Oil prices fell on Wednesday, extending the previous session's decline as markets digested U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency on his first day in office and eyed his tariff policies. Brent crude futures fell 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $78.93 a barrel by 0730 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $75.37. Crude prices closed lower on Tuesday after Trump laid out a sweeping plan to boost oil and gas production, including declaring a national energy emergency to speed up permitting, roll back environmental protections and...
Gold prices edged up to an 11-week high in Asian trading on Wednesday, extending gains for a third straight session as safe-haven demand increased amid concerns about U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,749.29 an ounce, its highest since early November, while February gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,766.57 an ounce by 1:45 p.m. ET (06:45 GMT). The metal was set for a third straight day of gains, as traders remained cautious as they tried to gauge Trump's policies, which are expected to boost inflation. Gold is seen as a hedge against inflation. The dollar had...
The USD/CHF pair moved higher near 0.9060 in the North American session on Wednesday (1/22). The Swiss franc pair recovered intraday losses and edged higher as Swiss National Bank (SNB) Chairman Martin Schlegel has opened the door to negative interest rates. Schlegel said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that the SNB "doesn't like negative interest rates" but if we have to do it, "we will do it." His ultra-dovish monetary policy stance is supported by the risk of inflation rising beyond the SNB's target range. Schlegel added, "We are ready to...