The head of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, denied the existence of any prior decision regarding the upcoming September and November meetings, and confirmed that the decision on monetary policy will be taken based on the economic data that will be issued during the next two months before the meeting.
The markets were widely affected by the Federal Reserve Chairman’s statements, as the US dollar index witnessed a sharp decline of 0.45% against a basket of foreign currencies, while gold prices rose by 0.73% and gold futures by $1978.9, and spot gold contracts rose by 0.62% to 1977. dollars an ounce.
US Treasury yields fell sharply, with the 10-year Treasury yield dropping 1.33% to 3.865%, and the 2-year Treasury yield dropping 0.17% to 4.885%.
Concerning the US market, the major indices witnessed an increase as the Nasdaq rose by 0.18%, the S&P 500 by 0.20%, and the Dow Jones by 0.49%.
As for the digital currency market, Bitcoin witnessed an increase of 0.41% to reach $29,382.7, and Ethereum rose by 0.64% to reach $1871.78. We noticed that the Solana currency achieved the largest increase, by 8.29%, to reach $ 25,181, and the ripple rose by 1.91%.
It turned out that the downward movement of Treasury yields and the rise in alternative assets such as gold and digital currencies came as a result of the markets’ optimism about the Fed’s tendency not to raise interest rates in the near future, given the repeated assurances from the Federal Reserve Chairman that the decision will depend on upcoming economic data. This expectation to avoid raising interest rates has led investors to seek safe haven in other assets.
