Gold prices fell slightly on Friday (December 19), pressured by a stronger dollar and year-end investor positioning, but are poised to end the week higher as weaker US inflation data raised speculation of an interest rate cut. Spot gold prices fell 0.1% to $4,326.29 an ounce at 09:35 GMT, but are expected to post a weekly gain of 0.6%, having returned to near the record high reached in October. US gold futures fell 0.2% to $4,354.80. Spot silver prices rose 0.7% to $65.90 an ounce, expected to end the week up 6% after hitting an all-time high of $66.88 on Wednesday. Silver has risen 128%...
Initial jobless claims in the US fell by 5,000 from the previous week to 227,000 on the first period of July, below market expectations of a 2,000 increase to 235,000. It was the fourth consecutive decline in initial claims to the lowest count in seven weeks, consolidating the view that the US labor market remains relatively robust to high interest rates and economic uncertainty. Still, outstanding unemployment claims rose by 10,000 to 1,965,000, the most since 2021, to solidify concerns that hiring is slowing. Initial claims filed by federal government employees, which have been under...
The impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff agenda is likely to be seen in the upcoming second-quarter corporate earnings season, according to analysts at Capital Economics. Despite having largely delayed the implementation of his punishing "reciprocal" levies first unveiled in April, Trump has left a baseline 10% tariff in place, as well as heightened duties on items like steel, aluminum and autos. The effective U.S. tariff has in turn increased compared to its level at the beginning of Trump's second term earlier this year, analysts have suggested. This week, Trump has...
US President Donald Trump has threatened Latin America's largest economy, Brazil, with a 50% tariff on exports to the US. He also ordered an investigation into alleged unfair trade practices, which could lead to even higher duties. Trump set the August 1 tariff rate, far higher than the 10% duty imposed on Brazil on April 2. Brazil is the United States' 15th-largest trading partner, with total two-way trade amounting to USD 92 billion in 2024, and a rare US trade surplus of USD 7.4 billion. Brazil was one of eight countries mentioned in letters Trump posted on Wednesday, which outlined...
The minutes of the United States Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting on June 17-18 will be released on Wednesday at 6:00 PM GMT. Policymakers decided to keep the benchmark interest rate in the 4.25%-4.5% range, but the revised Summary of Projections (SEP) shows that policymakers project two 25 basis point (bps) rate cuts in 2025. Jerome Powell and co. decided to leave the policy setting unchanged after the June meeting. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at its June meeting. In its policy statement, the US central bank...
US President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariff demand letters on Wednesday (July 9), with levies set to take effect in August on imports from partners that failed to reach agreements with the US. Trump said he would impose 30% tariffs on Algeria, Libya, and Iraq, with 25% duties on products from Brunei and Moldova, and 20% tariffs on goods from the Philippines. These levies are largely in line with the tariffs Trump initially announced in April, although the Iraqi tariff was reduced from 39%, while the Philippines' was increased from 17%. Trump began notifying trading partners...
Indonesia will emphasize its strategic role in global trade—particularly in natural resources as it advances negotiations to reduce a 32% tariff set to be imposed by the US, a government official said on Wednesday. Haryo Limanseto, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto who is leading the negotiation team is scheduled to meet with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and other officials. However, no specific timeframe for the meetings was provided. The 32% tariff...
In the first batch of "tariff letters" sent to trading partners, U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at two of the closest U.S. allies in Asia: Japan and South Korea both are already bearing the brunt of the existing duties on auto and steel exports. Additional tariffs would further hurt these two exports-dependent economies that are grappling with a slowdown in growth, with Japan likely staring at a technical recession, or two straight quarters of economic contraction. Both Japan and South Korea saw first-quarter gross domestic product contract on a quarter-on-quarter basis. While South...
Germany summoned the Chinese ambassador to the foreign ministry on Tuesday after saying China's military had laser-targeted a German aircraft taking part in an EU operation in the Red Sea, an account Beijing denied. The flare-up in tensions comes as concerns mount in the EU about Chinese influence on critical technologies and security infrastructure in Europe. "Putting German personnel at risk and disrupting the operation is completely unacceptable," said Germany's foreign ministry on social media platform X. China's foreign ministry, when asked about the accusation on Wednesday, said...
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....