, hoping to find clues to future monetary policy as people worry about the Fed’s independence. Gold's relative strength index (RSI) is 74, indicating that it is in an overbought state.
Spot silver fell 0.7% to $32.47 per ounce; platinum fell 0.8% to $953.64 per ounce; palladium rose 0.6% to $932.75 per ounce.
Oil prices closed up more than $1 on Tuesday, rebounding from a sharp sell-off in the previous trading day, helped by new U.S. sanctions on Iran and stock market gains. Brent crude oil futures rose 1.8% to settle at $67.44 a barrel. U.S. crude oil contract rose 2% in May, with a settlement price of $64.32. The more active U.S. crude oil contract also rose 2% in June, with a settlement price of $63.47. The U.S. imposed new sanctions on Tuesday against Iran's liquefied petroleum and crude oil transport giants and their corporate networks.
John Kilduff, partner at AgainCapital in New York, said that while Washington and Tehran negotiated over Iran's nuclear program made progress over the weekend, the failure to reach a deal could have a serious impact on Iran's oil exports amid the U.S. sanctions escalating. "Either reach some kind of nuclear deal or the U.S. strives to lower Iran's oil supply to zero, and now it's becoming more and more like the latter," said John Kilduff. "The stock market surge shows that investors' risk appetite has increased, which has also driven oil prices higher." Brent and U.S. benchmark crude oil prices fell more than 2% on Monday as U.S.-Iran negotiations progressed and stock market sell-offs.
Despite a rebound on Tuesday, investors remain concerned that U.S. tariffs could weaken global economic activity, putting pressure on future oil prices.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sharply lowered its economic outlook forecast for this year on Tuesday, citing U.S. tariffs reached its highest level in a century and trade tensions increased.
In addition, according to documents seen by Reuters, the Russian Ministry of Economic Affairs lowered its average Brent crude oil price forecast for 2025 by nearly 17% based on the September forecast. Analysts expect U.S. crude oil inventories last week, Reuters survey showed on Tuesdaydecline.
The dollar recovered some lost ground on Tuesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Bescent said at a closed-door meeting that he believed trade tensions would ease.
Best said neither side believes the status quo is sustainable, according to a person who heard his speech to investors at a JPMorgan conference.
The dollar index, which measures the dollar's exchange rate against the other six major currencies, rose 0.6% to 98.937 points, and the lowest level in the previous trading day hit 97.923 points, a new low since March 2022.
Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive, said: "There are signs that the pressure to calm things up is increasing."
The dollar hovered around multi-year lows against the euro and Swiss franc on Tuesday as President Trump's attack on the Fed raised concerns about central bank independence.
Suspicions about the independence of the Federal Reserve threaten the value of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency, analysts noted that many believe investors who are overexposed to U.S. assets may divest.
Trump increased his criticism of Fed Chairman Powell on Monday, calling him a "big loser" and demanding that he lower interest rates "immediately" or face the risk of an economic slowdown. "The confidence of firing Powell in the dollar and the U.S. capital markets as a whole will be disastrous," Button said last Friday, Hassett, director of the U.S. National Economic Commission, said that the president and his team were continuing to study whether it could be fired, and Powell said last week that the Fed could remain patient in judging how to formulate policies.
The worst case for the US dollar is that Powell succumbs to and cut interest rates urgently, although this is still a low probability event." Barclays raised the EUR/USD forecast to $1.15 based on the assessment of the Fed's removal as a low probability event, but believes that further corrections may be needed soon if the situation escalates.
The US dollar rose 0.42% against the yen to 141.470 yen, which had previously fallen below the 140 psychological mark, the first time since mid-September.
Some analysts believe that Washington may put pressure on Tokyo to help support the yen, but Japan believes there is limited room for direct action.
BofA Japan Forex strategist Shusuke Yamada said that the respective basic dynamics are different, and the appreciation of the yen is more vulnerable than the euro, although both currencies rose about 12% against the US dollar. The rise in the yen is accompanied by a sharp rise in speculative positions and an increasing focus on the potential US-Japan currency agreement, while Japan's structural capital outflow is no longer the focus of market attention.
The US dollar rose 1.17% against the Swiss franc to 0.819 Swiss francs, hitting a 10-year low of 0.8042 Swiss francs in the previous trading day.
The euro fell 0.73% to $1.1424, and jumped to $1.1573 on Monday, the first time since November 2021.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bagae said on the 22nd that the expert-level talks between the technical teams of Iran and the United States were postponed to the 26th. According to a statement issued by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 22nd, Bagae said that according to Oman's proposal and with the consent of the Iranian and the United States delegation, the technical talks within the framework of the indirect talks between Iran and the United States, which was originally scheduled to be held on the 23rd, will be postponed to the 26th, and the heads of delegations of the two countries will attend.
