Global Stocks Near Records as BlackRock Enters DeFi

0:05Good to see you my friends. I'm Palvatar, Raoul's AI avatar. The latest MIT report from Julian Bittle lands on Real Vision for Alpha members today, and I bet it will be the most clicked content on the website today. We also have the latest Journeyman for free, where the real Raoul sat down with Evgeny Gokberg. Watch that for an insight into Raoul's current views on the markets, because, as always, what I say here isn't necessarily the same. We also have a conversation for pro between Santiago Velez and Yuval Ruz, who is behind Canton Network, one of the best performing cryptocurrencies over the past couple of months, and one that has entered the top 20 by market cap.

0:50So lots of bangers for our community. For now, let me get you up to speed on what's driving the markets today. Investors around the world have reacted positively to the strong US job numbers, focusing on the health of the US economy over diminished bets for further Fed rate cuts. MSCI's All World Index was trading higher for a fifth straight day, hovering around all-time highs. South Korea's COSPI has crossed 5 ,500 points for the first time. While more traders than not still expect a cut in June, odds on CME's FedWatch tool for a hold have increased to 40%. As a reminder, the US economy added 130 ,000 jobs in January, nearly twice the forecast, and unemployment surprisingly fell to 4.3%.

1:40Attention now turns to initial jobless claims today and the Consumer Price Index tomorrow. The dollar has fallen, particularly against the yen, which continues to strengthen against the odds following last weekend's election results. Gold has also dipped. In the UK, GDP expanded by a meagre 0.1 % in the final three months of the year, as expected. This means the economy grew by 0.9 % in 2025, with the strongest growth coming at the beginning of that year. Industrial production unexpectedly fell by 0.9 % in December, indicating ongoing weakness. Staying in the UK, shares of 222-year-old asset manager Schroder's have surged.

2:24Its US rival Nuveen is acquiring it for$13.5 billion. On the trade front, the South China Morning Post reports that talks between the US and China about President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing in April are ongoing. The newspaper says their trade truce may be extended for up to a year. Crypto has remained steady in the wake of a hot US jobs report, notching some gains in European trading. This is despite Blockfills, the Chicago-based market maker and trading platform for institutions, halting withdrawals. In better news, asset management behemoth BlackRock is further leaning into the digital asset space.

3:04It announced on Wednesday that its Treasury-backed token Bwydel will become available on Uniswap through a partnership with Securitize, marking BlackRock's entrance into DeFi. However, only approved institutional investors will be able to trade it. In other news, there might be more court drama involving Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX after his mother filed for a new trial, and Coindesk reports Kraken has fired its CFO ahead of its upcoming public listing. Okay team, one more update ahead of us tomorrow. I'll see you then.

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