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...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the US Dollar (USD) against a basket of currencies, initially rose after a higher-than-expected January Consumer Price Index (CPI) data but then reversed course. Inflation beat estimates, causing investors to reassess the Federal Reserve's (Fed) policy path. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell remained non-committal on future interest rate cuts, Treasury yields moved higher, supporting the DXY early in the American session, but later fell below 107.90. The US Dollar Index attempted to move higher but faced resistance at 108.50, struggling to...
Gold prices recovered slightly in the North American session on Wednesday (2/12). Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell said that policy needs to remain tight as inflationary pressures increase and US President Donald Trump's tariff threats escalate. XAU/USD is trading at $2,897, almost unchanged. The non-yielding metal halted its downtrend after the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed that inflation jumped above 3% in the United States, indicating that the Fed's pause in its easing cycle could be longer than expected. Last week, December federal funds rate futures showed...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, trades unchanged around 108.00 after Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell did not leave any clues for markets to pick up on, when facing lawmakers on Tuesday at Capitol Hill. Powell did not leave many clues about the timing for another interest rate cut by the central bank, if any. Traders are mulling what to do next, with US yields slowly but surely starting to head higher this week. The economic calendar shows the Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers for January are due on...
Gold's price (XAU/USD) is facing some profit-taking pressure and trades below $2,900 throughout this Wednesday after Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell went to Capitol Hill for his semi-annual testimony before lawmakers the previous day and before the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for January release. Powell did not say much but stated that the current level of the monetary policy rate is helping the central bank to withstand market volatility and potential inflation shocks that could take place. The comments were enough to fuel a small surge in US bond yields. Meanwhile,...
Oil prices fell 1% on Wednesday, ending three days of gains, as industry sources pointed to rising U.S. crude stockpiles and hawkish remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that signalled slower rate cuts this year. Brent futures were down 67 cents or 0.87% at $76.33 a barrel by 0936 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 75 cents or 1.02% to $72.57 a barrel. The declines come after three days of gains during which Brent climbed 3.6% and WTI rose 3.7%. "Oil prices resumed their downtrend as the macro environment weighed on sentiment, with Jerome Powell indicating that...
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...