News

Glonghui, April 17 ｜ UBS strategists stated that they believe the US stock market still has room to rise over the next year, thanks to strong corporate profit growth and a robust US economy. Currently, the US stock market has entered a new earnings season. UBS expects that the profits of S&P 500 constituent companies will grow by about 17% in the first quarter of this year, marking the fastest growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2021. UBS attributes this strong corporate profit growth to the broad momentum of the US economy and strong semiconductor demand related to artificial intelligence infrastructure spending. In addition, UBS also expects financial and materials sectors to achieve above-average performance growth and stated that “actual results are very likely to exceed expectations.” The bank pointed out that corporate earnings released so far have shown almost no negative impact from the Iran conflict.

During the Asian session on Friday, spot gold consolidated around $4,800, remaining mostly flat throughout the day as market signals were mixed. Although diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East conflict have intensified, the United States continues its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and signs of friction between the US and Iran remain. This supports the US dollar and limits gold’s upside.Israel and Lebanon reached a 10-day ceasefire agreement, sparking hopes that the US and Iran may achieve a peace deal. Trump stated that Iran is close to an agreement, with both sides agreeing in principle to hold a new round of talks. Improving risk appetite, combined with a decreasing likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate hike, has limited the dollar’s rebound and helped gold recover from a low near $4,768.US PPI data eased concerns about war-driven inflation, putting pressure on oil prices and weakening expectations for a hawkish Fed. The market estimates the probability of a rate cut by the end of the year to be around 30%, which has curbed bullish bets on the dollar and provided support for non-yielding gold.No major US economic data will be released on Friday, so the dollar’s movement will depend on speeches from Federal Reserve officials. The market’s focus is on the new round of possible US-Iran peace talks that could take place this weekend. Related news will continue to inject volatility into financial markets and present opportunities for gold, which is expected to record small gains for a third consecutive week.

Foresight News reported that Cosmos ecosystem DEX Osmosis tweeted that its proposal to "migrate to Cosmos Hub" was not approved in the vote. Moving forward, Osmosis will continue to operate as an independent and profitable chain. In the coming weeks, the team will begin work on the next phase for Osmosis, prioritizing user security and business continuity. According to previous Foresight News, Osmosis tweeted that it has updated the Cosmos Hub proposal based on feedback from validators and the community. The biggest adjustment is that no new ATOM will be minted; the required ATOM will be gradually purchased on the open market using revenue from the Osmosis DEX protocol for OSMO/ATOM conversion. The total purchase amount will remain limited to less than 2.5% of the total ATOM supply.