The U.S. Federal Reserve holds its latest policy meeting this week with a historic challenge to its leadership pending in the courts and a rushed effort underway to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee to fill an open seat on the central bank's Board of Governors. The Fed is confronting a potentially intense pace of change between Trump's attempted firing of Governor Lisa Cook and the Senate's move to approve his nominee for a separate open seat. The move against Cook is both a first-of-its-kind test of the Fed's independence but also potentially disruptive to how the central bank is...
Oil prices rose after surging to their highest in nearly five months on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump stoked speculation that the U.S. might join an attack on Iran, raising concerns about a disruption to Middle East supplies. West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 1.1% to trade above $75 a barrel earlier. Brent crude settled near $76 in the previous session. Trump met with his national security team on Tuesday, demanding Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" and warning of a possible attack on the OPEC producer leader ahead of the meeting in a social media post. So far, Iran's crude...
Gold was steady in early Asian trade, supported by continuing geopolitical tensions that typically boost the precious metal's appeal as a safe haven. The Israeli military issued two warnings about incoming missiles early Wednesday, local time, saying the launches had been detected as being aimed at Iran and that they were trying to intercept them. "The environment for precious metals remains favorable," Thu Lan Nguyen of Commerzbank Research said in a note. The head of FX and Commodity Research cited factors including continued high geopolitical uncertainty. Spot gold was little changed at...
GBP/USD plummeted over 1.2% on Tuesday, backsliding through near-term congestion and popping out the other side near the 1.3400 handle after global investors were knocked off their pre-seeded hopes that the Israel-Iran altercation would find a quick and peaceful resolution. Donald Trump, posting on social media Tuesday, declared that he wants an "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" from Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and announced that American military assets were moving into the Middle East conflict region. The escalation between Israel and Iran, on top of Trump's decision to further involve...
The US Dollar rallied past 98.86, up 0.74% at four-day highs, despite US Treasury yields plunging. This move came despite the release of worse-than-expected US Retail Sales data in May and a softer reading on Industrial Production. On Wednesday, Initial Jobless Claims for the last week, Housing Starts, Building Permits, and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy decision would set the tone for the Greenback. Consequently, most G8 forex currencies were laggards compared to the US Dollar. The EUR/USD fell below 1.1500 even though German ZEW figures were positive, and ECB's officials...
WTI crude oil futures rallied 4.3% to settle at $74.8 per barrel on Tuesday, as escalating tensions between the US and Iran reignited supply concerns. US President Donald Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" and directly threatened Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling him "an easy target" in a series of social media posts. The gains reversed Monday's losses, which were driven by hopes of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Despite the latest escalation, the oil market has remained relatively stable, supported by strong global supply, including rising OPEC+ output and...
President Donald Trump said he would fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors if she does not resign her post over mortgage-fraud accusations from a top...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained its cash rate at 4.1% during its April meeting, holding borrowing costs unchanged after slashing 25 bps in the February meeting, aligning with market...