Your Weekly Trading Review by UFX.com – Sunday, March 18, 2018
Here are some of this past week’s leading economic news and events that affected the financial markets:
Cryptocurrencies Continue to Fall
Cryptocurrencies experienced a decrease in value of over $60 billion on Thursday. The market remains volatile as Google plans to ban all online ads that promote cryptocurrencies including ewallets, initial coin offerings, and trading advice. The plan comes after a similar ban previously announced by Facebook in January, with both companies aiming to make their online spaces safer and secure for their users. The U.S. and U.K are also planning to create stricter stipulations for the unregulated market.
Facebook Shows Security Flaw
Facebook Inc. is under pressure to implement stricter privacy rules after it was reported by the New York Times that the company made it possible for an outside firm to access personal details of over 50 million users. Cambridge Analytica, the data analytics firm hired by Donald Trump during his campaign to become president, gathered unethical user data for about 50 million people without permission. The social-media company acknowledged the misuse of user information late Friday but insisted that it was not a breach. Facebook announced that the data came from a professor who originally claimed he wanted it for academic purposes, not from someone that hacked the system. The information included users’ locations, status updates, interests, photos, as well as check-ins.
Weekly Market Brief
Gold fell by 0.42 % as of last week’s market close, closing at $1,312.30. Crude Oil rose by 1.88%, closing at $62.34 a barrel. The EUR/USD fell by 0.12%, closing the week at $1.2290. The GBP/USD increased by 0.04%, ending the week at a £1.3942 exchange rate. The Dow Jones ended the week with an increase of 0.29%, closing at a value of 24,946.51. The S&P 500 rose by 0.17%, closing at a value of 2,752.01. And lastly, the NASDAQ remained unchanged ending the week at a value point of 7,481.99.
That’s our summary of the financial headlines from the past week. Good luck with this week’s trading and stay tuned for the next review from UFX.