US Stocks plunged on Friday, as investors reacted to a weak July jobs report and a fresh round of tariffs announced by President Trump. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.6% and 2.2%, their steepest drops since April, while the Dow lost 542 points. Payrolls rose by just 73,000 in July, far below expectations, with sharp downward revisions to prior months signaling deeper labor market weakness. Treasury yields fell and the odds of a September Fed rate cut rose above 80%. Sentiment worsened after new tariffs of 10% to 41% were imposed on imports from key partners including Canada, India, and...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices struggled to capitalize on their modest intraday gains on Tuesday and remained below multi-day highs set the previous day amid mixed fundamental cues. Geopolitical risks stemming from the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war and tensions in the Middle East, along with trade war concerns, continued to lend support to the safe-haven precious metal. However, the Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish policy shift kept a lid on the commodity. The US central bank last week signaled it would slow the pace of interest rate cuts in 2025. The outlook remains supportive of a pickup in the US...
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, reversing the previous session's losses, supported by a slightly positive near-term market outlook, despite thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday. Brent crude futures rose 42 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $73.05 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 38 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $69.62 a barrel by 0742 GMT. Changes in supply and demand in December have supported their less bearish outlook so far, analysts said in a note. A plan by China, the world's biggest oil importer, to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special bonds next...
The USD/CHF pair posted modest gains near 0.8990 during the early European session on Tuesday.The prospect of higher US interest rates in the longer term continues to support the greenback for now. Trading volumes are likely to thin out as the year-end approaches. The Federal Reserve (Fed) projections outlined a slower pace of interest rate cuts than traders had expected, supporting the US Dollar (USD). The Summary of Economic Projections, or ‘dot-plot', indicated a half-percentage-point rate cut in 2025, compared to a full percentage point cut projected in September. Data released by the...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) weakened for the second straight day against the US Dollar (USD) on Tuesday following the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) December monetary policy meeting minutes. Trading activity is expected to be subdued ahead of the Christmas break. The RBA minutes indicated that the board had become more confident about inflation since the previous meeting, although risks remained. The board stressed the need for monetary policy to remain "moderately tight" until there was greater certainty about inflation. The RBA board also noted that if future data were in...
Gold prices extended its steady uptrend in the Asian session and climbed to fresh intraday tops, around the $2,620 region in the last hour. Against the backdrop of persistent geopolitical risks and fears of a trade war, a modest pullback in the US Treasury bond yields provided some support to the commodity. However, any meaningful appreciating move for XAU/USD seems elusive in the wake of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) shift in its aggressive stance. In fact, the Fed last week hinted at slowing the pace of interest rate cuts in 2025. This helped the US Dollar (USD) to hold firm near two-year...