Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more "noise" than signals of a short-term surplus. As of 3:50 PM WIB, Brent was at $69.60/barrel (+0.29%) and WTI was at $64.83/barrel (+0.31%). The gains were moderate, but enough to keep prices near the psychological $70 level for Brent. From a geopolitical perspective, market focus is on the potential for escalation in the Middle East. Recent reports...
Australia's seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index rose 3.4% year-on-year in Q2 2025, matching the previous quarter's pace and exceeding expectations for a 3.3% increase. Acceleration in both the public and private sectors drove stronger-than-expected growth. Public sector wages jumped 4.7%, up from 3.6% in Q1, while private sector wages rose 3.4%, compared with 3.3% previously. This marks a recovery for the private sector, which had previously recorded its weakest growth since Q2 2022 in the previous two quarters. Overall, the electricity, gas, water, and waste services industry recorded...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board members decided to lower the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.6% from 3.85%, following the conclusion of the August monetary policy meeting. The decision came in line with the market expectations.(alg) Sumber: FXstreet
The Federal Reserve now faces risks to both its inflation and jobs goals, with policymakers needing to balance which seems the more serious threat in deciding whether it is appropriate to reduce interest rates, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said on Friday. Between tariffs pushing up prices and job growth slowing, "there are risks on both sides of our mandate, and when that happens, when you have risks on both sides, you have to take a balanced approach, which means you have to think about the likelihood of missing on each side of the mandate, the size of the potential miss, and...
United States (US) President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would be selecting Stephen Miran, the current Chair of the US Council of Economic Advisors, to replace recently resigned Federal Reserve (Fed) Board of Governors (BoG) member Adriana Kugler. Stephen Miran will be replacing Adriana Kugler as a voting member of the Fed's Board on an interim basis until January 31, 2026. Trump is continuing his trend of appointing team members to multiple roles: Moran already serves as the Chair of the US CEA, a position he was nominated to by Trump at the beginning of his second...
The Bank of England (BoE) announced on Thursday that it lowered the policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 4% after the August meeting, as widely anticipated.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had removed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from consideration for an open seat on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, but said he would "very shortly" announce his choice. In an interview with CNBC, Trump said Fed Governor Adriana Kugler's decision to vacate her seat early was a "pleasant surprise." The departure of Kugler, whose term would have ended on January 31, appears to have accelerated Trump's planning for the U.S. central bank, giving him an immediate opening to fill with a person who could also be promoted to the top...
The Bank of Japan held its benchmark interest rate steady and raised its inflation outlook more than expected in a sign it may be closer to a rate hike, while continuing to warn that it's still assessing the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs. The BOJ kept the overnight call rate at 0.5% at the end of a two-day policy meeting in a unanimous vote, according to a statement Thursday. All 56 surveyed economists forecast the decision. The nine-member board boosted its median inflation projection for the current fiscal year in its quarterly economic outlook report to 2.7%...
Economy is in a solid position.Inflation is somewhat above target.Believe the current stance of policy leaves us well positioned to respond in a timely way.Moderation in growth reflects a slowdown in consumer spending.Activity in the housing sector remains weak.Unemployment is low and has remained in a narrow range.Wide set of indicators suggests the job market is near maximum employment.Expects PCE up 2.5% and Core up 2.7% in 12 months through June.Most measures of longer-run inflation expectations are consistent with the Fed's goal.Tariffs have exerted pressure on some goods, but the wider...
Gold rises in the early Asian trade. There's a broad commodities uptrend, driven by macro uncertainty, a weaker dollar, and persistent demand for "hard" assets, says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst...
Oil extended declines after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook.
Brent...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakened against its US counterpart and reversed part of Friday's recovery from the lowest level since July 23 following Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks....