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 rose above $2,640 an ounce on Monday, boosted by its appeal as a safe haven amid renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as well as growing expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut. Rebel forces in Syria toppled President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, ending the Assad family's 50-year rule and raising concerns about a new wave of instability in the region. Friday's U.S. jobs report also indicated that the labor market continued to ease gradually, allowing the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later this month. The market is now pricing in an 83% chance of a 25bps cut at...
The EUR/USD pair is trading with a mild negative bias near 1.0550 on Monday during the Asian trading hours. Investors will be closely watching the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation report for November, due on Wednesday. On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate decision will be in the spotlight. Investors will be looking for clues on what will happen next. Expectations for a quarter-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) on December 18 increased last week after the employment report showed strong job creation, but not at a pace that would deter Fed officials from...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) kicks off the new week on a positive note and draws support from a combination of factors, though the upside potential seems limited. Government data released earlier today showed that Japan's economy expanded at a faster pace than initially estimated in the third quarter. Apart from this, geopolitical tensions and concerns about US President-elect Donald Trump's impending trade tariffs offer support to the safe-haven JPY. Meanwhile, the recent fall in the US Treasury bond yields contributes to the JPY's relative outperformance against its American counterpart and...
The AUD/USD pair strengthened around 0.6400 as the US Dollar (USD) weakened during the Asian session on Monday. There are no Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers this week as the media is closed. All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) rate decision on Tuesday, with no rate changes expected. Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday showed that US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) increased by 227,000 in November, compared to an upwardly revised 36,000 in October. This reading was better than the estimate of 200,000. Meanwhile, the Unemployment Rate rose to 4.2% in...
Gold prices rose on Monday after China's central bank added bullion to its reserves in November — ending a six-month hiatus in a buying binge that had provided a major pillar of support for the precious metal. Bullion prices rose as much as 0.6% to trade just below $2,650 an ounce, after the People's Bank of China said Saturday it bought 160,000 troy ounces last month. The addition was the first since April, before the central bank halted purchases for 18 months that had helped prop up prices amid strong interest from global public institutions. China led demand in the first quarter of...
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...