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 prices rose Thursday, on renewed demand from investors in the wake of the recent selloff. At 10:25 ET (14:25 GMT), Spot gold rose 0.9% to $3,317.19 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in June rose 1.1% to $3,329.65/oz. Gold had fallen from record highs this week after U.S. President Donald Trump raised the prospect of eventually reducing steep trade duties on China. But a lack of clarity on Trump's comments, coupled with less optimistic statements from other officials, made gold's fall short-lived. Traders remained cautious towards the dollar and Treasuries, keeping gold and the...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, trades lower, roughly 0.60% on Thursday. The knee-jerk reaction originates from United States (US) President Donald Trump and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Both individually said that no unilateral offer was made to China from the US to lower tariffs, while Trump said that reciprocal tariffs could be revisited if negotiations are not going the way the Trump administration wants them to go, Bloomberg reports. On the economic calendar front, Durable Goods is painting a very...
Oil rose as investors weighed the prospect of more OPEC+ supply and the fallout from trade tensions between the US and China. Brent climbed toward $67 a barrel after sliding 2% on Wednesday, while West Texas Intermediate was around $63. The dollar weakened, making commodities priced in the currency more appealing. Growing strain within OPEC+, particularly with perennial overproducer Kazakhstan, has stoked fears that output will continue to rise at a faster-than-advertised pace over the coming months. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will hold...
Britain's fiscal challenges are mounting, with the latest data revealing a wider-than-expected budget deficit and deteriorating growth indicators. As government spending faces further cuts and the services sector slips into contraction, pressure is building on the Bank of England to loosen policy—potentially weighing further on the pound, Commerzbank's FX analyst Michael Pfister notes. UK budget deficit widens amid weak growth"Yesterday's figures showed once again why the UK is in a difficult situation at the moment. It started with the net borrowing figures for March, which were again...
Silver fell nearly 1% to around $33.3 per ounce on Thursday in a likely technical correction after surging more than 3% in the previous session to a three-week high. The white metal continued to diverge from gold, reflecting its hybrid nature as both a precious and industrial metal—making it more sensitive to shifts in macroeconomic sentiment and trade developments. Recent market moves were shaped by evolving U.S.-China trade signals. While the Trump administration is reportedly considering tariff cuts pending talks with Beijing, China has conditioned its participation on a pause in U.S....
Oil prices recovered some losses on Thursday after falling nearly 2% in the previous session, with investors weighing a potential OPEC+ output increase against conflicting tariff signals from the White House and ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. Brent crude futures were up 53 cents, or 0.8%, to $66.65 a barrel at 0706 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 55 cents, or 0.88%, to $62.82 a barrel. Prices had settled down 2% in the previous trading session after Reuters reported that several OPEC+ members would suggest the group accelerate oil output increases for a second month...
The U.S. dollar eased on Thursday, surrendering some of the previous day's big gains after U.S. President Donald Trumpbacked down from threats to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and appeared to soften his stance on China. It caught an extra boost when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. did not have a specific currency target in mind, ahead of talks with his Japanese counterpart. Bessent has also said the current de facto embargo on U.S.-China trade was unsustainable, while cautioning that the U.S. would not move first in lowering its levies of more than 100% on Chinese...
Gold price (XAU/USD) retreats around $50 from the daily swing high and trades just below the $3,320 level heading into the European session, still up for the first time in three days. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tempered expectations for a quick resolution to the US-China trade standoff, which, in turn, helps revive demand for the safe-haven bullion. Apart from this, the growing acceptance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will resume its rate-cutting cycle soon and the emergence of some US Dollar (USD) selling turns out to be other factors lending support to the non-yielding Gold...
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....