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 AUD/USD pair exhibits indecisiveness around 0.6300 during North American trading hours on Wednesday. The Aussie pair struggles for direction after the release of the Australian Monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for February, which showed that inflation has cooled down. The inflation data rose at a slower pace of 2.4% compared to estimates and January's reading of 2.5%. Technically, soft inflation data should have boosted market expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could cut interest rates again in the April meeting. However, traders would also discount the...
The Pound Sterling (GBP) depreciates against the US Dollar (USD) on Wednesday as United Kingdom (UK) inflation came in softer than expected, while investors scrutinized the Spring Budget. Across the pond, mixed US economic data lent a lifeline to the Greenback, which pared losses versus the British pound. GBP/USD is trading at 1.2895, down 0.36%. Pound drops as inflation cools and Reeves' budget tightens spendingThe UK's inflation rate dipped below estimates, with headline figures rising 2.8% year-over-year (YoY) in February, compared to 3% in January. The Core CPI for the same period...
China Lifecos are already on the bid in Gold. The Shanghai Gold exchange admitted four Chinese Life Insurance companies as members of the exchange, enabling them to purchase Gold as part of a pilot program that could grow the network of Gold buyers and create a massive new buying impulse, TDS' Senior Commodity Strategist Daniel Ghali notes. Gold prices continue to rally north of $3000"These four lifecos alone have nearly 13Trillion yuan in total assets and represent nearly 2/3 of the total potential buying impulse from this pilot program. We estimate that a 1% allocation into Gold amounts...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, is currently bouncing off the 104.00 mark and consolidates on Wednesday ahead of the US Durable Goods Orders data for February. On one hand, the DXY sees some selling pressure from a Black Sea ceasefire deal brokered by the United States (US), where Ukraine is willing to commit and Russia backtracks and demands a lift in all sanctions on banks and agricultural companies. On the other hand, the buying pressure comes from comments from US President Donald Trump, who said Copper...
Oil rose after an industry report signaled a chunky decline in US crude stockpiles, while the market weighed the prospect of a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire in the Black Sea. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed close to $70 a barrel, a level not seen since the start of the month. US inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute. That would be the biggest draw since November if confirmed by official data on Wednesday. The US, meanwhile, said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a truce "to ensure safe navigation" in...
Gold's price (XAU/USD) is edging higher to around $3,027 at the time of writing on Wednesday and is turning this week's performance into green numbers. The precious metal is being bought together with other precious metals as Copper pops to a new all-time high. Copper metal is in the eye of attention after United States (US) President Donald Trump mentioned on Tuesday that Copper tariffs will be implemented in the coming weeks, which is far sooner than markets were anticipating. Meanwhile, there is also a headline risk on Ukraine, where a Black Sea ceasefire deal is on the table. Ukraine's...
The dollar was little changed on Wednesday, with weak US confidence data and concerns about the impact of broad tariffs on US growth hampering a recent recovery. The British market was in focus as Finance Minister Rachel Reeves is due to announce spending cuts later in the day, in a bid to show investors she can be trusted to fix public finances as growth falters. After briefly dropping below 150 yen, the dollar hovered at 150.20 yen, but traders were less convinced, as a chaotic week of tariffs loomed. The euro, which spent the week retreating from a five-month high, fell to $1.0776, a...
The Pound Sterling (GBP) faces selling pressure against its major peers on Wednesday. The British currency slides after the release of the United Kingdom (UK) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for February, which showed that inflation cooled down at a faster-than-expected pace. Headline CPI increased 2.8% year-over-year (YoY) compared to estimates of 2.9% and the 3.0% increase seen in January. In the same period, the core CPI – which excludes volatile items – rose by 3.5%, against expectations of 3.6% and the former release of 3.7%. Month-on-month headline CPI grew 0.4% after deflating by...
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....