April 24. Binance allowed deposits with Russian cards

The Binance crypto exchange has returned to users from Russia the opportunity to replenish deposits using Qiwi wallets and Russian bank cards.

The Binance support service states: «You can make a deposit on our platform using a Russian card via Qiwi. At the same time, all Visa, Mastercard and other cards issued in Russia are supported.»

Among the currencies that can be used to replenish the deposit, rubles, Turkish lira, British pounds, euros, Kazakhstani tenge, Australian dollar, Ukrainian hryvnia, Czech crown and a number of others are offered. At the same time, there is no US dollar.

Recall that in March last year, against the background of events in Ukraine, the crypto exchange announced the suspension of operations using Mastercard and Visa bank cards issued in Russia. In 2023, Binance also banned Russian citizens and persons residing in the country from making transactions with dollars and euros through the money transfer service between individuals (P2P) in connection with the tenth package of sanctions adopted by the EU.

May 5. Apple's profit in the first half of the year fell by 9%

The manufacturer of phones and smart devices Apple has presented a profit report in the first half of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which ended on April 1.

The company's net profit decreased by 9% year-on-year and reached $54.158 billion. Diluted earnings per share were $3.41 compared to $3.62 a year earlier. The company's revenue for the reporting period increased by 4% to $211.99 billion.

In the second quarter of fiscal year 2022-2023, Apple's net profit decreased by 3.4% to $24.16 billion. Diluted earnings per share were $1.52, the same as a year earlier. The company's revenue for the reporting period decreased by 2.5% to $94.836 billion.

At the same time, revenue from iPhone sales in the second quarter increased by 1.5% y/y and amounted to $51.334 billion, Mac – decreased by 31.3% to $7.4168 billion, iPad – by 12% to $6.67 billion.

Sales of devices in the Wearables, Home and Accessories segment (which includes Apple Watch and AirPods) showed a decrease of 0.6% to $8.757 billion, and sales of the Services division rose by 5.5% to $20.907 billion.

May 17. The pound remains under pressure after the speech of the head of the Bank of England

The British pound sterling has been showing a significant drop in recent days in a pair with the US dollar, falling to the level of 1.2422. On Wednesday, after a speech by the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, who said that the central bank expects price pressure to ease in April, the pound remains under pressure. 

Speaking at the annual world conference at the UK Chamber of Commerce, Bailey said that if price pressures prove more sustainable, further policy tightening will be required. At the same time, he added that there were signs of some weakening of the labor market.

Yesterday, data on unemployment in the UK were published: it rose to 3.9%. However, the growth rate of wages, including bonuses, remained unchanged, and this forced market participants to moderate expectations for further rate increases.

The current quote of the GBP/USD pair is 1.2477. The EUR/GBP pair also shows a drop during the day – to the level of 0.8677. 

The Bank of England began tightening monetary policy at the end of 2021. Since then, the British central bank has raised its key interest rate by 400 basis points in total. However, to date, market opinions regarding the next step of the central bank are divided.

Thus, the probability of a rate hike at the June meeting of the Bank of England by 25 basis points is 66%. Analysts note that the further steps of the regulator will depend on the incoming macroeconomic data, while the inflation report for April, which is expected next week, will be important.

May 30. Food inflation in the UK has fallen for the first time in two years

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), food inflation in Great Britain fell for the first time in two years from a record 15.7% in April to 15.4% in May. The last time the indicator decreased was in August 2021. 

Analysts note that the reason for the decline was the fall in electricity prices and the cost of production costs.

According to the BRC, price inflation for canned food rose to 13.1% from 12.9% in April, and for perishable products – fell from 17.8% to 17.2%.

At the same time, the consumer price index presented by BRC increased by 0.2% compared to April – up to 9% – due to the low exchange rate of the pound, increased labor costs, as well as electricity bills for stores.

Earlier, the National Statistical Service of Great Britain reported that real incomes of the population continue to fall at the fastest pace in ten years against the background of the inflation rate exceeding the increase in wages. As a result of record inflation, there is a wave of strikes in the country – employees of railway companies, lawyers, airport employees, postmen and workers in other fields come out to protest.

June 16. Natural gas prices in Europe jumped by 30% due to the closure of the field

Natural gas prices in Europe have soared by 30% due to the closure of the largest Groningen gas field in the Netherlands. This decision was made after a series of earthquakes that damaged thousands of homes. 

Although a final decision has not yet been made, the official closure of the field is expected after a government meeting at the end of June. This deposit is the oldest in the country and it has been in operation for 60 years. 

This news caused a significant increase in gas futures prices, and then prices stabilized and rose by 10%, reaching 42.16 euros per megawatt hour. 