Minneapolis Fed Governor Neel Kashkari said the Fed has a responsibility to ensure that tariffs do not cause sustained inflation problems, which responds to recent remarks by Fed Chairman Powell. “We are just not sure now whether this is a one-time impact on inflation or a long-term impact,” “our Fed’s job is to make sure that this does not have a longer-term impact. ”
On April 22 local time, the US Social Security Bureau proposed a second round of "buyout" plan, which is for employees in non-key positions at the headquarters. It is reported that the US Social Security Bureau is one of the latest federal agencies to propose a second round of "buyout" plan. The agency plans to lay off about 7,000 employees, accounting for 12%. Employees must choose whether to accept the second round of "buyout" plan before April 25, and employees who accept the plan must leave before May 5. The agency said that about 365 Social Security Bureau employees signed up for the first "buyout" plan.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bescent Bescent is busy reaching a trade agreement with India, South Korea, Japan and Australia, but it is reported that the agreement will not be reached soon. Vice President Vance becomes the trade talks The "main executor" of the verdict to speed up the agreement with India and other allies.
On the 22nd local time, Russian President's press secretary Peskov said in an interview with the Financial Times that negotiations between Russia and the United States require a lot of time and stressful work is underway. The Financial Times also quoted Russian sources as saying that Russian President Putin suggested Stop conflict along the current line of contact, Putin made the suggestion to U.S. special envoy Witkov in early April.
Hedge fund giant and billionaire John Paulson said that central banks will continue to buy gold in a situation of political and economic turmoil, promoting diversification of reserve asset structure. As one of Wall Street's most determined gold supporters, Paulson saidGold is "towarding a new level of valuation" as the escalation of the global trade war casts a shadow on the economic outlook and investors are fleeing U.S. stocks, bonds and the dollar to move towards safe-haven assets.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns that the trade war initiated by U.S. President Trump is threatening to protect global financial stability in the banking and insurance industries since the 2008 financial crisis, and urges policymakers from all countries to strengthen their financial industry resilience. The Washington-based IMF pointed out in a report released on Tuesday that the latest tariff news has caused a significant revaluation of some assets and triggered increased volatility in stock, foreign exchange and bond markets. If the economic outlook deteriorates, more adjustments may occur. “The risk of global financial stability has risen significantly,” the IMF said, warning that some financial institutions — especially high leverage — may face pressure. "The main trigger for further sell-offs may be geopolitical risks."
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday that it would conduct comprehensive reforms to the State Department, including the abolition of projects and the closure of some offices, but a proposed executive order on the closure of multiple embassies abroad was not adopted. "According to the current structure, the State Council is bloated and inefficient and cannot effectively fulfill its core diplomatic mission under the new pattern of competition for major powers today," Rubio said in a statement. "In the past 15 years, the State Council's institutions have expanded unprecedentedly and expenditures have also increased significantly. But taxpayers not only did not see corresponding returns, but instead witnessed the increasingly declining efficiency and effectiveness of diplomatic work." Rubio said that the reform plan will integrate some regional functions, close redundant institutions, and cut off some projects that are "inconsistent with the interests of the core U.S. nationals."
On April 22 local time, the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a statement announcing the imposition of sanctions on Iran's liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) giant Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh and its corporate network. The network is responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil to overseas markets, the statement said.
Institutional data show that as of the time of publication on April 22, among the listed companies that have disclosed their first quarter reports, qualified overseas institutional investors (QFII) appeared on the list of shareholders of the top ten circulating shares of 73 companies. Many foreign institutions said that as China's economy continues to recover and improve, policy dividends continue to be released, and market reforms are deepening, China's assets continue to be optimistic. In the future, policy measures to attract foreign investment through higher levels of opening up are worth looking forward to.
Li Bin, deputy director and spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, answered a reporter's question on the foreign exchange receipts and expenditure situation in the first quarter of 2025: In February this year, the country issued the "2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment", providing a good business environment for foreign investment to come to China to develop businesses. At the same time, my country has steadily expanded the opening of the financial market and expanded cross-border investment and financing channels. The RMB's diversified asset allocation function is highlighted, and the domestic securities market's attractiveness to foreign capital is expected to continue to increase. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange continues to deepen reform and opening up in the foreign exchange field, and will continue to introduce policies and measures to support the development of cross-border trade and facilitate cross-border investment and financing to help better stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment.
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