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 Australian dollar (AUD) moved cautiously as markets weighed the effects of the US government shutdown, which delayed the release of important macro data and obscured visibility ahead of the Fed's decision. The lack of data has led market participants to rely again on signals from Treasury yields and the direction of the DXY; if US yields soften and the dollar loses traction, the AUD has room to strengthen, but any risk-off episodes tend to pressure high-beta currencies like the Aussie. Domestically, the focus is on the RBA early next week to read the latest policy tone: whether the...
Oil prices fell about 2% to their lowest in four months on Thursday, extending a run of declines into a fourth day, due to concerns about oversupply in the market ahead of a meeting of the OPEC+ group over the weekend. Brent crude futures fell $1.20, or 1.8%, to $64.15 a barrel by 2:45 p.m. ET (1845 GMT), the lowest since June 2. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.30, or 2.1%, to settle at $60.48 a barrel, the lowest since May 30. OPEC+ could agree to raise oil production by up to 500,000 barrels per day in November, triple the increase for October, as Saudi Arabia seeks to...
Gold (XAU/USD) trades with a negative bias on Thursday, trimming recent gains after posting a fresh all-time high near $3,895 on Wednesday. At the time of writing, XAU/USD trades around $3,820 during the American session, down over 1.0% after briefly retesting the record peak. The fundamental backdrop still leans supportive. The United States (US) government shutdown is stoking safe-haven interest, while growing conviction that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates later this month is keeping Treasury yields subdued, which bolsters the case for holding the non-yielding...
The dollar weakened near a one-week low on Thursday as traders weighed the impact of the US government shutdown, while poor jobs data raised expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates twice more this year. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.14% to 97.59. It suffered the sharpest decline against the safe-haven yen, which fell 0.3% to 146.69. After four consecutive days of declines, traders considered how long the US government shutdown would last, its impact on economic data releases, and how it would influence the...
Gold rallied – after a five-day rally that reached a new record – as the US government shutdown deepened and traders increased bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate cut following weak private payroll data. Gold traded near $3,880 an ounce, about $15 below its high reached on Wednesday, with the suspension of federal operations threatening to delay crucial economic data needed by the Fed to make interest rate decisions. This has left economists, traders, and policymakers more reliant on non-government data, such as Wednesday's ADP Research report, which showed a sharp decline in private...
Oil prices weakened on Thursday (October 2), extending their decline into a fourth day on concerns about oversupply in the market. Brent crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.6%, to $64.98 a barrel at 11:27 GMT. Earlier in the session, prices hit their lowest level since June. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 36 cents, or 0.6%, to $61.42 a barrel. The U.S. government shutdown raised uncertainty about the global economic outlook, while expectations of increased production by OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers, weighed on sentiment,...
Gold held steady near a record high on Thursday (October 2nd), as rising expectations of further US interest rate cuts this year and political uncertainty stemming from the controversial US government shutdown boosted demand for the metal. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,865.73 an ounce at 08:10 GMT, down from Wednesday's all-time high of $3,895.09. US gold futures for December delivery fell 0.2% to $3,890.80. The US dollar index weakened slightly, nearing a one-week low reached on Wednesday. Data showed on Wednesday that US private sector jobs fell by 32,000 in September after a downwardly...
Oil prices edged higher on Thursday following losses in the previous three sessions as concerns about more disruption to Russian crude exports lent some support, though concerns about oversupply in the market capped gains. Brent crude futures gained 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $65.49 a barrel at 0749 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed by 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $61.92 a barrel. "There is some concern in the market again that Russian oil could get disrupted," said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS. "But as long as there aren't disruptions yet, the moves are small." The Group...
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....