Wall Street's main indexes bounced back on Monday after a sharp pullback in the previous session, buoyed by growing expectations of deeper Federal Reserve interest rate cuts following an unexpectedly weak jobs report. At 11:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 463.55 points, or 1.06%, to 44,052.13, the S&P 500 gained 74.56 points, or 1.20%, to 6,312.57 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 325.95 points, or 1.58%, to 20,976.08. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track for their biggest single-day jump in more than two months. This is in contrast to Friday, when a...
The USD/CHF pair moved higher near 0.9060 in the North American session on Wednesday (1/22). The Swiss franc pair recovered intraday losses and edged higher as Swiss National Bank (SNB) Chairman Martin Schlegel has opened the door to negative interest rates. Schlegel said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that the SNB "doesn't like negative interest rates" but if we have to do it, "we will do it." His ultra-dovish monetary policy stance is supported by the risk of inflation rising beyond the SNB's target range. Schlegel added, "We are ready to...
Gold prices edged up to an 11-week high in Asian trading on Wednesday, extending gains for a third straight session as safe-haven demand increased amid concerns about U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,749.29 an ounce, its highest since early November, while February gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,766.57 an ounce by 1:45 p.m. ET (06:45 GMT). The metal was set for a third straight day of gains, as traders remained cautious as they tried to gauge Trump's policies, which are expected to boost inflation. Gold is seen as a hedge against inflation. The dollar had...
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, extending the previous session's decline as markets digested U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency on his first day in office and eyed his tariff policies. Brent crude futures fell 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $78.93 a barrel by 0730 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $75.37. Crude prices closed lower on Tuesday after Trump laid out a sweeping plan to boost oil and gas production, including declaring a national energy emergency to speed up permitting, roll back environmental protections and...
The pound (GBP) weakened against the US dollar (USD) in London on Wednesday (22/1) but held on to Tuesday's gains above the key support level of 1.2300. The GBP/USD pair weakened slightly as the US dollar recovered slightly, with the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, edging higher from a two-week low of 107.90. However, the greenback could face selling pressure as its safe-haven demand has waned. The safe-haven appeal of the USD has waned as the tariff plans unveiled by the US administration of President Donald Trump were not as...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) remained weak against the US Dollar (USD) on Wednesday (1/22). The AUD/USD pair faced challenges as US President Donald Trump announced that his administration is considering imposing a 10% tariff on Chinese imports starting February 1. The move is reportedly related to concerns over fentanyl shipments from China to Mexico and Canada, according to Reuters. Trump said earlier, "If we make a TikTok deal and China doesn't agree to it, we could probably put tariffs on China." The comments followed the signing of an executive order that delayed the TikTok ban for 75...