Oil prices were little changed on Friday morning after rising more than 3% in the previous session, as trade tensions between top oil consumers the U.S. and China showed signs of easing and Britain announced a "breakthrough" trade deal with the United States. Brent crude rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $62.91 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $59.98 a barrel by 0121 GMT. On Thursday, Brent closed up 2.8%, or $1.72, and WTI gained 3.2%, or $1.84. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will meet with China's top economic official, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in...
Silver (XAG/USD) attracted some dip buyers near the $32.20 area during the Asian session on Friday (09/05) and climbed to a fresh intraday high in the last hour. However, the white metal remained within a broader trading range from the previous day and is currently trading just above the mid-$32.00s, up over 0.25% for the day. From a technical perspective, the recent price action along a descending channel constitutes the formation of a bullish flag pattern against the backdrop of a decent recovery from the $28.45 area, or the YTD low touched in April. Moreover, oscillators on the...
Government data released Friday showed that Japanese household spending rose 0.4% in March and 2.1% from a year earlier, both beating market expectations. Moreover, expectations that continued wage gains will boost consumer spending and inflation in Japan suggest that the Bank of Japan may not back off its interest rate hike plans altogether. In fact, minutes of the BoJ's monetary policy meeting held on March 18-19 revealed on Thursday that the central bank remains ready to raise interest rates further if inflation trends persist. This, in turn, bolstered the case for further policy...