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...
WTI crude futures were fluctuating around $74.8 a barrel on Monday as markets reacted to the Trump administration's trade policy shift. The U.S. initially threatened tariffs on Colombia over a migrant dispute but stopped short of doing so after Bogotá agreed to President Trump's terms. The move follows a series of global trade actions targeting China, Canada, Mexico and the EU, alongside calls for OPEC to lower oil prices. Trump has argued that lower oil prices could hurt Russia's revenues and curb its actions in Ukraine. Meanwhile, signs of slowing economic activity in China, the world's...
USD/JPY edged lower, tracking lower UST yields while the BoJ MPC (last Friday) signaled continued policy normalization. The currency pair was last seen at 154.05, OCBC FX analysts Frances Cheung and Christopher Wong noted. "Japanese economic data supports BoJ policy normalization. Wage growth pressures remain intact, along with broadening services inflation. Tokyo core CPI, PPI, wages rose while labor market reports also showed upward wage pressure with the unemployment rate easing, while unions called for another 5-6% wage hike in the shunto wage negotiations for 2025." "We still expect...
This weekend the US successfully used the threat of tariffs on Colombia to secure its policy objective of deporting illegal immigrants. The use of tariffs as a policy lever now appears well understood by the market and may be worth it to reduce marginal volatility, notes ING FX analyst Chris Turner. "FX markets are still operating on the potential 1 February deadline for tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China – and that should prevent the dollar from correcting too much this week. Instead, focus may shift back to the macro side given a slew of central bank rate meetings, Q4 GDP data and some...
Gold (XAU/USD) recovered most of its intraday losses and traded with a mild negative bias, around the $2,760 area during the first half of the European session on Monday (1/27). US President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on all imports from Colombia revived trade war fears and triggered a fresh wave of global risk-off trade. Additionally, falling US Treasury bond yields, amid bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates twice this year, provided additional support to the non-yielding yellow metal. That said, a decent recovery in the US Dollar (USD) from over...
EUR/USD corrected near 1.0450 in the European session on Monday (1/27) after hitting a six-week high near 1.0520 on Friday. The major currency pair faced pressure as the US Dollar (USD) started the week on a positive note amid risk-averse market sentiment. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of six major currencies, attempted to recover from last week's losses and surged near 107.75. The US Dollar's safe-haven appeal has been boosted as US President Donald Trump's tariff concerns have returned. Trump imposed a 25% tariff on South American trading partner...
The GBP/USD pair remains under selling pressure near 1.2450 during the early European session on Monday (1/27). Renewed US Dollar (USD) demand amid safe-haven flows dragged the major lower. According to the 4-hour chart, the bullish outlook for GBP/USD is in place as the major is above the key 100-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The upside momentum is reinforced by the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which is above the midline around 64.70, suggesting that further upside appears favorable. On the upside, immediate resistance is seen in the 1.2500-1.2510 region, which represents the...
The USD/CHF pair traded in the positive territory near 0.9065 during the early European session. The US dollar (USD) moved higher as traders assessed the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariff plans earlier in the week. On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) interest rate decision will be in focus. US President Donald Trump on Sunday imposed broad retaliatory measures against Colombia, including tariffs and sanctions, after the South American country refused to allow two military planes carrying deported migrants to land. However, the White House said on Monday that Colombia has...
Gold dipped on Monday pressured by a firmer dollar, while investors focussed on the Federal Reserve's first meeting of 2025 for more guidance on the U.S. interest rate path. Spot gold dropped 0.6% to $2,755.80 per ounce, as of 0509 GMT, after trading just below record-high levels on Friday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.7% to $2,760.70. The dollar (.DXY), gained 0.3%, making gold expensive for other currency holders. The U.S. and Colombia pulled back from the brink of a trade war, after the White House said the South American nation had agreed to accept military aircraft carrying deported...
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....