Category: Business

The price of Bitcoin on Tuesday dove to its lowest level in 18 months as the sell-off continues in cryptocurrency and global equity markets with fears of recession stemming from the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest crypto by market size, saw its price further plummeting to $20,846 at 0200GMT, marking the lowest level since Dec. 16, 2020, according to official figures.

The market capitalization of Bitcoin also fell to approximately $400 billion at that time, which is a $200 billion weekly loss.

The price later climbed back to $22,850 at 0536GMT for a daily loss of more than 10%.

Ethereum, the world’s biggest altcoin by market value, had its price dipping at $1,075.80 at 0230GMT — its lowest since Jan. 14, 2021. It later rose to $1,225 at 0537GMT for a daily decline of 9.3%.

The total value of the cryptocurrency market was down 7.1% to $963 billion at 0537GMT, which is more than a $300 billion loss in less than a week.

The massive losses in the crypto market come as US stock exchanges continue to plummet amid fears that the Fed’s aggressive monetary tightening against record-high inflation could cause a recession in the world’s biggest economy.

The Dow Jones fell 2.8% to close Monday with a massive 876-point loss. The S&P 500 lost 3.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dove 4.7%.

The Fed’s two-day meeting will conclude on Wednesday at 1800GMT, and it is widely expected to make another 50 basis point rate hike.

The central bank could signal 75 basis points of interest rate increase for its September meeting to tame consumer inflation that annually rose 8.6% in May.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Israel on Tuesday signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday, the first of its kind with an Arab country, according to the Israeli Embassy in the UAE.

“Congratulations,” Amir Hayek, the Israeli ambassador to the UAE, said on Twitter following the signing of the agreement.?

On Monday, the Israeli Economy Ministry said that the agreement will be signed in Dubai with a view to boosting trade between the two countries.

Under the deal, customs duties between Israel and the UAE will be eliminated on 96% of products, including food, agriculture, cosmetics, medical equipment and medicine, the statement said.

Israeli Economy and Industry Minister Orna Barbivai had arrived in Dubai on Sunday to sign the agreement, according to Hayek.

In September 2020, the UAE and Israel signed a US-sponsored deal to normalize their relations. Since then, the two countries exchanged official visits by senior officials and have signed dozens of bilateral agreements in various fields, including investment, banking services, and tourism.

Three other Arab states – Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan – joined the UAE in the controversial move that came to be known as the Abraham Accords.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The trade volume on Turkiye’s spot natural gas market showed a decrease of 95.5% to 2.07 million Turkish liras on Monday, Turkiye’s Energy Exchange Istanbul (EXIST) data showed on Tuesday.

Total trade on Sunday amounted to 45.80 million liras.

On Monday’s spot market, 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas cost 12,061.48 liras, while the cumulative natural gas trade volume amounted to around 172,000 cubic meters.

Turkiye received 115.53 million cubic meters of pipeline gas on Monday.

US$1 equals 16.11 liras at 1100 GMT on Tuesday.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The price of Bitcoin dove further to $27,785 on Wednesday and was hovering around its lowest level in 16 months.

It fell to $29,000 at 4.53 p.m. EDT (2053 GMT), according to data on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume.

With that result, Bitcoin broke below the price of $29,303 that was recorded on July 20 last year, which was regarded by many crypto investors as a strong support level.

Bitcoin struggled to find support at $29,000 and further plummeted to $28,200 just after three minutes with a panic selloff and later plummeted to $27,785 at 5.28 p.m. EDT (2128 GMT).

The latest figure marked the lowest since Dec. 30, 2020, when it fell to $27,418, according to official figures.

The total value of the crypto market stood at $1.24 trillion at the time with more than a 12% loss in a single day, according to data from the digital asset price-tracking website CoinMarketCap.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Recent price hikes at German gas pumps are larger than during two historical oil crises – 1973-74 and 1979-80 – as well as the 2008-09 financial crisis, Germany’s official statistical department said on Wednesday.

“Motor fuel prices in March 2022 for consumers are up by almost half from a year earlier,” said a statement by Destatis, adding: “Import prices of natural gas in March are more than three-and-a-half times higher than a year earlier.”

Destatis underlined that energy prices have been pushed up by the Russia-Ukraine war, launched almost two months ago.

