ETHUSD bulls are trying to stabilize above the $2500 support level following last week’s spike above $2700 as the markets celebrated the first-ever spot Bitcoin ETF launch.

Concerns about potential Red Sea ship attacks dampened risk sentiment. Comments from ECB officials opposing early rate cuts cast a shadow on the global rate outlook.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves takes on a cut back on food for kids by not accepting a fully funded program.

Albemarle Corp.is growing its sales but lithium prices have depressed earnings. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) is expected to see a double digit decline in earnings in 2024.

Stocks will likely open slightly lower this morning, but the S&P 500 may further extend a consolidation below the 4,800 level.

Conversely, a turnaround and a break above the 0.6750 level could propel the pair towards the 0.6850 and potentially the 0.69 level.

There has been a clear pushback against bets for early rate cuts from the Fed as evidenced in the price action we’ve been seeing in recent sessions.

UBS analysts raised the year-end price objective for the S&P 500 by more than 6% despite the market's slow start in 2024.

Lithium Carbonate Price Trends: Lithium carbonate prices have stabilized below CNY 97,500 per tonne, following a significant drop from the highs of 2023, indicating a market balance between supply and demand.

Mereo BioPharma develops therapeutics for oncology and rare diseases, with strong buy recommendations and price targets between $4 and $5.

A look at the cozy relationships permitting securitized bullion to be used for market liquidity purposes.

The $40,000 level is the most apparent, with additional support from the 50-day Exponential Moving Average just above it. The market also finds support around $38,000 and $35,000.

GBP is falling today after the latest labor market data released this morning showed a firm drop in wage growth over the three months to November.

The US market resumed its activity after the long weekend break due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day starting a week with a diverse range of economic data releases.

With oil not rallying immediately either, this means uncertainty and rush to just dollar safe haven rather than sudden and lasting flip to bearishness in all risk assets.

The US dollar is bid across the board and posting its best session of the month. It is up between about 0.5% (Canadian dollar) to almost 1.0% (Australian dollar) among the G10 currencies.

The December 13th Fed pivot lit a fire under risk assets, leading equity shorts to cover and ETF inflows to jump.

We expect the ECB to stay on hold and give very little indication about the timing of any upcoming rate cut.

Thanks to the Martin Luther King Day holiday, FX markets were quiet-ish on Monday without the participation of US banks.

For a week that had more negative than positive headlines, the S&P 500 perhaps surprisingly turned in a pretty good week. The index rose 1.8% to 4,783.83.