The world is witnessing a renaissance of nuclear power, which has sent uranium prices soaring in the past few years as countries buy up nuclear fuel, with nuclear power demand surging to 10-year highs in the US, while Russia works hard on expanding its nuclear power empire in developing nations in Africa.

Even Japan is returning to the carbon free power after 13 years of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. Overall, there are nearly 60 new nuclear power stations being constructed right now worldwide. 

However, Germany unusually decided to pause its last three nuclear power stations, and it looks like they’ll never be online again, as Germany continues to take a very surprising and strong stance against nuclear power utilization despite its support of green energy initiatives. 

And it also comes at a time of energy instability in the country following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the collapse of the gas pipelines from Russia, which hit the German economy particularly hard as it relied on Russian sources for 50% of its natural gas supplies. 

Despite all this, Germany has chosen to spend billions of euros on new natural gas stations in addition to renewable energy production, and steered away from nuclear power. 

According to a new report from the Conversation, Germany’s stance on nuclear power is a result of a long history and not a struggle against current geopolitical facts, as anti-nuclear rhetoric ramped up in Germany following World War 2 amid safety concerns and anti authority sentiment. 

Back then the focus wasn’t mostly on avoiding centralized control and enabling citizens to achieve independent sourcing of energy as much as possible amid a deep seated distrust of the government. 

Such a historic trajectory made Germany one of the most vulnerable major economies in Europe when it comes to energy sourcing, compared to France which has the most nuclear power plants per capita in the world. 

The Energy Information Administration reported a drop of 1.4 million barrels in US crude stocks last week to 459.5 million barrels, while analysts expected a 1 million barrels drop.

Gasoline stocks rose by 0.9 million barrels to 228 million barrels, while distillate stocks rose by 0.6 million barrels to 116.4 million barrels. 

Most US stock indices fell on Wednesday under pressure from the tech sector as investors assess latest corporate results.

Earlier US payroll data showed a marked slowdown in the US labor market, which bolstered the case for multiple Fed interest rate cuts this year, however investors remain jittery regarding US monetary policies. 

US corporations continue to report their earnings results for the first quarter, with some quite positive such as Microsoft, Apple, and Meta results, and some a bit mixed. 

On trading, Dow Jones rose 0.2%, or 84 points to 38,960, while S&P 500 fell 0.1%, or 5 points to 51,82, as NASDAQ shed 0.3%, or 47 points to 16,285. 

Bitcoin fell a bit on Wednesday on track for the third loss in a row, away from two-week highs on active profit-taking, as new cash inflows into US bitcoin exchange funds ceased. 

US 10-year treasury yields rebounded today, hurting the risk sentiment in the market as investors await more statements by Fed officials on the future of US interest rates.

The Price 

Bitcoin fell 0.4%, or $256 at Bitstamp to $62.054, with a session-high at $62,996.

Bitcoin lost 1.35% on Tuesday, the second loss in a row on active profit-taking off two-week highs at $65,513. 

Crypto Market Value

Crypto market value fell by $40 billion to $2.405 trillion as both bitcoin and ethereum face heavy losses.

Bitcoin Exchange Funds 

According to new data, bitcoin exchange funds in the US faced a cash exodus of $15.64 million. 

Such data not only confirms the cessation of new cash inflows but actual rapid withdrawals from the funds, as prospects of early US interest rate cuts fade. 

US Yields 

US 10-year treasury yields rose 0.7% on Wednesday, holding ground above four-week lows at 4.420% and on track for the first profit in six days, hurting sentiment. 

Minneapolis Fed President Neil Kashkari said on Tuesday that it remains too early to say that inflation has been definitively stopped. 

Following such remarks, the odds of a Fed interest rate cut in June fell to 9%, while the odds of a July cut fell to 29%, and the odds of a September cut fell to 65%.