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...
The EUR/USD pair is trading with a mild negative bias near 1.0550 on Monday during the Asian trading hours. Investors will be closely watching the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation report for November, due on Wednesday. On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate decision will be in the spotlight. Investors will be looking for clues on what will happen next. Expectations for a quarter-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) on December 18 increased last week after the employment report showed strong job creation, but not at a pace that would deter Fed officials from...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) kicks off the new week on a positive note and draws support from a combination of factors, though the upside potential seems limited. Government data released earlier today showed that Japan's economy expanded at a faster pace than initially estimated in the third quarter. Apart from this, geopolitical tensions and concerns about US President-elect Donald Trump's impending trade tariffs offer support to the safe-haven JPY. Meanwhile, the recent fall in the US Treasury bond yields contributes to the JPY's relative outperformance against its American counterpart and...
The AUD/USD pair strengthened around 0.6400 as the US Dollar (USD) weakened during the Asian session on Monday. There are no Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers this week as the media is closed. All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) rate decision on Tuesday, with no rate changes expected. Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday showed that US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) increased by 227,000 in November, compared to an upwardly revised 36,000 in October. This reading was better than the estimate of 200,000. Meanwhile, the Unemployment Rate rose to 4.2% in...
Gold prices rose on Monday after China's central bank added bullion to its reserves in November — ending a six-month hiatus in a buying binge that had provided a major pillar of support for the precious metal. Bullion prices rose as much as 0.6% to trade just below $2,650 an ounce, after the People's Bank of China said Saturday it bought 160,000 troy ounces last month. The addition was the first since April, before the central bank halted purchases for 18 months that had helped prop up prices amid strong interest from global public institutions. China led demand in the first quarter of...
Oil fell for the second time in a week after Saudi Arabia cut its crude prices for Asia more than expected, as the market eyed any impact from the fall of the Syrian regime. Brent futures traded near $71 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was above $67. Saudi Aramco cut its oil prices after OPEC+ further delayed the restart of stalled production, underscoring the weak market outlook. Meanwhile, the fall of the Syrian government sent shockwaves across the Middle East and would be a blow to longtime backers Russia and Iran. Crude prices have been confined to a tight range since...