ICM Capital - Market Update

Thursday, May 21, 2026

marketupdate@ICMCapital.co.uk

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Market Comment

Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities

On Wednesday, major U.S. stock indexes rebounded more than 1%, with the S&P 500 rising 79 points (+1.08%) to 7,432, and the Nasdaq 100 up 478 points (+1.66%) to 29,297.

The Dow Jones climbed 645 points (+1.31%) to 50,009.

Nvidia (NVDA) was the market’s focus. The maker of artificial-intelligence-related chips closed 1.30% higher, but dipped about 1% in after-market hours when it released quarterly results.

The company’s first-quarter revenue and earnings exceeded market expectations. Revenue in the company’s data center division doubled from a year earlier to 75.2 billion dollars, accounting for 92% of the company’s total revenue. It also raised its quarterly dividend to 25 cents per share from 1 cent previously, and announced a share buyback of 80 billion dollars.

Other tech giants also performed well, with Tesla (TSLA) gaining 3.25%, Amazon (AMZN) up 2.19%, Apple (AAPL) up 1.10%, and Microsoft (MSFT) up 0.87%.

Semiconductor stocks regained some strength, with Arm Holdings (ARM) jumping 15.05%, Intel (INTC) up 7.36%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) up 8.10%, and Micron (MU) up 4.76%.

Intuit (INTU) closed 3.95% lower, and slid 13% in after-market hours though it reported quarterly results that slightly exceeded market expectations. The financial software giant also announced plans to cut 3,000 jobs, roughly 17% of its workforce.

According to the Federal Reserve’s latest policy-meeting minutes, a majority of central bank officials anticipated that rate hikes would be necessary in the case of elevated inflation, which is caused by rising energy prices linked to the Iran war.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield retreated 8.2 basis points to 4.585%.

European stocks also closed higher, with the DAX 40 increasing 1.38%, the CAC 40 up 1.70%, and the FTSE 100 up 0.99%.

U.S. WTI crude futures fell 5.89 dollars (-5.66%) to 98.26 dollars a barrel, while gold gained 62 dollars (+1.38%) to 4,544 dollars an ounce.

Market Wrap: Forex

The U.S. dollar weakened against other major currencies, with the index declining to 99.12.

EUR/USD rose 22 pips to 1.1626. Germany's producer price growth accelerated to 1.7% year on year in April, faster than expected.

USD/JPY dipped 16 pips to 158.88.

GBP/USD advanced 43 pips to 1.3436. The U.K. inflation rate eased to 2.8% year on year in April, lower than expected.

AUD/USD gained 45 pips to 0.7154.

USD/CHF declined 19 pips to 0.7869.

Gold price gained 62 dollars (+1.38%) to 4,544 dollars an ounce.

Bitcoin rebounded to levels above 77,000 dollars.

Morning Trading

In Asian trading hours, AUD/USD retreated to 0.7110. Australia's employment fell 18,600 in April, compared with +10,000 expected, while jobless rate climbed to 4.5%, above 4.3% estimated.

Meanwhile, USD/JPY was little changed at 158.90. Japan's exports rose 14.8% year-on-year in April, above 9.3% expected, while machinery orders dropped 9.4% month-on-month in March, compared with -3.3% estimated.

EUR/USD was broadly steady at 1.1623, while GBP/USD slipped to 1.3425.

Gold eased to 4,536 dollars.

Bitcoin advanced to 77,947 dollars.

Expected Today

The eurozone's S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers index is expected to slip to 51.5 in May, while the services index is estimated to improve to 48.0.

U.K. S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers index is expected to drop to 53.2 in May and the services index is estimated to slip to 51.7.

In the U.S., housing starts are expected to be down 3.5% month-on-month in April and building permits are anticipated to grow 0.5%, while the weekly initial jobless claims are estimated at 210,000. Also, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index is anticipated to decline to 19.0 in May, while the S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers index is expected to drop to 53.0 and the services index is estimated to edge up to 51.1.

Forex	Last	%1D	%YTD
EUR/USD	1.1619	-0.07	-1.00
USD/JPY	159.01	0.06	1.44
GBP/USD	1.3428	-0.02	-0.31

Commodities	Last	%1D	%YTD
Gold	4,524.5200	-0.42	5.32
Silver	75.0400	-1.25	6.63
Crude Oil	98.9600	0.71	72.07

EUR/USD intraday: intraday support around 1.1600.

Pivot: 1.1600

Our preference: long positions above 1.1600 with targets at 1.1645 & 1.1660 in extension.

Alternative scenario: below 1.1600 look for further downside with 1.1575 & 1.1560 as targets.

Comment: intraday technical indicators are mixed and call for caution.