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%...
Goldman Sachs says it now expects the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates earlier than initially anticipated, citing relatively mild effects from U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff agenda. Writing in a note to clients, the analysts led by Jan Hatzius said they now predict that the central bank will cut borrowing costs by 25 basis points in September, prior to an earlier forecast that the next reduction would come in December. "While it is far from clear, we think the odds of a cut in September are somewhat above 50% because we see several routes to get there --...
Euro zone inflation rose slightly to 2% in June, according to flash data from statistics agency Eurostat on Tuesday, meaning consumer prices in the single currency area are now in line with the European Central Bank's target of 2%. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the reading to come in at 2% in the twelve months to June. Euro zone inflation had fallen by more than expected to 1.9% in May. Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, tobacco and alcohol prices, was unchanged at 2.3% in June. The closely watched services inflation print picked up to 3.3% in June, after cooling...
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), and Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank (ECB) President, will speak at the 2025 ECB Forum on Central Banking at 13:30 GMT on Tuesday, July 1.Alongside Fed Chairman Powell and ECB President Lagarde, Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey and Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda will also be taking part in the same panel. The Fed left its policy rate unchanged in the range of 4.25%-4.5% following the June policy meeting, and the revised Summary of Economic Projections (the so-called dot-plot) showed that policymakers...
China's official NBS Manufacturing PMI increased to 49.7 in June 2025 from May's 49.5, matching market expectations while marking the third consecutive month of contraction in factory activity. It was the softest contraction in the sequence, with output rising the most in three months (51.0 vs 50.7 in May), supported by a trade deal with the US and Beijing's ongoing efforts to stimulate domestic demand and bolster the sluggish economy. Additionally, new orders grew for the first time in three months (50.2 vs 49.8), while foreign sales fell the least in three months (47.7 vs 47.5). A...
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of UN nuclear watchdog the IAEA for visits to Iranian nuclear sites. "(IAEA head Rafael Grossi's) insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent," Araqchi wrote in a post on X. "Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defense of its interests, its people, and its sovereignty." The IAEA earlier said in a statement: "(Grossi) emphasised the need for IAEA inspectors to continue their verification activities in...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the Sept. 1 Labor Day holiday, citing talks with 18 main U.S. trading partners and new revisions to a deal with China aimed at expediting rare earths shipments. After a week where tariffs took a back seat to the U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and the massive tax and spending bill in Congress, the Trump administration's trade negotiations have picked up. The United States sent a new proposal to the European Union on Thursday and India sent a...
The US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.1% month-over-month in May 2025, the same as in April and in line with expectations. Prices for goods were up 0.1%, the same as in April and prices for services rose 0.2%, above 0.1% in the previous month. The core PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2%, above 0.1% in the previous two months and forecasts of 0.1%. Source: Trading Economics
A White House official said late Thursday that the United States has reached an understanding with China on how to speed up rare earth shipments to the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal. "The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement," a White House official said. The understanding was "about how we can implement the acceleration of rare earth shipments to the U.S. again," Bloomberg quoted U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as saying, "They're going to ship us rare earths" and "we're going to lift our...
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....