“The year-on-year increase in motor fuel prices in past decades was never as large as in the current reference month March 2022,” it added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Major indices in the US stock market opened higher Tuesday as investors are hoping that record-high inflation has peaked and could fall in the coming months.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 128 points, or 0.37%, to 34,436 at 9.33 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 added 27 points, or 0.62%, to reach 4,440.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 144 points, or 1.1%, to 13,558.

Annual consumer inflation in the US rose 8.5% in March — the largest 12-month increase since December 1981, according to the US Department of Labor.

While annual prices for energy and gasoline soared 32% and 48%, respectively, prices for natural gas and electricity jumped 21.6% and 11.1% year-on-year, according to the Labor Department.

Investors are hoping that consumer prices in the US have reached their highest levels, mostly due to the soaring commodity prices and Russia’s war on Ukraine, and hoping that they would begin their decline next month.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes jumped to 2.836% at 0800 GMT, its highest since December 2018.

The dollar index was unchanged at 99.93 at 9.36 a.m. EDT, while the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 4.3% to 23.33.

Precious metals were up, with gold adding 0.75% to $1,968 per ounce and silver rising 0.8% to $25.3.

Crude oil prices jumped more than 5%.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $104.02, up 5.6%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $99.48 with a 5.5% gain.

Source: Anadolu Agency

More than 1,800 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide in the past 27 years, with a majority falling prey to war, conflict, terrorist groups and organized crime gangs.

Some 1,814 journalists were killed between 1995 and 2022, according to data compiled from various sources by Anadolu Agency ahead of the Remembrance Day for Killed Journalists in Turkiye on Wednesday.

The day is observed in Turkiye in memory of Ottoman journalist Hasan Fehmi Bey, who was murdered by unidentified assailants in Istanbul on April 6, 1909.

Between 2012-2021, 905 journalists or media workers were killed in the line of duty – almost two deaths every week, the data showed.

More than 50% of all journalists and media staff killed since 1995 died in war and conflict zones or areas where terrorist groups or organized crime gangs were active, according to the data.

At least 18 journalists, including six foreign journalists, have been killed in Ukraine since Russia started the war on Feb. 24, according to the Ukrainian Culture and Information Policy Ministry.

With rampant organized crime, Mexico ranks as the most dangerous country for journalists and media workers, with 143 journalists, including 11 women, killed between 2000-2021.

According to the 2021 Global Impunity Index report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Somalia was the world’s worst country for unsolved killings of journalists, followed by Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Mexico, Philippines, Brazil, Pakistan, Russia, Bangladesh and India.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkiye’s benchmark stock index opened at 2,181.76 points on Tuesday, rising 9.28 points, or 0.43%, from the previous close.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index was down 0.14% to close Monday at 2,172.48 points, with a daily trading volume of 28.4 billion Turkish liras ($1.9 billion).

The US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate inched down to 14.8277 as of 9.54 a.m. local time (0654GMT), from 14.8380 at Monday’s close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also increased to 16.3207 from 16.2810, while a British pound traded for 19.4272 liras, slipping from 19.4590.

Brent crude oil was sold for around $108.91 per barrel as of 09.55 a.m. local time (0655GMT).

Source: Anadolu Agency

Major indices in the US stock market opened broadly flat on Monday amid lingering concerns over inflation and the Russian war on Ukraine.

The Dow Jones fell 94 points or 0.27% to 34,767 at 9.31 a.m. EDT (1331GMT). The S&P 500 was down 5.23 points or 0.12% to 4,537.

The Nasdaq rose 24 points or 0.17% to 14,193.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, climbed 5.72% to 22.00, and the dollar index increased 0.5% to 99.31.

Precious metals were on the decline with gold falling 1.08% to $1,933 per ounce and silver losing 2.06% to $25.1 at 9.55 a.m. EDT (1355GMT).

Oil prices fell on Monday as China starts to implement an eight-day COVID-19 lockdown in its financial capital Shanghai.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $108.84, down 7.27%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $104.86 – a 7.94% loss.

After recording a total of 3,500 COVID-19 infections in Shanghai, China’s most populous city with over 28 million population, health authorities decided to put the city under a two-part lockdown.

Source: Anadolu Agency