1. GE, Avon Products and Facebook Lead Massive U.S. Equities Rally
A massive U.S. equities rally pushed the S&P500 (SPX500) and NASDAQ (NAS100) 0.86% and 1.37% higher on Thursday with key players Avon Products (AVP), Facebook (FB) and General Electric (GE) leading gains. Facebook shrugged off concerns about scandals and calls for boycotts to post strong financial results for the fourth quarter of 2018, to close 10.82% higher. General Electric finished the day almost 12% higher after saying it’s shrinking its debt and agreeing to a settlement over its obsolete subprime-mortgage business, while AVP closed at a massive 23.81% higher after the cosmetics company announced the next step in its turnaround plan, saying it would cut its workforce and trim its inventory.*
2. Investors Are Holding Their Breath Ahead Of NFP Report
The dollar will likely remain in the spotlight today ahead of a weaker NFP report. U.S. job growth likely slowed in January after December’s weather-related outsized surge, but the pace of hiring probably remains fast enough to support the economy. Meanwhile, the USD remains supported on the latest US/China trade talks optimism. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal as the top U.S. negotiator reported “substantial progress” in two days of high-level talks.**
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3. Another Crypto Blood Bath Shocks The Markets
OmiseGO, Ripple (XRP) and IOTA led today’s crypto-bloodbath after noting a rally yesterday. Ripple’s XRP tumbled 6.64 percent as of 8:30 GMT after adding some 10% to its market capitalization and sending the likes of bitcoin and ethereum higher on Thursday. Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse sparked speculation a highly-anticipated tie-up with rival Swift could be back on the table. Meanwhile OMG and IOTA also dipped 6.6% and 5.8% against the US dollar respectively as of 8:30 GMT.***
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*Source: Forbes, Feb 1, 2019 3:25 AM GMT
**Source: Reuters, Feb 1, 2019 4:16 AM GMT
***Source: CNBC, Feb 1, 2019 3:03 AM ET
