Markets Reach Correction Territory And Find No Place To Hide!

This is our weekly market update, where we start in the US, cross to Europe and Asia and end in Australia, covering commodities and crypto along the way. Markets have remained highly volatile, thanks to the War in the Gulf, already fuelling higher prices and inflation around the Globe. As I reported yesterday the OECD called out slower growth, thanks to the conflict, and all eyes are on Trump, his posts and comments, and the blizzard of conflicting noise from the White House as hopes for a near-term ceasefire between the US and Iran faded. Trump announced late on Thursday that a White House deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face U.S. attacks on energy facilities would be extended until April 6. Some markets now are in correction territory, and more falls are highly likely ahead. The global MSCI index is down 8.43% over the past month, while the STOXX 600 is down 9.24% and ASX down 7.42, but with the US moves on Friday yet to show in Australia. U.S. stocks ended deep in a sea of red on Friday, with both the Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average closing in correction territory – each index is now 10 per cent lower than their respective recent peaks. Volatility spiked higher, with the VIX above 31. The Nasdaq Composite slumped 2.2 per cent in New York, as Oil topped $US114 a barrel earlier in the week, and is currently sitting at $106 for Brent, leading U.S. gasoline prices to surge to an average of about $4 a gallon. This could squeeze consumer spending. The DOW was down another 1.7% on Friday, while the S&P 500 fell 1.7 per cent to 6367.77 as consumer discretionary and financial stocks led eight of the 11 industry sectors lower. Meta Platforms and Amazon each shed another 4 per cent as each of the magnificent seven slid. Nvidia is down 19.1 per cent from its October peak could still drop further. Carnival (NYSE:CCL) ended 4.4% lower on Friday after the world’s largest cruise-line operator slashed its full year 2026 adjusted profit guidance. Rising fuel prices have led to travel-related companies such as Carnival and U.S. airlines to issue warnings about a hit to the bottom line. Carnival said its guidance assumed Brent averaging $90 a barrel for the remainder of April and May, $85 a barrel for Q3, and $80 a barrel for Q4. The yield on the US 10-year note was at 4.43 having earlier topped 4.48 per cent for the first time since July. The 2-year was a 3.914. Markets have all but erased expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate reductions this year, and have even begun to contemplate possible rate hikes in the months ahead. Fed policymakers left rates unchanged at a meeting last week but noted the threat of possibly accelerating inflation due to the energy shock. According to the latest consumer sentiment survey for March from the University of Michigan published on Friday, with inflation expectations logging their largest one-month increase since April last year. http://www.martinnorth.com/ Details of our one to one service are here: https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/ Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/ Find more at https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/ where you can subscribe to our research alerts Please consider supporting our work via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalFinanceAnalytics The full detailed set of post code data is available as a subscription service. Or make a one-off contribution to help cover our costs via PayPal at: https://www.paypal.me/MartinDFA We also can receive bitcoins at: 13zBL1oRib9VJu8Uc9zUGNhxKDBBgUpDN1 Please share this post to help to spread the word about the state of things.... Caveat Emptor! Note: this is NOT financial or property advice!! 🚨BEWARE OF SCAMMERS🚨 As there are accounts impersonating Walk The World in the comments on YouTube, note that our comments will have a distinguishable verified symbol. And remember that we will never message you asking you to give us money or talk to us on other platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram