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%...
The S&P Global UK Services PMI rose to 51.3 in June 2025, from 50.9 in May and in line with market estimates, according to flash estimates. The latest data indicated another expansion in the country's services sector that was the strongest in three months. There was a rebound in new business intakes, but the rise was only slight, while exports continued to fall. Employment also continued to decrease. Source: Trading Economics
The United States (US) carried out airstrikes on three nuclear sites in Iran early Sunday, directly entering Israel's war with Iran despite US President Donald Trump's long-standing pledge to avoid new foreign conflicts, according to Bloomberg. The decision to directly involve the US comes more than a week after Israel attacked Iran. Trump said Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility had been "totally destroyed" and warned of a "much bigger" attack unless Iran agreed to peace. Trump noted that the US and Israel were "working as a team, as probably no team has ever worked before. He added...
British retail sales volumes recorded their sharpest drop since December 2023 last month, as demand fell after shoppers splurged on food, summer clothes and home improvements the month before, official figures showed on Friday. Retail sales volumes dropped by 2.7% in May, the Office for National Statistics said, a much sharper decline than the median forecast of 0.5% in a Reuters poll. Sales volumes were also 1.3% lower than a year earlier, the biggest annual drop since April 2024 and well below a Reuters poll forecast for 1.7% annual sales growth. The monthly decline was mainly due to...
Japan's National Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.5% YoY in May, compared to the previous reading of 3.6%, according to the latest data released by the Statistics Bureau of Japan on Friday. Further details revealed that the National CPI ex Fresh Food came in at 3.7% YoY in May compared to 3.5% previously. The reading was above market consensus of 3.6%. CPI ex Fresh Food, Energy rose 3.3% YoY in May, compared to the previous reading of 3.0%.(alg) Source: FXstreet
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the change or fall of Iran's leadership was not a goal of Israel's attacks but could be a result. "The matter of changing the regime or the fall of this regime is first and foremost a matter for the Iranian people. There is no substitute for this. "And that's why I didn't present it as a goal. It could be a result, but it's not a stated or formal goal that we have," Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel's Kan public television. He said Israel had the power to remove all of Iran's nuclear facilities, whether U.S. President Donald...
President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran air war, the White House said on Thursday, raising pressure on Tehran to come to the negotiating table. Citing a message from Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks." The Republican president has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from...
Iran has been weighing its options in responding to its biggest security challenge since the 1979 revolution. A member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security Committee Presidium, Behnam Saeedi, told the semi-official Mehr news agency Iran could consider closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of daily global oil consumption passes. Tehran has in the past threatened to close the strait. Shipping sources said on Wednesday that commercial ships were avoiding Iran's waters nearby. Oil prices rose after Israel and Iran continued to exchange missile attacks overnight and Trump's...
Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital overnight, as the week-old air war escalated with no sign yet of an off-ramp. Following the strike that damaged the Soroka medical centre in Israel's southern city of Beersheba, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran's "tyrants" would pay the "full price". Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had been instructed to intensify strikes on strategic-related targets in Tehran in order to eliminate the threat to Israel and destabilise the "Ayatollah regime". Israel's sweeping campaign...
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....