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 pared earlier losses on Monday, as some safe-haven demand filtered through and as strong central bank buying supported prices after they dropped to an over three-week low, while analysts continued to see a bullish outlook for bullion. Spot gold was down 0.6% at $3,019.63 an ounce, as of 0745 GMT. Earlier in the session, gold dropped around 2% to its lowest point since March 13, as jittery investors offloaded the precious metal to offset losses elsewhere, amid fears of a global recession, fuelled by an intensifying trade war. U.S. gold futures firmed 0.1% to $3,037.30. Gold...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) reverses an intraday dip against its American counterpart and climbs back closer to the top end of the daily range heading into the European session on Monday. Investors remain worried that US President Donald Trump's tariffs would trigger an all-out global trade war and undermine economic growth around the world. Moreover, persistent geopolitical tensions lead to an extended sell-off in equity markets and offer some support to the safe-haven JPY. Meanwhile, signs of broadening inflation in Japan keep the door open for further interest rate hikes by the Bank of...
The Silver price (XAG/USD) recovers to around $30.05 during the early European trading hours on Monday. The white metal edges higher as the fear of tariff wars and the potential global recession boost the safe-haven demand. Silver price has witnessed heightened volatility since last week in response to the US imposing reciprocal trade tariffs on key trading partners. Mounting fears of recession over the impact of a global trade war triggered by US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs dampen market sentiment and undermine the precious metals. Furthermore, strong industrial demand,...
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $60.30 during the early Asian session on Monday. The WTI price falls to its lowest point since April 2021 amid the fears that US President Donald Trump's global tariffs would push the United States (US) into a recession. Traders worry about an escalating trade war from Trump's global tariffs, which will sharply slow economic growth and raise fears of a slowdown in economic activity both in the US and globally. This, in turn, continues to undermine the WTI price. The tariffs, which are set to take effect this week,...
Gold price (XAU/USD) stages a goodish intraday bounce from a three-week low, around the $2,972-2,971 region, touched during the Asian session on Monday – and spikes to a fresh daily high, around the $3,055 area in the last hour. Data published earlier today showed that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) increased its state Gold reserves for the fifth consecutive month. Adding to this, the prevalent risk-off mood, recession fears, bets that a tariffs-driven US economic slowdown might force the Federal Reserve (Fed) to resume its rate-cutting cycle soon, and geopolitical risks act as a tailwind...
AUD/USD is off the five-year low but remains heavy near 0.6000 in the Asian session on Monday. The pair continues to suffer from a US-China trade war as US President Trump said that he would not do a deal with China until the US trade deficit was sorted out. Analysts at ANZ Bank expect the RBA to cut interest rates in all the next three policy meetings in May, July, and August. Additionally, the bank also sees the possibility of a larger-than-usual interest rate cut of 50 basis points (bps) in May if global growth deteriorates significantly. In addition to bloating RBA dovish bets, fears of...
Most Asian currencies weakened on Monday, with the dollar also declining amid heightened fears of a U.S. recession and global economic disruptions from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs. The Chinese yuan retreated after Beijing retaliated against the increased tariffs over the weekend, although apparent intervention by the People's Bank of China limited the yuan's decline. Other Asian currencies weakened sharply as Trump signaled no intent to back down from his plans for sweeping reciprocal tariffs against major global economies. Dollar tests 6-mth lows; Trump doubles down on...
The EUR/USD pair reverses an Asian session dip to the 1.0880 aera and for now, seems to have stalled its retracement slide from the vicinity of mid-1.1100s, or the highest level since September touched last week. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.0960 region, nearly unchanged for the day amid mixed cues. The US Dollar (USD) struggles to capitalize on Friday's recovery from a six-month low and kicks off the new week on a weaker note amid bets that the US economy could enter a recession and force the Federal Reserve (Fed) to resume its rate-cutting cycle. In fact, the markets are now...
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....