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 prices dropped after the Federal Reserve decided to lower borrowing costs as expected and upward revised the fed funds rate to 3.87%, for 2025. At the time of writing, the XAU/USD trades volatile at around $2,610-$2,630.The Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points to the 4.25%-4.50% range, yet the decision was not unanimous, as Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack opted to keep rates unchanged. When comparing the statement to the past meeting, there was little change, though traders were focused on the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP). According to the SEP, the dot plot...
Crude oil prices traded higher on Wednesday with overnight crude inventory figures from the American Petroleum Institute leading to a decline for now. Some support for crude prices came after a big drop in crude inventories from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday. With a drop of 4.7 million barrels, larger than the 1.85 million barrel drop expected, crude prices gained slightly. However, some bearish news for oil came out of Kazakhstan. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said on Tuesday that he has ordered the Energy Ministry to intensify efforts to increase Natural Gas and Oil...
The pound weakened against the US dollar on Wednesday despite higher UK inflation data for November than the previous month. This and expansionary fiscal policy could prevent the Bank of England from cutting interest rates, even though the economy has shown some signs of weakness. GBP/USD is trading at 1.2695, failing to break through the 1.2700 barrier convincingly. Source: FXStreet
Markets expect a quarter-point interest rate cut at today's Fed meeting. Bullion is on track for its biggest annual increase since 2010 Gold traded in a narrow range ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming interest rate decision, with traders looking for clues on the path of monetary policy next year. Bullion traded near $2,645 an ounce, having fallen 0.2% in the previous session, as traders awaited the U.S. central bank's last policy meeting of the year later on Wednesday. While markets widely expect another quarter-point cut, the number and pace of subsequent cuts in 2025 are unclear,...
EUR/USD is trading in a tight range near the psychological 1.0500 mark during the European session on Wednesday. The major currency pair is consolidating as investors await the outcome of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) final policy meeting of the year, which will conclude at 19:00 GMT. The Fed will also release a revised Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), also known as the dot plot, which shows the latest economic projections and where policymakers see the Federal Funds Rate heading in the medium to long term. Analysts at Bank of America (BofA) expect the Fed to cut interest rates by 25...