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 (XAU/USD) is trading on a modest positive note on Friday after a sharp sell-off earlier this week. However, upside attempts remain limited as investors gear up for the release of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index. On Thursday, an upward revision to the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter, and lower-than-expected Jobless Claims have supported the Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish stance for 2025. This has kept the US Dollar index stuck near a two-year high ahead of the release of the Fed's favorite inflation gauge. Investors are waiting to see...
Silver (XAG/USD) prices traded in a tight range around $29.00 in the European trading session on Friday. The white metal consolidated as investors await the US (US) core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index data for November, due at 13:30 GMT. Economists expect the US annual core PCE inflation data to rise to 2.9% from 2.8% in October. On a monthly basis, the underlying inflation data is expected to grow steadily at 0.2%. Signs of a mild slowdown in price pressures are unlikely to affect market expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will halt its policy easing at its...
The U.S. dollar eased slightly on Friday, taking a breather after a strong rally this week as traders awaited the release of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. At 4:40 AM ET (09:40 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was trading 0.2% lower at 107.960, after rising to a two-year high earlier this week. Dollar Set for Weekly Gain The dollar index dipped slightly on Friday, but was still headed for a weekly gain of around 1%, supported by a relatively hawkish outlook for U.S. interest rates after the Federal Reserve's final policy...
Oil prices fell on Friday on concerns about demand growth in 2025, especially in the world's biggest crude importer, China, leaving the global oil benchmark on track to end the week down nearly 3%. Brent crude futures were down 33 cents, or 0.45%, at $72.55 a barrel by 0730 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 32 cents, or 0.46%, at $69.06 a barrel. China's state-owned refiner Sinopec (OTC:SHIIY) said in its annual energy outlook released on Thursday that China's crude imports could peak as early as 2025 and the country's oil consumption would peak in 2027 as demand...
Gold prices steadied near a one-month low in Asian trade on Friday and were headed for weekly losses after the U.S. Federal Reserve's forecast of fewer than expected interest rate cuts in 2025 put investors on edge. The Fed lowered interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, but signaled it will adopt a slower rate cut path, with just two more cuts in 2025. Markets were expecting four cuts before the decision. Spot gold was slightly higher at $2,596.82 per ounce, while gold futures expiring in February ticked up 0.1% to $2,610.30 an ounce by 22:35 ET (03:35 GMT). Spot prices were down...
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...