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...
The EUR/USD pair trades in positive territory around 1.0510 during the early European session on Monday. However, the upside for the cross might be limited due to the dovish stance of the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB decided to cut interest rates for the fourth time this year last week and kept the door open to further easing as the Eurozone economy is weighed by political instability at home and the potential Donald Trump's tariff threats. Later on Monday, traders await the preliminary Eurozone HCOB Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December for fresh impetus, along with the...
Oil slipped after a weekly advance, as lingering concerns about demand in China vied with indications the US may tighten sanctions on supply from Russia. Brent traded above $74 a barrel after rising almost 5% last week, while West Texas intermediate was near $71. China's crude refining dipped to the lowest in five months while two key economic indicators — home sales and consumer spending — also fell. The data out of the top crude importer sent prices somewhat lower. They had earlier held steady after US Treasury Secretary said the US and its allies could...
Silver (XAG/UD) started the new week on a subdued note and consolidated last week's retracement slide from or above one-month highs. The white metal remained close to a two-week low touched on Friday and traded around the $30.55 area, or the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), during the Asian session. From a technical perspective, acceptance below the 100-day SMA will be seen as a fresh trigger for bearish traders against the backdrop of last week's failure near the $32.35 horizontal resistance. Given that oscillators on the daily chart have just started gaining negative traction, XAG/USD...
Gold prices (XAU/USD) moved higher after the Asian session to drop to $2,644-2,643 region, or the lowest level in a week, and for now, seems to have halted its sharp decline from over a month highs reached last Thursday. The US Dollar (USD) started the new week on a weaker note amid a slight decline in the US Treasury bond yields. Moreover, geopolitical risks and uncertainty over US President-elect Donald Trump's policies turned out to be the main factors providing support for the precious metal which is a safe-haven asset. Meanwhile, investors now seem convinced that the Federal Reserve...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) snapped a four-day losing streak on Monday (16/12) as the US Dollar (USD) weakened amid US Treasury yields ahead of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) interest rate decision due on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to announce a 25 basis point interest rate cut at its final monetary policy meeting of 2024. According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets are now almost fully pricing in a quarter basis point rate cut at the Fed's December meeting. China Retail Sales (YoY) rose 3.0% in November, compared with a 4.6% forecast and a previous reading of 4.8%. Meanwhile,...
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...