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 U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold for at least another couple of months, according to most economists polled by Reuters, as risks linger that inflation may resurge due to President Donald Trump's tariff policies. With most trade negotiations incomplete as the July 9 deadline for a 90-day pause on tariffs announced in April approaches, forecasters have been reluctant to change their already fragile economic outlook. Rising concerns about U.S. debt and a deluge of bond issuance fuelled by a sweeping tax cut bill passed by the House of Representatives, but not the...
Russia is ramping up production of drones, enabling massive daily attacks on Ukrainian cities as its forces slowly advance on the battlefield and Moscow pressures Kyiv to accept its peace terms. The Kremlin unleashed deadly destruction on the capital Kyiv and the Black Sea city of Odesa overnight, firing 315 drones and seven missiles, according to Ukraine. That followed a record 479 drones the night before, which topped the record set on June 1. Moscow has been relentlessly ramping up drone attacks since the start of the year, when the scale of the attacks in February hit a daily record of...
U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade officials are meeting their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday for talks aimed at resolving an ongoing trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are representing the U.S. China's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing's lead trade negotiator, will be in the U.K. between June 8-13, and that a meeting of the "China-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism" would take place. National...
U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are determined to enact his tax-cut agenda in a political push that has largely abandoned longtime party claims of fiscal discipline, by simply denying warnings that the measure will balloon the federal debt. The drive has drawn the ire of Elon Musk, a once-close Trump ally and the biggest donor to Republicans in the 2024 election, who gave a boost to a handful of party deficit hawks opposed to the bill by publicly denigrating it as a "disgusting abomination," opening a public feud with Trump. But top congressional...
The UK 10-year gilt yield rose to 4.66% as investors awaited the government's spending review this Wednesday, which will set departmental budgets through 2029. The UK economy has shown resilience despite global uncertainty, with stronger business surveys and a solid Q1 GDP pointing to recovery from a weak end to 2024. However, concerns remain about high public debt levels, and the public is eager for improvements in living standards, according to Finance Minister Rachel Reeves. Markets expect the Bank of England to keep interest rates steady at its June 19 meeting. This week's key UK data...
Three top aides to US President Donald Trump will meet with their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday for talks aimed at resolving a trade dispute between the world's two largest economies that has unsettled global markets. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the United States in the talks, Trump announced in a post on his Truth Social platform without providing further details. China's foreign ministry said Saturday that Vice Premier He Lifeng would be in Britain between June 8 and June 13,...
China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) dropped at an annual pace of 0.1% in May after declining 0.1% in April, the National Bureau of Statistics of China reported on Monday. The market consensus was for a 0.2% decrease in the reported period. Chinese CPI inflation came in at -0.2% MoM in May versus April's 0.1% increase. China's Producer Price Index (PPI) fell 3.3% YoY in May, following a 2.7% decline in April. The data came in lower than the market consensus of 3.2%. Market reaction to China's inflation data At the press time, the AUD/USD pair is up 0.30% on the day to trade at...
Top U.S. and Chinese officials will sit down in London on Monday for talks aimed at defusing the high-stakes trade dispute between the two superpowers that has widened in recent weeks beyond tit-for-tat tariffs to export controls over goods and components critical to global supply chains. At a still-undisclosed venue in London, the two sides will try to get back on track with a preliminary agreement struck last month in Geneva that had briefly lowered the temperature between Washington and Beijing and fostered relief among investors battered for months by U.S. President Donald Trump's...
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....