LBLV Ethereum surpasses $3000 and to multiply this year 2021/03/05

LBLV provides an overview of economic news.


The main economic news for Monday, April 3:

0:00 Ethereum surpasses $3000 and to multiply this year
1:06 Stock markets mixed due to holidays and US data
2:17 Oil prices fall as coronavirus hurts India’s sales
3:10 Global internet retail sales surge amid lockdowns

1. Ethereum surpasses $3000 and to multiply this year
The cryptocurrency Ether surpassed the $3,000 mark on Monday and set a new record high in a dazzling rally that overshadowed the larger Bitcoin, as investors bet that the former will be even more useful in the decentralized financial system of the future. Ether, a token transacted on the Ethereum blockchain, rose 3% on the Bitstamp exchange to $3,051.99 by lunchtime in Asia. It is currently up more than 300% for the year, easily outpacing the 95% growth of the more popular Bitcoin. According to James Quinn, managing director at Q9 Capital, part of this rally is catching up with Bitcoin's growth in late 2020. In addition, he believes it reflects improvements in the Ethereum blockchain and a growing shift toward decentralized finance (DeFi), meaning transactions outside traditional banking, with Ethereum leading the way.

2. Stock markets mixed due to holidays and US data
Asian stock markets got off to a slow start Monday as holidays in China and Japan cut trading volumes and investors anticipated a slew of data releases this week that should show the U.S. leading the global economic recovery. MSCI Asia-Pacific's broadest index of stocks outside Japan was down 0.7%, led by a 1.3% drop in Taiwan. Japan's Nikkei index was closed for the holiday, but Nikkei futures jumped 0.4%. Wall Street continued its bullish rally with Nasdaq futures up 0.1% and S&P 500 futures up 0.3%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures rose 0.1%. A busy week for U.S. economic data is expected to show strong gains, especially for the ISM manufacturing survey and April payrolls. A projected 978,000 jobs were created this month as consumers spent their stimulus money and the economy became more open. Analysts at NatWest Markets, for example, believe the number of jobs will increase by 1.25 million in April and the unemployment rate will fall to 5.2% from 6% in March.

3. Oil prices fall as coronavirus hurts India’s sales
Oil prices fell on Monday as a disastrous second wave of the coronavirus epidemic in India interrupted a recovery in oil demand in the country, offsetting optimism about a strong rebound in consumption in developed countries and China in the second half of the year. Brent crude futures for July fell 0.7%, to $66.28 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate for June was $63.11 a barrel, down 0.7%. Government restrictions aimed at fighting infections in India led to a drop in fuel sales in the world's third-largest consumer in April, preliminary data showed. The total number of COVID-19 cases in India is approaching 20 million, and analysts expect a sharper drop in demand for transportation fuel in the country in May due to additional restrictions.

4. Global internet retail sales surge amid lockdowns
Online sales accounted for nearly a fifth of total retail sales last year as store closures to combat the spread of the pandemic coronavirus contributed to the e-commerce boom, a United Nations study released Monday showed. Online sales will account for 19% of total retail sales in 2020, up from 16% a year earlier, according to estimates from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). According to the latest estimates available, global e-commerce sales grew 4% to $26.7 trillion in 2019. Data on the top 13 e-commerce companies, 11 of which are from China and the U.S., showed a marked reversal in the fortunes of companies offering services such as travel, which saw a sharp decline in gross merchandise volume (GMV).