United States – Global financial markets witnessed rapid transformations in many commodity markets, indices, and cryptocurrencies during the first half of 2024, during which they broke record levels.
This comes as artificial intelligence has dominated the growth of many companies’ stocks around the world, with the US market at the forefront, while the most prominent cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, reached a historic peak this year, before later declining.
** US stocks
In the United States, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 15.3 percent to 5,460 points during the first half of this year, compared to the close at the end of 2023.
The rise in the US index comes as companies and investors are optimistic about the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates later this year.
The Nasdaq 100 technology index broke a new historical high and rose during the first half by 19 percent to 19,682 thousand points, amid support from technology giants led by Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft.
Last month, Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia took turns at being the world’s largest listed companies, due to their rising share prices, before the first half ended with Microsoft becoming the world’s largest listed company with a market value exceeding $3.32 trillion.
** Bitcoin
During the first half of this year, the most prominent virtual currency, Bitcoin, witnessed strong and continuous increases until the end of last May, before declining slightly in June 2024.
Bitcoin started trading in 2024 at $44.6 thousand per unit, and continued to rise from approaching the date of the “Bitcoin Halving” or Bitcoin halving, which occurred on April 20.
Bitcoin halving occurs when the reward for mining a new block of Bitcoin is cut in half, and this happens every 4 years.
This Bitcoin halving policy was written into the Bitcoin mining algorithm to combat inflation by maintaining the cryptocurrency’s scarcity and preserving its market value.
In theory, a slower rate of Bitcoin issuance means that the price will rise if demand remains the same, applying the policy of supply and demand.
By May 20, Bitcoin had reached an unprecedented historical peak, at $71.4 thousand per unit, while the highest ceiling for the currency was in November 2021, at $67.8 thousand.
** Oil prices
Global crude oil prices fluctuated within $13 per barrel of Brent, between $77-$90 per barrel, based on other geopolitical and technical changes related to OPEC+ alliance decisions and the global economic mood.
Three OPEC+ meetings this year failed to bring oil prices back to their target of around $95 per barrel, as the partial economic slowdown in China and the increase in US oil supply overshadowed the alliance’s decisions to extend the production cut agreement.
Also, Middle East tensions, especially the Israeli war on Gaza and the escalation of tensions between Tel Aviv and Tehran, only pushed oil prices up for a few days, before supply and demand conditions outweighed geopolitical tensions.
By the end of last June, the price of a barrel of Brent crude for September delivery reached about $84 per barrel, up from $71 at the end of trading in 2023.
** Gold
Gold remained a favorite asset in 2024, posting returns of around 13 percent in the first half of the year compared to the close of the last session of 2023.
The price of an ounce of gold reached about $2,335 per ounce by the end of the first half of 2024, up from the closing price of the last session in 2023, which was $2,056 at the time.
Earlier in the first half of 2024, gold prices broke an unprecedented historical high of $2,453 per ounce, on May 20, 2024.
The rise in gold in the first half of 2024 is due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and expectations of monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve in the second half of the year.
Gold prices also received support from central banks increasing their gold reserves, strong demand from the Chinese retail market, and rising US debt, all of which contributed to this significant advance in the precious metal.
Anadolu Agency + Agencies
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2024-07-04 00:59:10