Renewed tensions between the United States and Russia have resurfaced following an incident involving an oil tanker, sparking market concerns about potential disruptions to global energy supplies. Washington's move, associated with tightening oversight and enforcement of sanctions on Russian oil shipments, is viewed by Moscow as provocative and could worsen relations between the two countries. Russia views these actions as an attempt by the United States to suppress Russian energy exports and strengthen its dominance in the global oil market. Meanwhile, Washington argues that these measures...
Gold (XAU/USD) continues to decline on Friday, falling toward $3,180 and marking a sharp weekly loss of over 4%, its biggest since November 2024. The precious metal has now shed over $300 from its record high of $3,500 set in April, as safe-haven demand weakens and technical selling accelerates. Risk sentiment improved this week after the United States (US) and China agreed to reduce tariffs for 90 days, while geopolitical tensions remained muted with India-Pakistan and Middle East risks stabilizing. After a period of conflicting reports and diplomatic deadlock, Ukrainian and Russian...
Oil prices edged up on Friday, heading for a second consecutive weekly gain on easing U.S.-China trade tensions, although the optimism was somewhat offset by higher supply expectations from Iran and OPEC+. Brent crude futures were up 29 cents, or 0.5%, at $64.82 per barrel at 1054 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $61.89. Both contracts fell more than 2% in the previous session on the prospect of an Iranian nuclear deal, which could result in more barrels being released onto the global market. "The enthusiasm resulting from progress in...
Gold prices slipped more than 1% on Friday and were heading for their worst week in six months, as an overall higher dollar and a temporary U.S.-China trade agreement dented demand for the safe-haven metal among investors. Spot gold was down 0.9% to $3,210.19 an ounce as of 0933 GMT. Bullion has lost more than 3% so far this week and is set for its worst weekly performance since November 2024. U.S. gold futures fell 0.4% to $3,213.60. "We've gone through a week where there have been optimistic signals in terms of trade negotiations and we have seen the dollar appreciate on the course,...
The dollar fell alongside U.S. Treasury yields on Friday after a surprise downside in U.S. economic data this week reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year. The week started with a mix of market drivers, led by a U.S.-China trade truce that pushed the dollar higher, although the euphoria soon wore off and the currency traded sideways. Most of the action in the foreign exchange market came from the dollar's moves against the South Korean won, where it fell sharply for a second straight day on news that Washington and Seoul were discussing a dollar/won...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) maintained its positive bias against the broadly weaker US Dollar (USD) and dragged the USD/JPY pair down for the fourth straight day, to a fresh weekly low during the Asian session on Friday (5/16). The JPY's intraday strength seemed unaffected by the release of disappointing Japanese Q1 GDP data amid growing acceptance that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will raise interest rates again in 2025. Moreover, hopes for an eventual US-Japan trade deal turned out to be another factor lending some support to the JPY. The US Dollar (USD), on the other hand, continued to struggle...
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like...
European stock indices closed marginally lower on Wednesday as equities took a breather from their recent strong momentum, while investors continued to assess the outlook for the ECB's policy this...
The upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's massive tariffs, which rocked markets in April, is one of the next major tests for US stocks and bonds.
Equity markets...