Gold and Stock Futures Rise on Expectations of a Rate Decrease – Europe Market Wrap

The statistics from last week on declining inflation increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this year, which led to a rise in US stock futures and an all-time high in gold.

While markets were closed for Easter in Europe, Australia, and Hong Kong, S&P 500 contracts climbed 0.4%. Pre-market gains by Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Microsoft signalled a robust opening for tech companies. Monday saw the price of gold surpass $2,265 an ounce, up 1.6% from Thursday’s closing, while the dollar index continued to decline. Bitcoin dropped to less than $70,000.

The Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation began to decline this month, and this, along with an increase in household spending, implies that the bullish narrative that drove stocks to record highs this year is still in place. With the volatile food and energy components removed, the so-called core personal consumption expenditures price index increased by 0.3% in January but slowed down in February.