EU stocks opened higher Wednesday despite surging Eurozone inflation data

European markets started June with minor gains despite Eurozone inflation rising to a new record high of 8.1% in May from 7.4% in April.

Germany’s DAX futures gained over 0.50% and France’s CAC 40 futures followed, up by 0.43%. London’s FTSE 100 were also bullish on Wednesday surging by 0.48%.

Concerns remain high that the European Central Bank (ECB), which is set to meet next week, will be forced to move quicker than anticipated to raise interest rates, following the new Eurozone inflation values.

Markets are anticipating the release of the May manufacturing PMI survey data for the Eurozone later on Wednesday.

Oil prices continued gain on Wednesday morning

Oil prices continued their climb on Wednesday morning still supported by the European Union’s agreement on a partial and phased ban on Russian oil and were further pushed as China ended its COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai.

Brent Crude was up 0.97% valued at $116.78 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were also higher by 1.08% costing $115.97 a barrel.

In March, US crude oil (WTI) production rose by over 3%, the highest since November, a report by the US Energy Information Administration noted on Tuesday.

The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute is expected to reveal its weekly estimate of US crude oil supply later in the session.

Gold futures falling

Gold futures were falling on Wednesday morning, down by 0.20% at $1,836.80.

Silver futures were also bearish on Wednesday falling by 0.30%. Palladium futures, on the other hand, were higher, gaining 1.56%, platinum futures followed at a nearly 1% gain.

Deutsche Bank says ECB 50 basis point hike likely in September

Deutsche Bank economists said on Tuesday that the European Central Bank (ECB) is more likely to introduce a 50 basis points hike in September than the previously anticipated July.

“A 50bp hike is not inconsistent with the reaction function presented in President Lagarde’s policy normalisation blog… We believe the ECB is continuing to underestimate inflation and we expect support for a 50bp hike will increase as the summer progresses,” they said in a note.

The meeting of the ECB Governing Council is set to take place on 9 June and is anticipated to lead to multiple 25 basis point hikes.

Crypto companies helped NBA’s sponsorships surge past $1.6 billion

Cryptocurrency companies helped the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) sponsorships for the 2021-2022 season surge past $1.6 billion, estimates conducted by IEG, a sports partnerships consultancy, showed.

This was up 13% compared to last season’s $1.4 billion.

According to IEG’s global managing director, Peter Laatz who spoke to CNBC, this was “nothing we have ever seen before.”

Coinbase became the exclusive cryptocurrency platform to partner with the NBA in 2021, signing a multi-year agreement. NBA has been endorsing cryptocurrencies for quite some time now and even created their own NFT collection called NBA Top Shot.

NBA teams have also been partnering with cryptocurrency platforms. The Los Angeles Lakers, for example, agreed to a 20-year arena-naming rights contract with Crypto.com meanwhile the Warriors signed a $10 million global rights agreement with crypto derivatives exchange platform FTX.

Top cryptocurrencies enter June on bearish note but BTC over $31,000

Top cryptocurrencies have entered June on a bearish note, however, bitcoin (BTC) is still standing firm at over $31,000.

Ethereum (ETH) was down 2% this morning, BNB followed at a decline around 0.20%, Cordana (ADA) lost over 7% and Solana (SOL) fell by 3.34% in the last 24 hours. The popular Elon Musk-endorsed memetoken Dogecoin (DOGE) was also feeling bearish down 0.83%.

Note, cryptocurrency CFD trading is restricted in the UK for all retail clients.