Social media down, energy up, USD soft and Bitcoin steady [Video]

The social media plunge pulled Nasdaq lower yesterday, as the technology-heavy index slid more than 2%, as the S&P500 lost 0.81%, while the Dow eked out a tiny 0.15%.

Fresh earnings from retailers were mixed. Abercrombie took a hit after downgrading its sales outlook, leading to a nearly 30% plunge at yesterday’s session, Best Buy cut its guidance, though the new guidance was still better than the Wall Street estimates – which certainly helped saving the day for Best Buy, while Nordstrom rose its full-year forecast, as the company predicted shoppers will continue to shop despite higher prices.

Overall, the US equity futures are in the positive again, hinting that we may see another positive attempt, in the middle of a storm.

Good news is that we see a further easing in the US 10-year yield, hinting that a significant rise above the 3% level is not on the cards for now.
But most popular investors don’t smile this days, as they remain very much concerned with the lack of trust that the Fed would bring inflation under control.

In FX and commodities, gold extended gains to $1870 per ounce, the dollar index eased below the 102 mark, the EURUSD flirted with 1.0750 and Bitcoin remains curiously steady around the $30K mark.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) raised its official cash rate to 2% as expected at today’s monetary policy meeting, and released a more hawkish than expected accompanying statement, encouraging a positive move in the kiwi.