Stephen Miran, a Federal Reserve governor whose term ends at the end of January, said Thursday that he is looking for 150 basis points of interest-rate cuts this year to boost the U.S. labor market. Miran told Bloomberg Television's Surveillance program that Fed officials had room to further reduce rates given his view that underlying inflation was likely running at 2.3%. "I'm looking for about a point and a half of cuts. A lot of that is driven by my view of inflation," Miran said. "Underlying inflation is running within noise of our target, and that's a good indication of where overall...
Gold prices were mostly steady in Asian trading on Friday, but hit a record high after surging in the previous session amid uncertainty over U.S. tariffs, while investors cautiously awaited a key U.S. inflation report. Spot gold was mostly unchanged after hitting a record high of $2,799.60 an ounce, while February gold futures edged up 0.1% to $2,793.74 an ounce by 1:55 p.m. ET (06:55 GMT). The recent escalation of U.S. trade policy under President Donald Trump has raised considerable uncertainty in global markets. His announcement of high tariffs on imports from the BRICS nations—Brazil,...
The dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies, recovering slightly after the previous day's drop following weak U.S. gross domestic product data. Markets turned cautious ahead of a possible announcement by President Trump on tariffs, particularly against Canada and Mexico, which drew some safe-haven demand for the U.S. currency. "Tariff news from the Trump administration continues to take center stage," said analysts at Danske Bank. December U.S. PCE inflation data -- the Fed's preferred inflation measure -- and the fourth-quarter U.S. employment cost index, both due at 1330 GMT,...
GBP/USD extended its decline for the fourth straight session, trading around 1.2420 during Asian hours on Friday (1/31). The decline was driven by the US Dollar (USD) improving amid rising risk aversion following new tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. President Trump reiterated plans late Thursday to impose a flat 25% import tax on all goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico, citing concerns over fentanyl. The first wave of tariffs on the two countries will take effect on February 1, according to Reuters. Additionally, Trump hinted at the possibility of imposing tariffs on...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) attracted some intraday sellers and snapped a two-day winning streak against its American rival after Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Friday that underlying inflation remains slightly below 2%. Additionally, a modest uptick in the US Treasury bond yields and a generally positive risk tone undermined the safe-haven JPY. This, in turn, helped the USD/JPY pair retrace nearly 100 pips from Asian session lows. Meanwhile, data released earlier today showed that consumer prices in Tokyo – the capital of Japan – rose in January. This kept alive hopes for...
The USD/CHF pair traded with modest gains near 0.9100 during the early European session on Friday (1/31). The hawkish stance from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) provided some support to the US Dollar (USD). Investors will take more cues from the December US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) inflation data, due for release on Friday. Also, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman will be speaking. The US central bank left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference that the US economy remains strong, while inflation remains mildly elevated. Hence, the...
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda stated that achieving 2% inflation is getting closer, although real inflation remains low. Ueda emphasized that the BOJ will continue to raise interest rates...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained its cash rate at 4.1% during its April meeting, holding borrowing costs unchanged after slashing 25 bps in the February meeting, aligning with market...