Renewed tensions between the United States and Russia have resurfaced following an incident involving an oil tanker, sparking market concerns about potential disruptions to global energy supplies. Washington's move, associated with tightening oversight and enforcement of sanctions on Russian oil shipments, is viewed by Moscow as provocative and could worsen relations between the two countries. Russia views these actions as an attempt by the United States to suppress Russian energy exports and strengthen its dominance in the global oil market. Meanwhile, Washington argues that these measures...
Gold pared gains as markets weighed prospects for a truce in Ukraine after the Kremlin confirmed Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump would hold talks in the next few days. Bullion traded near $3,373 an ounce after earlier rising as much as 0.8%. Russia's announcement came a day after Putin met with Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, for almost three hours as the US pushed for an end to the Ukraine war. Bloomberg earlier reported that the Kremlin is considering options including an air truce, falling short of committing to a total ceasefire. Any easing of...
Oil prices steadied on Thursday, paring early gains after the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days, raising expectations for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures were up 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $67.1 a barrel by 0902 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $64.55. Both benchmarks slid about 1% on Wednesday, touching their lowest in eight weeks, after comments from Trump on progress in talks with Moscow. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that Trump and...
Gold prices edged higher Thursday, aided by growing safe-haven demand after fresh tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump and weak U.S. economic data, which renewed bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. At 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT), Spot Gold edged up 0.1% to $3,373.80 an ounce, while Gold Futures for December gained 0.4% to $3,447.90/oz. Trump threatens semiconductor tariffs Investor appetite for bullion strengthened after Trump said the U.S. would impose a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors from certain countries unless they invest in American chip manufacturing. The...
Sterling rose against a weakening dollar on Thursday with the markets watching whether the Bank of England will maintain its "gradual and careful" language on the pace of policy easing at its meeting due later in the day. That slow and steady path no longer looks so clear, with inflation above the BoE's projections and forecast by some economists to reach 4%, double the bank's target, in the coming months. Markets expect a 25-basis point rate cut, while pricing a total of 86 bps of rate cuts by December 2026. "Recent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)-speak has leaned dovish, although it has...
The USD/CHF pair traded with a negative bias for the third consecutive day, despite the lack of further selling amid mixed fundamental signals. Spot prices managed to hold above their weekly low throughout the Asian session on Thursday and are currently trading just above the mid-0.8000s, down 0.10% for the day. The US dollar (USD) weakened to near a one-and-a-half-week low amid growing acceptance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will resume its interest rate cutting cycle in September. This bet was reaffirmed by Friday's weaker-than-expected US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report and Tuesday's...
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like...
European stock indices closed marginally lower on Wednesday as equities took a breather from their recent strong momentum, while investors continued to assess the outlook for the ECB's policy this...
The upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's massive tariffs, which rocked markets in April, is one of the next major tests for US stocks and bonds.
Equity markets...