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 Japanese Yen (JPY) touches a fresh four-month low against its American counterpart during the Asian session on Friday and seems vulnerable to weaken further. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) revised up its inflation forecasts on Thursday and offered a less gloomy outlook on the economy, keeping hopes alive for the resumption of rate hikes later this year. However, BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda struck a dovish tone and signaled patience in policy normalization, to observe the tariff impact after the US-Japan trade deal. Furthermore, domestic political uncertainty, which has been fueling concerns about...
The Swiss franc underperformed its Group-of-10 peers after President Donald Trump announced a 39% tariff on the nation's products while setting a 10% global minimum rate. USD/CHF rose 0.2% to 0.8135. The latest tariff on Switzerland was higher than the 31% rate Trump initially threatened to impose in April when he unveiled duties on dozens of trading partners The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index inched up 0.1% to the highest level since late May The downside for the Swiss franc may be limited as that greenback tends to weaken whenever Trump raises tariffs and as Switzerland's...
Oil is on track for the biggest weekly gain since mid-June after President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Russia, as the market braced for the fallout from US tariffs that take effect on Friday. West Texas Intermediate was steady above $69 a barrel, up more than 6% for the week, the largest weekly move since Israel attacked Iran. Brent settled below $72 on Thursday. Trump has threatened economic penalties on Moscow if a swift truce on the war in Ukraine isn't reached, and singled out India for higher levies, in part due to its buying of Russian crude and weapons. For...
Gold held an advance — but remained on track for a weekly loss — as the White House unveiled President Donald Trump's tariff rates on trading partners that are set to take effect on Friday. Bullion traded near $3,290 an ounce as markets opened in Asia, after ending the previous session 0.5% higher. The US will maintain a minimum global tariff of 10%, while imports from countries with trade surpluses with the nation face duties of 15% or higher. Early market reaction was muted, showing investors were unsurprised by the announcement. Read More: How Trump Let $1 Trillion Worth of Imports...
The EUR/USD recovered some ground on Thursday, up a modest 0.10% after data from the United States (US) revealed a strong economy, justifying the Federal Reserve's reluctance to reduce rates, as witnessed on Wednesday. AT the time of writing, the pair trades at 1.1417, virtually unchanged. Before Wall Street opened, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, exceeded estimates and the previous month's reading, indicating that prices are rising. Other data revealed that the labor market remains resilient, after the number of Americans...
GBP/USD sank again on Thursday, falling for a sixth straight session and dragging the Pound Sterling (GBP) down nearly 3% top-to-bottom from last week's peak near 1.3588. Cable is getting dragged back into bearish territory as the US Dollar (USD) catches a broad-market bid on renewed interest rate woes amid rebounding US inflation data and a looming Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report on Friday. United States (US) economic data remains far more robust than many market watchers and policymakers had feared when the Trump administration kicked off a never-ending cycle of tariff threats and...
Oil prices declined on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump's August 1 tariff deadline loomed over investors, with uncertainty surrounding countries yet to negotiate a trade deal with the U.S. Brent crude futures for September expired on Thursday and settled down 71 cents, or 0.97% to $72.53 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for September settled down 74 cents, or 1.06%, to $69.26. U.S. crude futures fell more than $1 earlier in the session. Both benchmarks had recorded 1% gains on Wednesday. Countries that haven't negotiated a trade deal or received a tariff letter from the...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakens for the sixth consecutive day against the US Dollar with the USD/JPY pair surging to its highest level in over four months after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its short-term interest rate steady at 0.50% for a fourth consecutive meeting, as widely expected, but the accompanying tone and forward guidance triggered a notable dovish market reaction. At the time of writing, USD/JPY is edging higher, breaking decisively above the key psychological barrier at 150.00 and hovering near 150.72 during American trading hours, up nearly 0.85% on the day. At the BoJ press...
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....