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...
Silver (XAG/USD) prices faced selling pressure above the key $33.00 level during North American trading hours on Friday (21/2). The white metal declined as the US Dollar (USD) strengthened, with Federal Reserve (Fed) officials continuing to point to restrictive monetary policies. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose near 106.75. On Thursday, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said that the central bank should keep lending rates "steady" for "some time," noting that the net effect of US President Donald Trump's new economic policies is...
Oil prices fell on Friday, but were on course to secure a weekly gain, as traders eyed supply chain disruptions in Russia and a drawdown in U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles. Brent oil futures had fallen by 0.8% to $75.86 per barrel as of 08:05 ET (13:05 GMT), while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures had slipped by 0.9% to $71.85 per barrel. Oil prices rose this week as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a major route for Kazakh oil exports, reduced flows by 30-40% after a Ukrainian drone hit Russia's Kropotkinskaya pumping station. Meanwhile, Russia escalated attacks...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, pushes back on its recent decline and trades slightly below 107.00 at the time of writing on Friday. The Greenback claws back ahead of the United States (US) preliminary Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data release for February. European data released earlier in the day already revealed a further slowdown in the economic activity in Europe. The US economic calendar finally offers some data releases that might move the Greenback. The preliminary S&P Global Services PMI for...
Brent crude oil futures dipped below $76 per barrel but were still set for a 1.5% weekly gain, driven by concerns over supply disruptions in Russia and improving demand in the US and China. Russia reported a 30%-40% reduction in Caspian Pipeline Consortium oil flows after a Ukrainian drone attack on a pumping station. Despite this, Kazakhstan has pumped record oil volumes. In the US, crude oil stockpiles rose, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell due to seasonal refinery maintenance. Tensions between Ukraine's President Zelensky and US President Trump escalated earlier in the...
The Pound Sterling (GBP) rises against its major peers, except the US Dollar (USD), on Friday after the release of robust United Kingdom (UK) Retail Sales data for January. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that Retail Sales, a key measure of consumer spending, rose at a robust pace of 1.7% in the month after contracting by 0.6% in December, revised lower from -0.3%. Economists expected the consumer spending measure to have grown at a moderate pace of 0.3% Year-on-year Retail Sales rose by 1%, beating the estimate of 0.6%, but remained lower than the 2.8% growth seen in 12...
Gold prices fell on Friday but were set for an eighth straight week of gains on the back of two consecutive record highs, as safe-haven demand remained strong amid concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans. Spot gold shed 0.4% to $2,926.54 an ounce by 0945 GMT. Bullion has gained around 1.5%this week after rising to a record $2,954.69 on Thursday. Source: Reuters
The euro fell after data showed business activity in the euro area hardly grew in February. The dollar remained on course for its longest weekly losing streak since September. EUR/USD drops as much as 0.3% to 1.0468; it fell to a fresh day low after French composite PMI data came in below forecasts and held losses following PMI data out of Germany. Investors added to bets on European Central Bank interest-rate reductions. Money markets are now pricing 78 basis points of easing this year compared with 74 basis points on Thursday. Bonds held gains, with the German 10-year yield three...
The USD/CHF pair recovers some lost ground around 0.8985 amid a modest rebound in US Dollar (USD) during the early European session on Friday. Investors brace for the preliminary US S&P Global PMI reports, which will be released later on Friday. Also, the Federal Reserve's (Fed) Mary Daly and Philip Jefferson are set to speak later on the same day. Fed officials in January agreed they would need to see inflation ease more before lowering interest rates further. Policymakers are concerned about the impact Trump's tariffs would have in making that happen, according to meeting minutes...
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....