Market Update December 29, 2022 By Daniel Ang

In foreign exchange markets, the Dollar Index rose slightly, with the EUR/USD down 0.17%, the USD/JPY strengthening 0.64%, and the GBP/USD up 0.06%. The AUD/USD and NZD/USD saw more significant changes, with the AUD/USD rising 0.22% and the NZD/USD strengthening by 0.65%.

Crude oil prices recovered some lost ground at closing, with WTI crude settling down 0.07% at $78.96 per barrel and Brent finishing at $83.26, down 1.27%. Gold prices dropped about 1% earlier in the day due to higher Treasury yields, while spot gold fell 0.5% to $1,805.39 per ounce and U.S. gold futures dropped 0.55% to $1,808.80 per ounce.

In the cryptocurrency market, Solana, a cryptocurrency token, saw a significant decline, falling 10.36% on Wednesday and down 94.2% so far in 2022. The token, which is behind the Solana blockchain and supports smart contracts including non-fungible tokens, has been negatively impacted by its association with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Bitcoin saw a slight fall in price, down 1.16% over the past 24 hours, while Ethereum posted a 2.09% drop in the past week. Most other token prices remained unchanged.

Overall, market activity was influenced by a variety of factors, including investor sentiment, economic data, and the performance of individual companies and assets. As the year comes to a close, traders and investors will be closely watching for any further developments that could impact market performance in the coming year.