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 were steady in early Asian trading on Wednesday (12/18) as markets awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, with a rate cut widely expected. The future direction of monetary policy remains uncertain, especially given potential inflationary pressures, FlowCommunity's Ruben Ferreira wrote in a note. Upcoming policy decisions from other major central banks such as the Bank of Japan are among the factors that could influence the precious metal's trajectory in the coming months, Ferreira said. Gold typically has an inverse relationship to interest rates, with higher...
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices were trading around $69.70 on Wednesday (12/18). WTI prices moved lower amid fresh concerns about Chinese demand. Investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday. Disappointing Chinese Retail Sales raised concerns about weakening consumer spending in China, the world's largest oil importer. "The bearish momentum generated by the Chinese data has crushed speculators' hopes of breaking out of the upper two-month range," said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho...
The bullish momentum behind the Euro evaporated on Tuesday, dragging the pair back below the 1.0500 level as traders prepare for the Federal Reserve's (Fed) final interest rate decision in 2024. European data was relatively light this week, forcing Fiber traders to navigate a slew of US data. The Euro market largely ignored the appearances of several European Central Bank (ECB) officials earlier in the week, and despite December's European PMI figures beating expectations. The pan-EU Services PMI survey figures remained in contraction as concerns over a deepening economic slowdown in Europe...
Gold price dropped to a new weekly low of $2,633 on Tuesday following the release of strong Retail Sales data in the United States. This weighed on investors' expectations of the Federal Reserve (Fed), which is expected to adopt a gradual approach to easing in 2025. At the time of writing, the XAU/USD trades at $2,637, down 0.57%.The Fed has begun its two-day meeting in Washington, DC, and is expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) on Wednesday. The markets have already priced in the decision, but participants are looking for the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) and...
The US Dollar (USD) suffered a setback on Tuesday heading into the US trading session with the US Retail Sales figures taking the spotlight. Coming in at 0.7%, beating the 0.5% estimate for November, the reading was less impressive than the US Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) on Monday. Even a revision to the previous reading to 0.5%, from 0.4% failed to cheer traders and add to their US Dollar positions. Instead, the US Dollar began to pare back some of its gains on the day. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is set to cut its policy interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday –...