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...
UK retail sales rose 0.9% month-over-month in June 2025, rebounding from a revised 2.8% drop in the previous month but missing market expectations of a 1.2% gain. It marked the fourth increase so far this year. Food store sales volumes gained 0.7%, reversing a 5.4% decline in May, supported by improved supermarket sales, particularly beverages, amid warm weather. Automotive fuel sales jumped 2.8%, the largest monthly rise since May 2024, also helped by favorable weather. Online sales (non-store retailers) rose 1.7%, reaching their highest level since February 2022. Meanwhile, non-food...
President Donald Trump locked horns with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a rare presidential visit to the U.S. central bank on Thursday, criticizing the cost of renovating two historical buildings at its headquarters and pressing the case for lower interest rates. Trump, who called Powell a "numbskull" earlier this week for failing to heed the White House's demand for a large reduction in borrowing costs, wrapped up his visit to the Fed's $2.5 billion building project in Washington by saying he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he would. "To do so is...
US President Donald Trump visited the Federal Reserve (Fed) headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Friday (July 25th). President Trump recently turned his attention to criticizing the long-planned renovation of the Fed headquarters. Trump, who oversaw a comprehensive renovation of the White House interior, adding gold accents, claimed that the Fed renovations represent an unnecessary expense for U.S. taxpayers in an attempt to further narrow the gap between the executive branch's ability to control the U.S. central bank, which is currently beyond the President's broad reach. During Trump's...
Donald Trump will visit the Federal Reserve on Thursday (July 24th) to inspect a construction site he has criticized for cost overruns amid his escalating attacks on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates. The White House announced the visit in Trump's daily public schedule, stating, "THE PRESIDENT visits the Federal Reserve" at 4:00 p.m. In recent days, Trump has said he does not plan to fire Powell before the end of his term, but has not completely ruled out firing the central bank chief over his handling of the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation project. "This guy is...
U.S. business activity expanded at a faster pace in July as services-sector firms shrugged off concerns over government policies, though manufacturing activity contracted for the first time this year. The S&P Global Flash U.S. Composite PMI--a monthly gauge of activity in both the manufacturing and services sectors--rose to 54.6 in July from 52.9 in June, a survey showed Thursday. The reading above 50 suggests overall activity continued to expand, this time at a faster pace. However, business growth became increasingly unbalanced, as manufacturing weakened in contrast to a...
Initial jobless claims in the US fell by 4,000 from the previous week to 217,000 in the third week of July, well under market expectations that they would increase to 227,000. It was the sixth consecutive decline in initial claims to the lowest since April, extending the period of relative robustness in the US labor market following brief alarms earlier in the year. On the other hand, outstanding claims inched higher to 1,955,000 in the earlier week, marginally below market expectations but remaining at the second highest reading since November of 2021, reflecting a slowdown in the hiring...
The European Central Bank (ECB) is on track to leave its key interest rates unchanged after its July policy meeting, after having reduced rates at each of its last seven meetings. The decision will be announced on Thursday at 12:15 GMT. The interest rate decision will be followed by ECB President Christine Lagarde's press conference at 12:45 GMT. The ECB policy announcements will likely have a significant impact on the EUR/USD performance, as the Euro (EUR) is expected to experience intense volatility following the decision and during President Lagarde's press conference. With a...
The S&P Global UK Services PMI fell to 51.2 in July 2025 from 52.8 in June, compared to market forecasts of 53, according to preliminary estimates. Service providers reported that fragile domestic economic conditions and heightened geopolitical uncertainty weighed on sales pipelines. New orders in the services sector fell to their lowest level since April, with demand from abroad declining. The sector also saw a sharper decline in employment. On the pricing front, selling prices rose at a faster pace. Despite these challenges, private sector firms, on balance, remain optimistic,...
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....