Bitcoin soar past 17000, gold fell below 1880,U.S. dollar hits a new low

Yesterday Market Review

Gold

Gold fell below $1880 on Tuesday. The spot gold closed at $1879.91 per ounce, the volatility within the day is $1876.80-$1893.35.

"There is a lack of conviction on the trajectory of safe haven flows, we've all this vaccine optimism in place, but we also have the U.S. and Europe still struggling with the pandemic," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. "Longer term trends are still supportive for gold to rally, but we're seeing some investors kind of abandon their bullish bets. The vaccine news for many has made holding gold longer term less appealing."

Gold shed as much as 1.3% on Monday after Moderna said its vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a late-stage trial, becoming the second U.S. drugmaker after Pfizer to report results exceeded expectations.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales rose less than expected in October and could slow further amid rising infections and new restrictions.

"Gold is trapped in a range. It's limited on the upside, $1,900 is the key level of resistance, and $1,850 is key support," said Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago.

The silver closed at $24.720, the volatility within the day is $24.179-$25.055.

Bitcoin reached $17,000 for the first time since just after the burst of the cryptocurrency bubble almost three years ago.

Demand for more diverse, stable products that take less risk is proof that the rally is driven largely by sophisticated players using them to hedge against the downside for underlying holdings, rather than the pump and dump, 100x rekt trades we saw three years ago," said Denis Vinokourov, head of research at Bequant, a London-based digital asset firm. "Bitcoin may even go parabolic in a super charged rally past $20,000 as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday."

Forex

The dollar fell to a one-week low on Tuesday.

The U.S. dollar index closed at 92.41; the volatility within the day is 92.25 - 92.61.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Tuesday the Fed is committed to "using all of our tools to support the recovery for as long as it takes until the job is well and truly done." He made the comments at a virtual event hosted by the Bay Area Council in California.

Data showing U.S. retail sales rising less than expected in October had minimal dollar impact. 

Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.4% to 104.20, while the euro inched higher by 0.1% to $1.1862.

The euro, however, fell against a broadly stronger pound, which gained on media reports that Britain could reach a post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union by early next week.

Stock Market

Wall Street reversed course on Tuesday, with stocks pulling back one day after reaching new record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 167.09 points, or 0.56%, to close at 29,783.35. The S&P 500 fell 15.56 points, or 0.43%, to end at 3,611.35 while the Nasdaq Composite fell 24.79 points or 0.21% at 11,899.34.

Apple (AAPL-US) fell 0.76%; Facebook (FB-US) fell 1.42%; Alphabet (GOOGL-US) fell 0.70%; Amazon (AMZN-US) rose 0.15%; Microsoft (MSFT-US) fell 1.28% .

Tesla jumped on Tuesday after the S&P 500 Index Committee said it would add the electric-car manufacturer to its index. The move is likely to boost demand for shares of Tesla, as trillions of dollars are indexed and benchmarked to the S&P 500.

Amazon climbed after it announced the launch of a digital pharmacy, setting itself up to directly compete with retail pharmacy chains like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid.

Merck, Pfizer, and AbbVie got a boost on Tuesday after quarterly filings showed that Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway bought billions of dollars' worth of shares in the pharmaceutical companies.

Crude Oil

Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as worries that lockdowns to fight a new surge in coronavirus cases could hit short-term demand counteracted hopes for a vaccine and the possibility of tighter OPEC+ supply policies.

West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $41.383, volatility within the day is $41.321-$41.578. International benchmark Brent crude closed at $43.815, volatility within the day is $43.206-$44.355.

On Monday, Brent closed at a 10-week high following Moderna Inc's announcement that its coronavirus vaccine was 94.5% effective. That followed similar news from Pfizer Inc last week.

But the short-term economic outlook remains hazy with several European nations tightening restrictions as coronavirus cases increase.

To tackle weaker energy demand amid a wave of new coronavirus cases, Saudi Arabia called on fellow OPEC+ members to be flexible in responding to oil market needs as it builds the case for a tighter production policy in 2021.

Focus Today

18:00(GMT+8):Euro Area Core Inflation Rate YoY Final (OCT), Forecast: 0.2%, Previous:0.2%;

23:00(GMT+8): Fed Evans Speech;

23:30(GMT+8): EIA Cushing Crude Oil Stocks Change (13/NOV), Previous:-0.518M;