The U.S. dollar strengthened on Wednesday, benefiting from rising bond yields after the release of healthy U.S. economic data, while weak German industrial orders weighed on the euro. At 4:35 AM ET (09:35 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was trading 0.3% higher at 108.690. Dollar strengthens on rising Treasury yields The dollar continued to strengthen on Wednesday, following the previous session's positive tone after data showed U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in November, layoffs were low, while service sector activity...
Gold prices hit a near four-week high on Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected private employment report for December provided reassurance for some in the market the U.S. Federal Reserve may be less cautious about easing rates this year. Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,657.38 per ounce, as of 02:15 p.m. ET (1915 GMT) and hit its highest since Dec. 13. U.S. gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $2,672.40. Weaker private payrolls "is contributing to gold's move, because ultimately, weaker employment numbers imply that the economy has been weaker than many had expected," said Bart Melek, head of...
Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday as a stronger dollar and large builds in U.S. fuel inventories last week pressured prices, reversing earlier gains driven by tightening supplies from Russia and other OPEC members. Brent crude settled down 89 cents, or 1.16%, to $76.23 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 93 cents, or 1.25%, to $73.32. Both benchmarks had risen more than 1% earlier in the session. Gasoline stocks rose by 6.3 million barrels last week to 237.7 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel build,...