The dollar index fell by about 0.7% to 100.1 on Monday, retreating further from the one-month highs reached last week, as growing concerns over the US fiscal outlook triggered a shift away from dollar-denominated assets. On Friday, Moody's downgraded the US credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, citing rising government debt and a widening budget deficit. Fiscal concerns were further exacerbated by the approval of President Trump's tax-cut legislation by a key congressional committee on Sunday. The bill includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new tax cuts without corresponding spending...
Gold (XAU/USD) price pops over 1% on Monday and hits $3,243 at the time of writing, with three main themes at play on Monday. Tensions are brewing in the Middle East with Israel embarking on another massive ground offensive. The military action comes just days after United States (US) President Donald Trump visited the Middle East, though he didn't visit Israel. The second main driver is the bond market, where several pension funds and Fixed Income (Bonds) investors will need to reshuffle their holdings after rating agency Moody's downgraded the US's sovereign debt credit rating after the...
Oil inched lower on Monday, weighed down by Moody's downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating and official data that showed slowing growth in China's industrial output and retail sales. Both developments raised concerns over the outlook for the world's two biggest economies and oil consumers a week after Beijing and Washington's agreement to roll back most tariffs on each other's goods pushed oil prices higher. "The weaker than expected Chinese data is not helping crude oil, although I would describe the setback as modest," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Brent crude futures lost...