Ethereum and US indices race higher after in-line US CPI – Market wrap for the North American session - August 12

[Redator]

This morning's US CPI report came almost exactly in line, and the fact that there wasn't much diversion from expectations led to traders decidedly pricing the 25 bps Cut for the Federal Reserve's September meeting.

You can access the report right here.

US Equities have rallied throughout the session after a relatively mixed open. The Dow led to the upside before the S&P 500 and Nasdaq decidedly flew higher.

All major US Indices close above 1%, with Tech making a V-Shape reversal led by Meta (+3.14% on the session) which put the Nasdaq back on top, up 1.26% at the end of the session.

The less traded Russell 2000 is actually closing up 3% on the session, with rate cuts largely profiting small-cap stocks.

Ethereum also enjoyed another fresh buying wave taking it to $4,500, levels unseen since November 2021.

Equities and Cryptos really outshined other asset classes in today's session, with Metals up small and Energy commodities getting sold off further.

In Forex, the Royal Bank of Australia proceed with their 25 bps cut to 3.60% with an unanimous vote which was close to 100% priced in after the disappointing Australian Jobs numbers from earlier this month.

The rate cut from the RBA helped to propulse the ASX (Australian Equity Index) to new all-time highs, finishing the session around 8,900.

A small parenthesis on the Yield Curve

The initial rally in US Bonds have been met with some sharp curve steepening, where Bond traders buy the short-end (2 years bonds) way more than the long-end (10 and 30-year bonds).

The Yields then go down in the front of the curve and up in the back.

To make it simple, Inflation expectations in the front are seen lower compared to the longer-run.
This also happens when Bond traders price in a front-loaded (imminent and short-lived) cut cycle.

Read More: EURUSD attempts to break 1.17, sees newfound strength from the US CPI report

Daily Cross-Asset performance

Cross-Asset Daily Performance, August 12, 2025 – Source: TradingView

Ethereum is just flying by itself, particularly right now towards the session close.

Equities are second looking at Nasdaq and the Dow that are top 2 and 3.

These flows come at the cost of Oil and the US Dollar which are the worst performers of the session.

A picture of today's performance for major currencies

Currency Performance, August 12 – Source: OANDA Labs

The Swiss Franc actually saw the most relief from the post-CPI USD selloff after lagging throughout the past few weeks, and finishes the session on top of Majors.

The Loonie on the other hand got dragged down by the US Dollar as the regional forex movement trend strikes yet again.

A look at Economic data releasing in tonight and tomorrow's sessions

For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.

Tomorrow's session will be interesting to see after today's trading, with relatively less market moving data.

Still, brace for the German Inflation data releasing at 2:00 A.M. in the overnight session.

The NA session will only see a few FED Speakers, with Goolsbee (voter in 2025, speaking at 13:00) and Bostic (13:30, not voting before 2027) appearing.

The evening session will see some major releases for the AUD, more on this coming up in tomorrow's session.

Safe Trades!

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