Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more "noise" than signals of a short-term surplus. As of 3:50 PM WIB, Brent was at $69.60/barrel (+0.29%) and WTI was at $64.83/barrel (+0.31%). The gains were moderate, but enough to keep prices near the psychological $70 level for Brent. From a geopolitical perspective, market focus is on the potential for escalation in the Middle East. Recent reports...
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) on Wednesday. This publication will provide data on changes in the number of job openings in July, along with the number of layoffs and resignations. Markets expect the number of job openings to decline slightly to 7.4 million in July, compared to 7.437 million in June. The JOLTS will be released a few days before another important employment report, the August Nonfarm Payrolls data, which will be released on Friday. The latest BLS US employment report showed that nonfarm payrolls rose...
Australia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.6% QoQ in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025 compared with the 0.3% growth in the first quarter (revised from 0.2%), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Wednesday. This reading came in stronger than the expectations of 0.5% expansion. The annual second-quarter GDP grew by 1.8%, compared with the 1.4% growth in Q1 (revised from 1.3%), while above the consensus of a 1.6% increase. Market reaction to Australia's GDP data The upbeat Australia GDP report provides some support to the Australian Dollar (AUD). The AUD/USD pair is...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his criticism of India, calling trade ties with the country "a totally one sided disaster!" after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Trump in a post on Truth Social also said that India had offered to cut its tariffs to zero, but it was "getting late," and that the country should have done so "years ago," without elaborating on when such an offer was made. This comes against the backdrop of the U.S. imposing 50% tariffs on the country, including secondary duties of...
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin and indicated his administration plans to take action regarding casualties in the Ukraine war. "I am very disappointed in President Putin, I can say that, and we will be doing something to help people live," Trump said Tuesday during an interview on The Scott Jennings Radio Show. Meanwhile,Trump not concerned about China-Russia axisU.S. President Donald Trump stated he is "not concerned at all" about a potential axis forming against the United States that includes China and Russia. Trump made these...
President Xi Jinping used a mix of friendliness and economic appeal this week to send a clear message to Donald Trump: Beijing has too much global influence for the US to dictate. Cameras captured the Chinese leader in a rare, unscripted meeting on Monday with Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi – his strongest allies in countering America on the world stage – at a summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin. At one point, Xi held hands with his Indian counterpart, while the three men shared a lighthearted laugh, a striking sight considering that just months earlier, New Delhi and Beijing were...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended President Donald Trump's removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, saying the central bank has "made a lot of mistakes" even as he stressed its independence, according to a Reuters interview. Speaking to Reuters, Bessent argued that allegations of mortgage fraud against Cook warranted scrutiny and suggested she should resign if they prove true. "She hasn't said she didn't do it. She's just saying the president can't fire her. There's a big difference," Bessent told Reuters. Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed Board, was...
President Donald Trump's latest legal setback regarding tariffs is increasing uncertainty for American importers and delaying the economic benefits that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicted his administration would generate. A US appeals court ruling late Friday, declaring most of Trump's tariffs illegal, adds further complications and calls into question the president's authority to tax companies to incentivize them to produce or source needed resources domestically. The judges left the levies in place while the case proceeds, threatening to freeze corporate investment decisions...
Indonesia's central bank will remain active in the foreign exchange market to stabilise the rupiah, it said on Friday, while the stock exchange regulator said market fundamentals remained strong despite a sudden fall in prices. The rupiah dropped nearly 1% on Friday to its weakest level since August 1 before regaining some of the losses. The stock index fell as much as 2% to reach its lowest point since August 12. Bank Indonesia (BI) will continue to take action to stabilise the rupiah by intervening in offshore and onshore non-deliverable forward markets and the spot market, said Erwin...
Gold rises in the early Asian trade. There's a broad commodities uptrend, driven by macro uncertainty, a weaker dollar, and persistent demand for "hard" assets, says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst...
Oil extended declines after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook.
Brent...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakened against its US counterpart and reversed part of Friday's recovery from the lowest level since July 23 following Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks....