EUR/USD held onto earlier gains of more than 0.20% after the European Central Bank (ECB) made headlines, cutting interest rates but leaving open the possibility of a pause at its upcoming July 24 meeting. At the time of writing, the pair was trading at 1.1441 after bouncing off a daily low of 1.1404. The ECB decided to cut interest rates to 2%, as expected by market participants, although it had left open the possibility of a pause. The decision was not unanimous, with one dissenter, most likely Robert Holzmann, who, ahead of the meeting, had favored a cut after the June or July...
Gold edges higher in the early Asian session amid weak U.S. economic data and signs of easing U.S.-China tensions. Thursday's data, showing rising jobless claims and a sharp decline in imports, raised the prospect of slowing economic growth. Meanwhile, President Trump said his conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was productive and both sides agreed to meet soon. Investors could remain cautious ahead of tonight's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, Kudotrade's Konstantinos Chrysikos says. "A strong reading could challenge the current rate-cut narrative and weigh on gold, while any...
Silver held near a 13-year high, supported by a technical breakout that also drove platinum to the highest level since 2022, signaling growing investor appetite for precious metals used by the industrial sector. Spot silver rose as much as 4.5% on Thursday to $36.06 an ounce — the highest since February 2012 — while platinum surged 4.8% to above $1,146 an ounce. Prices on Friday held close to those peaks. The metals were aided by technical momentum across the metals complex as well as improving fundamentals, with strong appetite for physical silver in India and resurgent...