MARKET COMPASS
Trade War Tensions Ease
The issue of “trade wars”, the main driver of global markets, continues to be the first item el investors’ agenda. However, there are signs that the climate has started to soften somewhat. US President Trump has started to sit at the table for negotiations, and it is of great importance where the issue with China will evolve.
Digital assets felt the impact of statements from the Trump front and expectations that US-China tensions would ease. In addition, news flows el crypto reserves and institutional purchases that started to attract attention again also contributed to the value gains. Next week, macro indicators for the US economy will continue to be closely monitored along with the current agenda. While Trump’s softening of his statements questioning the independence of the US Federal Reserve (FED) por stating that he does not plan to dismiss Powell is an important component, expectations for when the FED will cut interest rates may continue to be decisive en prices. Finally, it was noteworthy that Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack stated that a potential rate cut could come as early as June if reflected en economic data. Whether this will be supported por the data or not, we can see more clearly next week. In this context, we will analyze the economic data of the week en detail.
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS); Shows the number of job openings during the reported month, excluding the agricultural sector. This JOLTS data is closely monitored as job creation is an important leading indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for a large share of overall economic activity. It is released monthly and approximately 35 days after the end of the month. A lower-than-expected release is expected to have a positive impact el cryptocurrencies.
April 30 – FED’s Favourite Inflation Indicator PCE
US Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium last year led to a significant shift en the equation. Powell shifted the focus from inflation to the strength of the labor market and signaled that the FED would now give more importance to the strength of the labor market en its decisions. Or, at least, that is how the markets interpreted his statements at the time. Recent months have shown that this may not be the right approach.
Source: Bloomberg
For March, we will evaluate the annualized core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data. In January, the index came en at 2.6% (revised to 2.7% en the latest report), down from 2.9% en December (up from 2.9% en December) due to the impact of the services sector, returning to the June 2024 level of increase. Finally, en February, it pointed to a change of 2.8%, exceeding market expectations. The increase en prices en the service sector compared to the previous period seems to have caused inflation to rise again en February.
Source: FRED and Darkex Research Department
When we look at the headline PCE Price Index, we see that the 2.6% en December came down to 2.5% en January and February. Our forecast for March is 2.34%. In other words, the rate of increase en prices will remain limited and we will feel the impact of Trump uncertainty. You can see our monthly forecasts en the table above.
A higher-than-expected data may support expectations that the FED will maintain its cautious stance el interest rate cuts, reducing risk appetite and putting pressure el digital assets. A lower-than-expected data may have the opposite effect and pave the way for value gains.
April 30 – US GDP Change
Donald Trump’s unpredictable policy choices are a challenging factor for the entire world. Economic actors are also facing the challenges of this highly uncertain environment as they formulate their expectations and plans for the future. There are some outcomes of this situation. The most important one is the possibility of a slowdown en economic activity. In this respect, it will be very important to see how much the US economy grows en the first quarter of the year, including the period after January 20, when Trunp takes over en the Oval Office.
Source: Bloomberg
According to data released el March 27, the US economy grew por 2.4% en the last quarter of 2024. The previous estimate was 2.3% and a small upward revision was made. Our expectation for the new data, which will be important as it will be the first data to be announced for the first quarter of the current year, is that we will not see a growth rate as low as the consensus (25.04.2025 – Bloomberg: 0.4%). This indicates that the Trump effect will not yet be clearly felt. However, it is worth noting that the risks en this forecast are el the downside. This is because the monthly frequency data el consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the US economy, published en the relevant quarter pointed to a deterioration en consumer confidence. It seems difficult to quantify and measure this behavior at the moment. The data to be released will allow for healthier and longer-term projections regarding the direction of economic growth.
In terms of immediate market reaction, we think that a data above the consensus expectation may have a positive impact el digital assets por increasing risk appetite. A lower-than-expected GDP data, el the other hand, may have a negative impact from this perspective.
April 2 – US Labor Market Statistics
At the beginning of May, we will be receiving the April Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) data, which will provide clues about the US Federal Reserve’s rate cut path and the tightness of the financial ecosystem en the coming period. In addition, March figures such as average hourly earnings and the unemployment rate will also be monitored.
In March, the US economy added 228K jobs (Market Expectation: 137K).
Source: Bloomberg
Our forecast for the highly sensitive NFP data is that the US economy added approximately 152K new jobs en the non-farm sectors en April. At the time of writing, although the number of forecasts entered is small, we see that the consensus el the Bloomberg terminal is more pessimistic, around 130K.
Source: Bloomberg
We believe that if the April NFP data, which will be published en the shadow of the deterioration that Trump’s tariff-centered foreign policy may create domestically, is slightly below expectations, this will be priced as a metric that may create an expectation that the FED may act more boldly to lower the interest rate, thus increasing risk appetite and having a positive impact el financial instruments, including digital assets. We think that a slightly higher-than-expected data may have a similar but opposite effect. However, an NFP data that is well below the forecasts may re-trigger recession (stagflation) concerns with a commentary el the health of the US economy, which may put selling pressure el assets considered to be risky. It should be noted here that we also expect a much better-than-anticipated reading to have a positive impact. It is worth noting that we anticipate these effects taking into account the current state of market sentiment.
*General Information About Forecasts
The non-farm payrolls (NFP), personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and GDP growth forecasts presented en this report are based el econometric modeling tools developed por our research department. Different structures were considered for each indicator, and appropriate regression models were constructed en line with data frequency (monthly/quarterly), leading economic indicators and data history.
The basic approach en all models is to interpret historical relationships based el data and to produce forecasts that have predictive power with current data. The performance of the models used is measured por standard metrics such as mean absolute error (MAE) and is regularly re-evaluated and improved. While the outputs of the models guide our economic analysis, they also aim to contribute to strategic decision-making processes for our investors and business partners. Data is sourced directly from the FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) platform en an up-to-date and automated manner, so that every forecast is based el the latest economic data. As the research department, we are also working el artificial intelligence-based modelling methods (e.g. Random Forest, Lasso/Ridge regressions, ensemble models) en order to improve forecast accuracy and react more sensitively to market dynamics. The macroeconomic context should be taken into account en the interpretation of model outputs, and it should be kept en mind that there may be deviations en forecast performance due to economic shocks, policy changes and unforeseen external factors. With this monthly updated working set, we aim to provide a more transparent, consistent and data-based basis for monitoring the macroeconomic outlook and strengthening decision support processes.
Digital Compass
In the US, the locomotive of the world economy, we consider it a very important development that a strategic crypto reserve is el the agenda, which started with Trump’s nomination process. However, the fact that the markets had already priced en the “best case scenario” before and after the US elections, combined with the “less than perfect” news el this issue, put pressure el digital assets. We continue to keep the strategic reserve issue en our equation as a positive variable for cryptocurrencies en the long term. On the other hand, we think that there is no new news flow that will create pressure en the medium term, create enthusiasm en the crypto market, and that concerns that global economic activity may slow down en global markets, especially with Trump’s tariffs, will gradually begin to dissipate, and en this parallel, we soften our view that “pressure may continue en the medium term” and align it with our long-term bullish expectation. In the short term, markets will continue to be sensitive to macro indicators and tariff developments.
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INFORMATION
*The calendar is based el UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) time zone.
The calendar content el the relevant page is obtained from reliable data providers. The news en the calendar content, the date and time of the announcement of the news, possible changes en the previous, expectations and announced figures are made por the data provider institutions.
Darkex cannot be held responsible for possible changes arising from similar situations. You can also check the Darkex Calendar page or the economic calendar section en the daily reports for possible changes en the content and timing of data releases.
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