Oil prices posted a slight increase on Friday (October 17th), but were close to a weekly loss of nearly 3% after the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast a widening oversupply, and U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet again to discuss Ukraine. Brent crude futures closed at $61.29 per barrel, up 23 cents, or 0.38%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed at $57.54 per barrel, up 8 cents, or 0.14%. Trump and Putin agreed on Thursday to hold another summit on the war in Ukraine, to be held in Hungary within the next two weeks. This...
EUR/USD is steady late during the North American session as investors digest a soft jobs report and shrugs off the shutdown of the US government. The lack of an agreement between the White House and Democrats would prolong the shutdown and delay US economic data releases. The pair trades at 1.1720 unchanged. US ADP National Employment Change in September was dismal and highlighted the weakness of the labor market. Business activity in the manufacturing sector in the US, improved but contracted for the seventh straight month. Regarding political turmoil in the US, Vice-President JD Bance...
The British Pound (GBP) advances sharply against the US Dollar (USD) on Wednesday, with GBP/USD climbing to a one-week high, reaching its strongest level since September 24, as the Greenback remains under broad pressure amid a weaker-than-expected ADP Employment Change report, the ongoing United States (US) government shutdown, and mounting bets on further Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cuts. At the time of writing, GBP/USD is trading around 1.3512, extending its winning streak for a fourth day with a gain of 0.50%. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the Greenback's...
USD/CHF continues to trudge its way through familiar technical territory, with price action holding stubbornly just south of the 0.8000 major handle. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) continues to fight back against market expectations of a return to negative interest rates, with Swiss inflation already riding too close to zero to allow the SNB to make sharp policy moves. The US federal government has hit a slight policy snag after Congress failed to pass an interim budget spending bill that would finance government operations at the start of the federal government's fiscal year, which begins...
Oil prices slid for a third day in a row to a 16-week low on Wednesday as a U.S. government shutdown fed worries about the global economy, while traders expected more oil supply to come on the market with a planned output boost by OPEC+ next month. Brent crude futures fell 64 cents, or 1.0%, to $65.39 a barrel at 1:03 p.m. EDT (1703 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 55 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.82. That put Brent on track for its lowest settlement since June 5, while WTI was headed for its lowest close since May 30. U.S. oil production growth will stall if prices stay...
Gold (XAU/USD) soars to yet another record high on Wednesday, extending its relentless climb as the United States (US) government shutdown fuels safe-haven demand. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading around $3,870 during the American session, after peaking at a fresh all-time high near $3,895. The US government officially entered a shutdown early Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a funding bill for the new fiscal year, forcing many federal operations to halt while essential services remain open. A last-minute stopgap measure that had cleared the Republican-controlled House was...
Silver rose above $47 per ounce on Wednesday, marking a new 14-year high as the US government shutdown fueled safe-haven demand for precious metals after lawmakers failed to reach a temporary funding deal. The closure will furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halt key services, with traders now focused on its duration since a prolonged shutdown could delay critical economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve's late-October meeting, including Friday's nonfarm payrolls. At the same time, the Silver Institute projected a global market deficit for the fifth straight year in...
The dollar index fell to its lowest level in the session as U.S. corporate payrolls unexpectedly fell in September and traders increased bets on two interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year. The yen outperformed other Group of 10 currencies on Wednesday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% to its lowest level since September 24, heading for a fourth straight day of declines and the longest losing streak in a month. The U.S. government shutdown has begun and risks delaying key economic reports. Private-sector payrolls fell by 32,000 after a revised 3,000 decline a month...
Oil prices stabilized on Wednesday (October 1) after two days of declines as investors considered OPEC+ plans for a larger production increase next month, while data from the US and Asia showed signs of declining demand. Brent crude for December delivery rose 6 cents to $66.09 a barrel at 08:35 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 4 cents to $62.41 a barrel. On Monday, Brent and WTI both closed down more than 3%, their sharpest daily declines since August 1. On Tuesday, both fell 1.5% each. "After two days of selling, triggered by reports of an OPEC+ production increase and the...
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....