Dollar notches an eight-week winning streak, longest of the year

The 'Trump Trade' is still at play in global markets despite some jitters last week. Wall Street stocks rose last week as bitcoin proved naysayers wrong, and the dollar extended its advances into the eighth straight week, the longest in 2024.

As the major tech winners of the year faltered, blue chips and small caps pushed Wall Street higher on Friday. The S&P 500 ended in the green. An equal-weighted version of the S&P 500 index, which accounts for companies like Walgreens Boots Alliance and Nvidia, jumped, putting it on pace for a record-breaking closing high.

The Dow Jones index gained one per cent, and the Russell's 2000 index rose nearly two per cent. An index of bank stocks reached its highest level in almost two years. Although major tech companies lagged, the small-cap index rose 4.5 per cent last week. Analysts predict the rally to continue into the year-end.

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FundStrat's managing partner, Thomas Lee, said, "When sentiment reaches a 'bullish extreme' is when we see equities priced to 'perfection'." He added, "By several measures, we are not there at that point yet."

The dollar registered its longest streak of weekly wins since September 2023. Peter Mclean, Head of Multi-Asset Portfolio Solutions at Stonehage Fleming, said, "The US dollar's run can continue." Mclean added, "We also have those geopolitical tensions, which are escalating at the moment. It's natural for investors to seek refuge in the dollar."

In the commodities market, bouts of volatility, driven by escalations in the war in Ukraine, eased on Friday. The ongoing conflict helped to push crude closer to 75 dollars a barrel from about $71 on Monday last week.

Gold, too, rose to trade at over $2,700 an ounce, marking its best week since March 2023. The yellow metal rose from a low of below $2,580 an ounce at the start of last week.

Crypto speculators have driven Bitcoin towards $100,000. The OG token has rallied since Trump's victory to new record highs repeatedly, barring a dip last weekend. SEC Chair Gary Gensler's decision to step down in January was the latest development, which boosted the digital assets market. Enforcement actions against cryptos were rampant during his administration, but they are expected to ease under Trump.

Pro-Crypto President-Elect Trump has sparked a chart-bursting rally. Bitcoin entered the weekend just shy of the landmark $100,000 level, Disappointing fans' expectations that the largest token would break beyond that psychological and financially crucial threshold. The OG token prices dipped just below $99,000 dollars on Sunday morning.

On Friday, the token was just $300 shy of the $100,000 mark. The cryptocurrency market has exploded, adding about $1 trillion to its value.