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...
EUR/USD surrendered intraday gains and returned below the psychological 1.0500 level in the European session on Monday as a large number of European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers, including President Christine Lagarde, have supported further policy easing and a gradual move towards the neutral interest rate, which they expect to be around 2%. "Will cut interest rates further if incoming data confirm that disinflation is on track," Lagarde said at the Annual Economic Conference in the European session on Monday. Lagarde's dovish remarks on the policy outlook were supported by the...
Gold edged higher ahead of the Federal Reserve's final interest rate decision of the year, with traders also weighing the outlook for 2025 policy. The bullion's gains followed a 2.6% decline in the previous two sessions on the back of mixed U.S. data last week — including rising wholesale inflation and higher-than-expected jobless claims. The Fed is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points at its meeting on Wednesday, and swaps traders are pricing in a total of three quarter-point cuts over the next 12 months. Lower interest rates are usually positive for gold, since it doesn't pay...
The dollar hovered close to a three-week peak versus major peers on Monday, ahead of a week of central bank meetings in which markets expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates but signal a measured pace of easing for 2025 Bitcoin soared above $105,000 for the first time, buoyed by signs President-elect Donald Trump will go ahead with a potential strategic bitcoin reserve. The euro was up 0.13% on the day at $1.0517, after dipping to $1.0453 at the end of last week, its weakest since Nov. 26, hampered by ratings agency Moody's (NYSE:MCO) unexpectedly downgrading France on...
Oil futures eased from multi-week highs as traders took profits while awaiting the Federal Reserve meeting later this week for clues on further interest rate cuts. However, the declines were capped by concerns about supply disruptions if further U.S. sanctions on key suppliers Russia and Iran are imposed. Brent crude futures were down 29 cents, or 0.4%, at $74.20 a barrel by 0746 GMT after hitting their highest since Nov. 22 on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 36 cents, or 0.5%, at $70.93 a barrel after hitting their highest close since Nov. 7 in the previous...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices staged a modest recovery from one-week troughs touched on Monday (16/12), albeit lacked any follow-through buying and currently trades around the $2,655 region. A modest pullback in the US Treasury bond yields kept the US Dollar (USD) investors on the defensive and offered some support to the commodity. Additionally, persistent geopolitical risks and concerns about US President-elect Donald Trump's policies kept the safe-haven precious metal underpinned. That said, growing acceptance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will slow the pace of its interest rate-cutting cycle,...
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...