The Australian dollar (AUD) weakened against the US dollar (USD) amid rising risk aversion amid growing concerns over US-China trade tensions. The AUD/USD pair failed to gain support from the Judo Bank Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released on Wednesday. The Judo Bank Australia Composite PMI rose to 51.1 in January from 50.2 in December, reflecting modest growth in private sector activity. Meanwhile, the Judo Bank Services PMI rose to 51.2 from 50.8, marking the twelfth straight month of expansion in the services sector. Despite the modest growth, it was the strongest since August. The...
Gold prices (XAU/USD) continued to rise throughout the Asian session on Wednesday (5/2) and climbed to an all-time high, around the $2,858 region in the last hour. Concerns about the economic impact of US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs continued to support demand for the safe-haven bullion. Further, expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will maintain its easing cycle, supported by signs of slowing momentum in the US labor market, contributed to driving flows towards the non-yielding yellow metal. Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) languished near weekly lows amid prospects of...
Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday after volatile trading in the previous session as investors shrugged off the impact of China's tariffs on U.S. energy imports though President Donald Trump's renewed push to eliminate Iranian crude exports provided some support. Brent crude futures were down 18 cents, or 0.24%, at $76.02 a barrel by 0210 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) lost 9 cents, or 0.12%, to $72.61. Oil on Tuesday traded in a wide range, with WTI falling at one point by 3%, its lowest since Dec. 31, after China announced tariffs on U.S. imports of oil, liquefied...
Gold rose to a record high, after advancing by almost 1% in the previous session, as the opening salvos of the US-China trade war stoked haven demand. Bullion reached an all-time peak of $2,849.05 an ounce on Wednesday. That came after President Donald Trump hit Chinese imports with a 10% tariff the day before, prompting a swift but more targeted retaliation from Beijing. The response from China was relatively muted compared to Trump's first term, when Beijing hit back with tariffs that were almost on par with the US, but there's still plenty of trepidation about the...