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...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) appreciates on Thursday, halting its five-day losing streak. The AUD/USD pair maintains its position following the release of key economic data from Australia and its close trading partner, China. Australia's Retail Sales rose 1.2% month-over-month in June, compared to 0.5% in May (revised from 0.2%). The reading came in above the market expectations of 0.4%. Retail Sales climbed 0.3% QoQ in the second quarter, compared to 0.1% in Q1 (revised from 0%). China's NBS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 49.3 in July, as against 49.7 reported in...
The dollar flirted with a two-month peak on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stuck to his patient approach on rates in a closely watched policy decision and offered little insight on when they could be lowered. The greenback was also on track for its first monthly gain for the year, bolstered by a hawkish Fed and U.S. economic resilience, with uncertainty over tariffs beginning to ease given recent trade deals struck by Washington. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was last steady at 99.77 , not far from a two-month peak of 99.987 it hit in the previous session....
Oil steadied after closing at the highest in almost six weeks as President Donald Trump threatened to penalize India for buying Russian crude and his administration tightened a crackdown on supplies from Iran. West Texas Intermediate traded above $70 a barrel after surging more than 7% so far this week. Brent settled near $73 on Wednesday. The US president said he would impose a tariff on India's exports and a penalty for its energy purchases from Russia. He later added the two sides were still in talks. Meanwhile, the US implemented its most sweeping Iran-related sanctions in seven years....
Gold edges higher in the early Asian trade on possible position adjustments following the Fed's decision to leave rates unchanged as widely expected. However, gold's gains may be curbed after Fed Chair Powell signaled at his press conference that a rate cut in September was far from guaranteed. A cautious approach by the Fed could weigh on gold prices, Traze's Erkin Kamran says in an email. Additionally, easing trade tensions may put downward pressure on the precious metal, the CEO notes. President Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. and South Korea have struck a trade deal. Spot gold is...
Oil prices settled 1% higher on Wednesday as investors focused on developments on U.S. President Donald Trump's tighter deadline for Russia to end the war in Ukraine and his tariff threats to countries that trade its oil. The Brent crude September contract, which was set to expire on Thursday, closed 73 cents, 1.01%, higher at $73.24. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 79 cents, or 1.14%, at $70, with investors largely shrugging off mixed U.S. data on crude and fuel inventories. Both contracts had fallen nearly 1% earlier in the day. The more active Brent October contract settled...
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...