The closure of Groningen is due to frequent earthquakes caused by gas extraction, which have led to the destruction of thousands of homes in the region since the 1980s. Plans to close the field were accelerated after a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Mark Rutte and accusations of an ineffective government response to the problems. 

The Groningen field will operate at minimum levels until the final closure and about 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas will still be produced.

September 8. German inflation slowed to 6.4% in August

According to the final data of the German Federal Statistical Office, in August consumer prices that meet European Union standards increased by 6.4% compared to the same period last year.

Thus, inflation slowed down from 6.5% in July. The result corresponds to the preliminary assessment and forecasts of experts.

On a monthly basis, prices for consumer goods and services increased by 0.4%, after an increase of 0.5% in July.

Inflation, calculated only by German standards, also slowed down – in August the indicator fell to 6.1% y/y from 6.2% in July. This was the minimum growth in the last three months.

The cost of energy in Germany accelerated its growth to 8.3% from 5.7%. The cost of food increased by 9% (in July – by 11%).

Core inflation, excluding volatile energy and food prices, remained stable and amounted to 5.5% y/y in August, remaining at the level of the previous month.

Preliminary data on the dynamics of inflation in Germany in September will be published on September 28.

September 11. Oil market news

On Monday morning, oil prices remain stable in the area above $90 per barrel. 

The current quotation of Brent crude oil is $90.30. The maximum reached at the end of last week is $90.83. North American WTI oil shows similar dynamics: the current price is $86.97 per barrel, Friday's maximum is $87.75. 

These marks were the highest since November last year. Over the past week, prices for Brent rose by 2.4%, and for WTI – by 2.3%.

The current slight decline in prices is probably a technical correction. Although the oil market is still under pressure from concerns related to the slowdown in economic growth in China.

China returned to inflation in August, but the growth rate was slower than expected. Consumer prices (CPI index) in the country last month increased by 0.1% in annual terms, which was below the average analysts' expectations of 0.2%. In July, the decline was 0.3%.

This week, attention should be paid to the publication of OPEC's monthly report on the oil market, which is scheduled for Tuesday. And on Wednesday, the US Department of Energy will present a weekly report on crude oil reserves in the country.

The main events by the morning: March 21

The Fed kept its key rate at 5.5%. Jerome Powell said that a rate hike could stifle the country's economy and budget due to rising public debt costs. At the same time, inflationary pressures are still too high to mitigate monetary policy.

The US dollar is getting cheaper after the Fed meeting, which did not bring surprises to the market. The Fed's forecasts for 2025 suggest only three rate cuts instead of the previously expected four, which somewhat reduces the prospects for the dollar and highlights uncertainty in the US economic future, including the risk of continued inflation.

There are more and more problems with the supply of Russian oil to India. Reliance, India's largest energy company, has stopped accepting Sovcomflot tankers with oil on board due to fears of secondary sanctions. The company requires a change of the carrier. 

German companies are concerned that the EU is losing its attractiveness for doing business. More than half of the surveyed German entrepreneurs (56%) noted a decrease in the attractiveness of the EU as a business platform over the past 5 years, while only 7% of executives see the situation in a positive light. The main reasons were the growing bureaucracy and trade restrictions.

Japan is demonstrating a reduction in trade with Russia. In February, total exports from Japan to Russia decreased by 33.6%, while imports from Russia fell by 10.2%. Nevertheless, there is an increase in certain sectors: LNG supplies from Russia increased by 8%, fish and fish products – by 9%, Japanese motorcycles to Russia – by 13.2%.

The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to file a new antitrust lawsuit against Apple. This time, the company is accused of restricting access to iPhone hardware features. This case will be the third time in the last 14 years that the agency is suing the tech giant, which may be part of a broader Biden administration campaign against the dominance of large technology companies in the United States.

The price of gold continues to break records

Gold, which ended trading at a historic high on Thursday, continues to rise on Monday amid expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. On Friday, due to Easter, the exchanges of the United States and many European countries were closed.

The price of June gold contracts at the close of trading on the New York Comex exchange on Thursday was $2,238.4 per ounce. On Monday, the futures price rose 1.8% to reach $2,286.35. In March, the price of gold increased by 8.9%, and for the entire first quarter – by 8%.

Analysts note that the unprecedented rally in gold was caused by softer inflation data in the United States, which increased expectations of a Fed interest rate cut in June. The consumer price index (PCE) in the United States in February increased by 0.3% compared to the previous month, which was lower than analysts' expectations, who predicted an inflation rate of 0.4%.

Markets estimate the probability of a Fed base rate cut in June at about 70%, and also expect that by the end of 2024 it will decrease by 75 basis points from the current level of 5.25-5.5% per annum.

As you know, lower interest rates create a favorable environment for gold, increasing its attractiveness as an investment asset. Gold investors act with confidence that the Fed will prefer to lower interest rates regardless of whether inflation reaches the target level.
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