CEX.IO company blog | Weekly summary (March 15-21): Bitcoin is back in range, markets are under pressure

Alexander Yanyuk, CEX.IO Broker finance expert comments:

Last week in the financial marketsmixed dynamics prevailed.However, most assets remained within the already formed ranges. The news background was rather negative, as the markets continue to be pressured by reports of a number of EU countries refusing to use AstraZeneca vaccines. Brent oil, under the yoke of bearish sentiment, immediately reached $61.45 per barrel. However, news about another drone attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia slightly revived the energy market and at the end of the week the rate of North Sea oil consolidated at $64.55. Gold, due to growing fears related to vaccination in the EU, showed moderate growth; at the end of Friday trading, quotes of the precious metal remained at $1,743.90 per troy ounce.

On international currency exchanges there werepredominantly bearish sentiment. The Russian ruble, however, demonstrated a high level of stability. This happened against the backdrop of an increase in the interest rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and an exchange of remarks between the leaders of the Russian Federation and the United States. The value of the Russian ruble at the end of the trading session last Friday was fixed at 74.12 to USD and 88.22 to EUR. We believe that in the near future, a resolution to the situation that began after Biden’s successful presidential campaign should occur on the foreign exchange market. The ruble will be highly dependent on global economic and political trends, which for now are shifting risks for the Russian currency downward. From a technical point of view, the USD/RUB pair maintains its position below 75, which provides support for the Russian currency, however, powerful fundamental trends can nullify any technical models.

The cryptocurrency market has stabilized nearpreviously reached maximums. Most likely, until the end of March, investors will be inclined to trade sideways, which will neutralize the risk of both a sharp drop and a rise in quotes. According to the CEX.IO exchange, the BTC/USD pair fixed at $57,227 during trading on Sunday. Traders on cryptocurrency exchanges thus showed their commitment to maintaining the prices of the main cryptocurrency within the range of $52,000 - $58,000. The same applies to Ethereum, whose quotes are in Sunday were at the level of $1,785. The BTC/RUB pair at the end of the week decreased slightly to a value of 4,248,385. We believe that in the long term, upward trends will prevail in the cryptocurrency market, however, in the short and medium term, the markets may well be strongly influenced by global negative trends. Cryptocurrency exchange participants will likely be inclined to accumulate long positions, but will not take drastic steps for now.

Dynamics of assets for the period March 15-21:

— Brent oil fell from $69.08 to $64.55 (-6.52%)
— Gold rose from $1,726 to $1,743 (+1.04%)
— The USD/RUB pair rose from 73.33 to 74.12 (+1.07/%)
— The EUR/RUB pair rose from 87.69 to 88.22 (+0.6%)
— Bitcoin decreased from $61,192 to $57,227 (-6.48%)
— Ethereum decreased from $1,921 to $1,785 (-7.08%)