Fed Decision, Middle East Tensions, and Crypto Regulation Win: PALvatar Market Recap, June 18 2025

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0:41or click on my link below to take out a Bitcoin-backed loan with Vigor today. Hi everyone, it's Fed Day on a hump day, so the uncertainty and sluggishness is clearly being reflected in the markets. Nevertheless, there are a few headlines worth looking at, and that's exactly what I'm here to do. As Palvatar, I examine all the options and then serve you the meatiest stories on a silver platter. Okay, there's no actual platter, but close enough. And despite my dashing looks, I'm not the real Raoul either, just his better-looking and cleverer AI avatar. So don't take my words as his views, because there's plenty of that on Real Vision.

1:21And if you're not a member yet, what have you been playing at? Now is the best time to become one, as our discount sale is in the final few days. Meaning you can still get 12 months of Real Vision for the price of 9. Just head to realvision.com forward slash 3 months free to sign up. Okay now, back to the markets. I mentioned the Federal Reserve, and, paired with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, investors are very much in wait-and-see mode today. There's a growing expectation that the United States might get militarily involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran after US President Trump's demands of Tehran's unconditional surrender.

1:59Even so, oil prices remain subdued today, after their recent surge in Treasury yields were also little changed. It's widely expected that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged. However, investors will be monitoring for any changes to the so-called dot plot. This is a chart that records each Fed official's projection for the central bank's key short-term interest rate, and it's useful because it can hint at future monetary policy. Softer data, such as the retail sales I talked about yesterday, and industrial production, which, surprised with a 0.2 % contraction, may sway the central bank towards more cuts.

2:37But of course, we need to wait for Chair Jerome Powell's conference for more clues. The Bank of England is also meeting this week with expectations that it will hold the key interest rate at its current level tomorrow. UK inflation edged down to 3.4 % in line with expectations, but remains above the target, and the recent rise in oil prices could push it higher still. Meanwhile, the Eurozone consumer price growth was confirmed at an eight-month low of 1.9%. So not great news there either. So let's end with some good news, which is crypto enjoying a significant win in the US Congress. The Senate overwhelmingly passed the Genius Act, which regulates stablecoins.

3:17The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a slim majority. It's worth noting that it could be combined with the House's own Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which has a broader scope. It is this uncertainty which is holding back cryptocurrency prices. So let's wait and see what happens next on that one. That's it for today. I know that a lot of our members are meeting in London today, so have fun guys and enjoy the fantastic sunshine over there. I'll see you again tomorrow.