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 USD/JPY pair weakened near 147.60 during the early Asian session on Wednesday. The US dollar (USD) remained weak against the Japanese yen (JPY) as traders continued to digest various comments from Fed officials, while key indicators of US business activity slightly disappointed investors. On Wednesday, US New Home Sales data for August will be released. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that weakness in the labor market outweighed concerns about stubborn inflation, which led to his decision to cut the benchmark interest rate at last week's September meeting. However, Powell...
Oil prices closed up more than $1 per barrel on Tuesday (September 23) after a deal to resume exports from Iraqi Kurdistan stalled, easing some investors' concerns that the resumption would exacerbate concerns about a global oversupply. Brent crude futures closed up $1.06, or 1.6%, to $67.63 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.13, or 1.8%, to $63.41 per barrel. Both benchmarks recouped significant losses earlier. Pipeline oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey had not resumed on Tuesday despite hopes of a deal to end the deadlock, as the two major producers...
Gold prices rose to a new record high on Tuesday (September 23), driven by safe-haven inflows amid geopolitical uncertainty and expectations of further Fed interest rate cuts. Spot gold prices rose 0.8% to $3,777.80 an ounce at 1:45 p.m. ET (17:45 GMT), after hitting a new record high of $3,790.82 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery closed 1.1% higher at $3,815.7. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell 0.2%, while the U.S. dollar was largely stable. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank faces a "challenging situation" with risks of...
Oil prices rose after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) promised a "robust" response to Russian incursions into its airspace, adding to concerns about Russian supply flows. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose as much as 2.6% to trade near $64 per barrel, its biggest intraday gain in a week, after NATO said it would use all options, including military ones, to defend itself. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed America's commitment to NATO, while the Russian government is evaluating a potential ban on diesel exports for some companies amid a spate of Ukrainian...
Gold hit a new record, with traders weighing China's plan to become a custodian of foreign gold reserves in an effort to strengthen its position in the global bullion market. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is using the Shanghai Gold Exchange to persuade central banks in friendly countries to buy bullion and store it domestically, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Asian nation is the world's largest producer and consumer of the precious metal, and a larger role in the global bullion market could mean easing import restrictions, or a broader role for gold in the financial...
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...