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...
XAU/USD trades dangerously close to its record high in the $2,790 region as the latest macroeconomic developments put pressure on the US Dollar (USD). Ahead of Wall Street's opening, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its decision on monetary policy. The ECB lowered key rates by 25 basis points (bps) each, as expected. With this decision, the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility stood at 2.9%, 3.15% and 2.75%, respectively. The accompanying statement and the subsequent President Christine...
The USD/JPY pair dipped near 154.30 during the European session on Thursday (1/30). The asset weakened as the Japanese Yen (JPY) performed strongly across the board amid growing expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will continue to raise interest rates this year. BoJ hawkish bets have been rising on the assumption that Japan's spring wage negotiations will result in another strong hike this year. On Thursday, BOJ Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino also said that the central bank "will raise interest rates if the economy and prices move in line with expectations." Meanwhile, the US Dollar...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the US dollar against a basket of six major currencies, was trading flat around 108.00 at the time of writing on Thursday (30/1). All eyes are now on the European Central Bank (ECB), where a 25 basis point (bps) interest rate cut is expected. After a somewhat hawkish pause from the Federal Reserve (Fed), markets are keen to see if the ECB will comment on the US political situation with Donald Trump back in office. That is something that Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not do. He refused to comment on any questions that referred to President Donald Trump....
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices continued to decline for a second straight session, trading around $72.20 a barrel during early European hours on Thursday (1/30). Investors remained cautious as uncertainty looms over US trade policy, following conflicting statements from the White House regarding President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico—two of the United States' main crude suppliers. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday that Trump remains committed to imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico as planned on Saturday. On Wednesday, Trump's...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) continued its decline against the US Dollar (USD) for the fourth straight day on Thursday (30/1). However, the AUD/USD pair strengthened after the release of the Export Price Index. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed export prices rose by 3.6% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2024, reversing a 4.3% decline in Q3 and marking the first increase since Q4 2023. The Australian Import Price Index rose by 0.2% QoQ in Q4 2024, bouncing back from a 1.4% decline in Q3 and beating market expectations of a 1.5% decline. The rise was mainly driven by surging Gold...
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...