Market watch: 20th January 2025
Today is the day. In a few hours, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. Although US markets are closed, traders would do well to stay alert for any unexpected developments or announcements from the incoming administration. Market participants should be habituated to this by now, but expect the unexpected. Any mention of tariffs or trade wars or even any cryptocurrency related announcements could violently swing the needle. The economic calendar is more or less empty for the day so all eyes are on the incoming president.
For those who missed the drama over the weekend, Donald Trump released his very own meme coin on Saturday, aptly named “TRUMP”. The token, released on the Solana blockchain, initially sold for around $10 before reaching over $70 on Sunday, briefly pushing it into the top 15 largest market caps in the cryptocurrency sphere. Ethics of the token release can be debated ad nauseum, but the message is clear: the new administration is vocally pro-crypto.
The Dollar appears stable this morning, the DXY remaining comfortably above 109 despite a minor drop in early trading hours. As already mentioned, the NYSE is closed today so nothing going on there. On Friday, the Bank of Japan will have to come to a decision on the next interest rate target for the Yen. Traders are currently predicting a 25 bps rise to 0.5%. A lot of money rests on the difference in interest rates between the Dollar and the Yen, in fact the last time the BoJ intervened markets went absolutely haywire.