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...
U.S. President Donald Trump said fiscal revenue from his trade tariffs is set to "skyrocket" in the coming months as inventory levels among local importers run dry. Trump said in a Truth.Social post that local businesses had stocked up on inventories to sidestep his tariffs in the near-term. But those inventory levels were now "wearing thin," which he said will result in businesses paying tariffs on more goods. "...soon Tariffs will be paid on everything they apply to, without avoidance, and the amounts payable to the USA will SKYROCKET," Trump said. Trump also added that he was looking...
U.S. factory activity slowed to a four-month low in November as higher prices because of tariffs on imports restrained demand, leading to a piling up of unsold goods that could hinder growth in the overall economy. Relief for manufacturers is unlikely to come soon as the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers separately showed on Friday a sharp drop in buying conditions for long-lasting manufactured goods. The University of Michigan noted that "consumers remain frustrated about the persistence of high prices and weakening incomes." President Donald Trump's sweeping import duties...
President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday unveiled a plan for a dramatic expansion of oil and gas drilling rights auctions in U.S. waters, including in California, where state officials strongly oppose energy development along its world-famous coastline. The Interior Department proposal is aligned with Trump's energy-dominance agenda to supercharge domestic fossil fuel production. It immediately set off a fresh conflict with California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is among the president's harshest critics. The plan contemplates 21 sales off the coast of Alaska starting...
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like crypto. Concerns that AI-based stocks are overvalued and that massive infrastructure spending hasn't kept pace with revenues have further fueled market jitters. Meanwhile, market fear indicators such as the volatility index (VIX) surged above levels that typically alert traders, while Bitcoin fell below its lowest level since April. As risk appetite weakened, US government bonds strengthened and...
President Donald Trump's tariff increases on imports from foreign countries will reduce U.S. deficits by $3 trillion if they are maintained through 2035, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated on Thursday, instead of the $4 trillion the agency projected in August. The CBO based its latest estimate on tariffs imposed by Trump between January 6 and November 15. It said that primary deficits would be reduced by $2.5 trillion over 11 years, with government borrowing costs falling by around $500 billion as a result. The August estimate was $3.3 trillion and $700 billion,...
US job growth accelerated in September and the unemployment rate rose slightly, suggesting the labor market was showing signs of stabilization before the government shutdown. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 119,000 after declining the previous month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. Hourly earnings rose 0.2% from the previous month. The September jobs report, originally scheduled for October 3, was the first important data point missed during the government shutdown. However, because the BLS had completed data collection by...
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering an executive order that would seek to preempt state laws on artificial intelligence through lawsuits and by withholding federal funding, according to a draft of the order seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The move, which is likely to face pushback from states, shows how far Trump is willing to go to help AI companies overcome a patchwork of laws they say stifle innovation. A White House official told Reuters that until officially announced, discussion of potential executive orders was speculation. The order would task Attorney General Pam Bondi with...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a single federal framework to regulate artificial intelligence, warning that differing state-level rules could impede investment and allow China to gain an edge. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said AI investment was helping make the U.S. economy the "hottest" in the world, but argued that state regulations risked weakening the sector. He criticised efforts by some states to embed diversity and inclusion standards into AI systems, claiming they would produce what he called "woke AI." "We MUST have one Federal Standard instead...
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....