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) remained weaker against its US counterpart for the fourth straight day and retested its monthly low during the Asian session on Wednesday (6/18). The Bank of Japan (BOJ) signaled a cautious approach to winding down its decade-long monetary stimulus amid uncertain economic growth. This forced investors to push back their expectations about the likely timing of the next BOJ rate hike to Q1 2026, which in turn, was seen weakening the JPY. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba failed to reach a tariff breakthrough at the G7...
Oil prices rose after surging to their highest in nearly five months on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump stoked speculation that the U.S. might join an attack on Iran, raising concerns about a disruption to Middle East supplies. West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 1.1% to trade above $75 a barrel earlier. Brent crude settled near $76 in the previous session. Trump met with his national security team on Tuesday, demanding Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" and warning of a possible attack on the OPEC producer leader ahead of the meeting in a social media post. So far, Iran's crude...
Gold was steady in early Asian trade, supported by continuing geopolitical tensions that typically boost the precious metal's appeal as a safe haven. The Israeli military issued two warnings about incoming missiles early Wednesday, local time, saying the launches had been detected as being aimed at Iran and that they were trying to intercept them. "The environment for precious metals remains favorable," Thu Lan Nguyen of Commerzbank Research said in a note. The head of FX and Commodity Research cited factors including continued high geopolitical uncertainty. Spot gold was little changed at...
GBP/USD plummeted over 1.2% on Tuesday, backsliding through near-term congestion and popping out the other side near the 1.3400 handle after global investors were knocked off their pre-seeded hopes that the Israel-Iran altercation would find a quick and peaceful resolution. Donald Trump, posting on social media Tuesday, declared that he wants an "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" from Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and announced that American military assets were moving into the Middle East conflict region. The escalation between Israel and Iran, on top of Trump's decision to further involve...
The US Dollar rallied past 98.86, up 0.74% at four-day highs, despite US Treasury yields plunging. This move came despite the release of worse-than-expected US Retail Sales data in May and a softer reading on Industrial Production. On Wednesday, Initial Jobless Claims for the last week, Housing Starts, Building Permits, and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy decision would set the tone for the Greenback. Consequently, most G8 forex currencies were laggards compared to the US Dollar. The EUR/USD fell below 1.1500 even though German ZEW figures were positive, and ECB's officials...
WTI crude oil futures rallied 4.3% to settle at $74.8 per barrel on Tuesday, as escalating tensions between the US and Iran reignited supply concerns. US President Donald Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" and directly threatened Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling him "an easy target" in a series of social media posts. The gains reversed Monday's losses, which were driven by hopes of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Despite the latest escalation, the oil market has remained relatively stable, supported by strong global supply, including rising OPEC+ output and...
EUR/USD slipped below the key 1.1500 level on Monday, retreating from recent highs as geopolitical risks drove demand for the US Dollar. At the time of writing, EUR/USD is trading near 1.1481, with intraday losses nearing 0.70% The move followed comments from US President Donald Trump, who called for Iran's "unconditional surrender" on Tuesday and warned Tehran to dismantle its nuclear program or face escalating consequences. He praised Israeli airstrikes as "excellent" and "very successful," warning that future operations could be "even more brutal," and urged Tehran to "make a deal now"...
Oil prices climbed over 3% on Tuesday as the Iran-Israel conflict raged with no end in sight, though major oil and gas infrastructure and flows have so far been spared from substantial impact. Brent crude futures gained $2.76, or 3.77%, to $75.99 a barrel by 12:56 p.m. CDT (1756 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $2.50, or 3.48%, at $74.26. While there was no noticeable interruption to oil flows, Iran partially suspended gas production at the South Pars field it shares with Qatar after an Israeli strike started a fire there on Saturday. Israel also hit the Shahran oil depot in...
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....