The Japanese yen slipped to around 147.5 per dollar on Friday, marking its second consecutive day of losses as markets digested the implications of the new US-Japan trade agreement. The deal imposes a 15% tariff on Japanese exports to the US, significantly lower than the 25% previously threatened by Trump, providing some relief but keeping trade tensions in focus. On the economic front, Tokyo's core inflation for July came in slightly below expectations but remained well above the BOJ's 2% target, reinforcing speculation of another rate hike later this year. The BOJ will announce its policy...
Oil prices rose on Friday as trade talk optimism supported the outlook for both the global economy and oil demand, outweighing news of the potential for more oil supply from Venezuela. Brent crude futures touched a one-week high and were up 20 cents, or 0.29%, at $69.38 a barrel by 0519 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 20 cents, or 0.30%, to $66.23. Oil, along with stock markets, gained support from the prospect of more trade deals between the United States and trading partners ahead of an August 1 deadline for new tariffs on goods from an array of countries. After...
Gold prices edged lower on Friday, as signs of progress in trade negotiations between the U.S. and its trading partners weighed on safe-haven demand, although an overall weaker dollar limited losses for bullion. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $3,360.68 per ounce, as of 0459 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.3% to $3,363. "Basically we are seeing some profit-taking from short-term bullish speculators due to the fact that we now start to see this trade-deal optimism in the market," OANDA senior market analyst Kelvin Wong said. "However, the dollar is in a weakening bias and on top of that, we still...