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...
Gold (XAU/USD) holds steady on Thursday, moving quietly within the $4,160-$4,260 range as investors adopt a wait-and-see approach ahead of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting next week. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading around $4,200, with the cautious market backdrop keeping the metal in a consolidative phase after it climbed to a six-week high earlier this week. Markets largely expect the Fed to lower interest rates at the December 9-10 meeting. That conviction firmed after Tuesday's US economic data showed a surprise decline in ADP Employment Change,...
The U.S. dollar steadied Thursday, but remains weak after recent lackluster economic data largely cemented the case for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week. The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded largely unchanged at 98.805, near a five-week low and almost 9% lower so far this year. Fed meeting looms largeWeak U.S. economic data has bolstered expectations for a Fed rate cut next week, weighing heavily on the U.S. currency. "After yesterday's 32k drop in ADP payrolls, a Fed cut next week looks even closer to a certainty,"...
Oil prices firmed on Thursday after Ukrainian attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure signalled potential supply constraints, and stalled peace talks tempered expectations of a deal restoring Russian oil flows to global markets, though weak fundamentals kept gains limited. Brent crude rose 41 cents, or 0.65%, to $63.08 at 0659 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 45 cents, or 0.76%, to $59.40. Ukraine hit the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia's central Tambov region, a Ukrainian military intelligence source said on Wednesday, the fifth attack on the pipeline that sends Russian oil to...
Silver prices corrected after hitting a new record high. In Asian trading (Singapore), silver fell as much as 2.4% to around $57.09 per ounce, before settling around $57.43. Despite the correction, the price remains less than $2 from its previous record of $58.97. This correction occurred due to profit-taking by traders following the sharp rally in recent days, as well as a slight strengthening of the US dollar index of around 0.1%, making the precious metal slightly more expensive for non-dollar buyers. In terms of the broader trend, silver is actually still in a very strong upward phase....
Gold prices fell suddenly during the Asian trading session on Thursday (December 4), after previously holding firm above the $4,200 per troy ounce area. This movement reflected a brief correction rather than a major trend change, as gold was still trading within that upper range. Market participants took advantage of the sharp rally in recent days to secure short-term profits. The main selling pressure came from profit-taking after gold approached new highs around $4,240–$4,250 and failed to break through. Amid relatively thin liquidity during the Asian session, this modest selling was...
Gold prices edged higher and held around $4,210 per troy ounce in early Asian trading on Thursday morning. This increase occurred amid sentiment that the Federal Reserve (The Fed) is likely to cut interest rates at its meeting next week. Although the increase was not significant, gold's ability to hold above the $4,200 level indicates that buying interest remains strong. The main trigger for gold's rally came from weaker-than-expected US private sector employment data. The ADP report showed that US private payrolls fell by 32,000 in November, reversing from the 47,000 increase in the...
Oil prices edged higher and remained in the green in recent trading, as market participants weighed the chances of a ceasefire in Ukraine and escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela. WTI oil hovered near $59 per barrel after gaining about 0.5% in the previous session, while Brent closed slightly higher, just above $62 per barrel. US President Donald Trump said the meeting between his envoy and Russian President Vladimir Putin went "quite well," but he admitted he did not yet know the final outcome of the peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The oil market is...
Silver held steady near a record high on Thursday, hovering around $58.50 per troy ounce, just under a dollar shy of its all-time high of $58.97 reached the previous day. The metal has risen for eight consecutive days, supported by speculation about tight supplies and hopes for lower US interest rates, which typically benefit precious metals as they are interest-free. Silver's gains strengthened after ADP employment data showed US companies cut their workforce in November by the largest amount since early 2023. This data added to concerns about a weakening labor market and reinforced 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....