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...
'Slightly pessimistic and uncertain' was the characterisation of the US outlook expressed in the Fed's Beige Book released last night and ahead of the next FOMC meeting on 19 June. Yet business sentiment did not show any clear deterioration over prior Beige Books, and the report also noted that 'there were widespread reports of contacts expecting costs and prices to rise at a faster rate going forward'. This latter point is keeping the Fed resistant to growing political pressure to cut rates, ING's FX analyst Chris Turner notes. USD is susceptible to further downside "Softer US data has...
Gold price (XAU/USD) lacks any firm intraday directional bias on Thursday and oscillates in a narrow trading band through the first half of the European session. The commodity, however, remains close to a multi-week top touched on Tuesday and seems poised to appreciate further amid a combination of supporting factors. Investors remain on edge amid rising geopolitical risks and persistent trade-related uncertainties. This might continue to act as a tailwind for the safe-haven precious ahead of potential talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile,...
Oil edged lower on Thursday after a build in U.S. gasoline and diesel inventories and cuts to Saudi Arabia's July prices for Asian crude buyers, with global economic uncertainty weighing on prices as well. Brent crude futures fell 1 cent to $64.85 a barrel at 0630 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 11 cents, or 0.2%, dropping to $62.74 a barrel. Oil prices closed around 1% lower on Wednesday after official data showed that U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles grew more than expected, reflecting weaker demand in the world's top economy. [EIA/S] Adding to the weakness, Saudi...
GBP/USD retraces its recent gains from the previous session, trading around 1.3550 during the Asian hours on Thursday. The pair depreciates as the US Dollar (USD) gains ground amid a technical correction. The downside of the pair could be limited as the Greenback may receive downward pressure from dampened risk sentiment amid rising tariff uncertainty and its potential to hurt growth in the US economy. Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 49.9 in May, from April's 51.6. This reading surprisingly fell short of the expected...
USD/CHF pair trades with caution near the six-week low around 0.8200 during late Asian trading hours on Thursday. Investors brace for significant volatility in the pair as the United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data takes centre stage, which will reflect the current status of the labor market. The US Dollar (USD) fell sharply on Wednesday after the release of a string of disappointing US economic data for May, notably a sharp slowdown in the private sector labor demand. The ADP Employment Change data showed that the private sector added 37K fresh workers, the lowest reading seen...
The EUR/USD pair trades with caution, slightly above the key level of 1.1400 during Asian trading hours on Thursday. The major currency pair is expected to remain sideways, with investors awaiting the European Central Bank's (ECB) interest rate decision announcement at 12:15 GMT. The ECB is almost certain to reduce its key borrowing rates by 25 basis points (bps), a move that will lower the Deposit Facility Rate and Main Refinancing Operations Rate to 2% and 2.15%, respectively. This will be the seventh consecutive interest rate cut by the ECB and the eighth since June last year, when it...
Gold price (XAU/USD) edges lower following an Asian session uptick to the $3,384 area amid a slight US Dollar (USD) bounce, though the near-term bias seems tilted firmly in favor of bullish traders. Weaker-than-expected US economic data released on Wednesday boosted market expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will lower borrowing costs further in 2025. This keeps the US Treasury bond yields depressed, which, along with US fiscal concerns, should cap the USD and lend support to the non-yielding yellow metal. Apart from this, persistent trade-related uncertainties and rising...
Silver price (XAG/USD) edges higher after registering losses in the previous two successive sessions, trading around $34.50 per troy ounce during the Asian hours on Thursday. Prices of the precious metals, including Silver, receive support from safe-haven flows amid growing global economic and political uncertainty. The non-yielding assets like Silver receive support after the release of soft economic data from the United States (US), which reinforced the odds of the Federal Reserve (Fed) reducing interest rates at least twice in 2025. Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Services...
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....