Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire to start almost immediatelyTwo killed in drone strike in Southern Lebanon after ceasefireCanada April retail sales +0.5% vs +0.6% expectedUK PM Starmer to weigh future over the weekend – report“Multiple” cabinet ministers will tell Starmer to set out a timeline for leaving – reportIran foreign min says plans underway for future meeting with US
Markets:
Gold down $49 to $4160WTI crude oil up 94-cents to $77.54US markets closedS&P 500 futures down 0.2%JPY leads, CAD lags
The US was on holiday on Friday and that limited market moves to wrap up the week. There was news though as Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire. The market took at that as good news initially with oil falling more than $1 but those moves slowly unwound as the fighting in Southern Lebanon continued virtually unabated. As of the time of writing there were reports of ongoing shelling so that’s worth watching over the weekend. Other reports continue to say that Iran isn’t happy and Trump said in an interview with NBC that Israel needs to give the ceasefire a chance.
In general, the US dollar eased in North American trade but one outliner was the loonie. Friday’s retail sales number looked fine on the headline but below the surface, core sales were down 0.7% m/m and all the headline sales increase was on gasoline because of higher prices. USD/CAD rose to the highest since November.
Gold attempted a bounce early in US trade but after a quick $30 pop it slowly faded before finding a footing at current levels. It will be a space to watch in the week ahead as the bulls struggle to mount a defense.
Overall, it was a strange end to the week as the bond market priced in a more-hawkish Fed but most other markets ignored the shift. Perhaps that resolves itself next week or perhaps the excitement in AI continues to carry the day.
Have a great weekend.
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.