The Federal Reserve is expected to deliver its first interest-rate cut this year at its September 16-17 meeting, as it moves to counter a cooling labor market even as inflation remains above target. The anticipated quarter-point reduction may not satisfy President Donald Trump, who wants a bigger cut and has named his White House economic advisor, Stephen Miran, in time to be on the Fed Board at the September meeting, pending Senate confirmation. Here is a look at Fed officials' comments since their last policy meeting, sorting them under the labels "dove" and "hawk" as shorthand for their...
Oil rose from its lowest close in four years after a technical gauge suggested the recent crude decline may have been overdone. Brent rose to trade near $61 a barrel after falling nearly 10% over the past six sessions, and West Texas Intermediate rose to around $58. Both benchmarks recently fell into oversold territory on the nine-day relative strength index and breached the lower Bollinger Bands, both pointing to a market that has fallen too fast. China's markets are also reopening after a holiday. There are also signs that lower oil prices are starting to impact supplies outside the...
Gold prices extended sharp gains in Asian trade on Tuesday (06/05) as safe-haven demand for bullion revived after the announcement of new US tariffs, while investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting starting later in the day. At 02:16 ET (06:16 GMT), spot gold was up 1% at $3,366.95 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in June jumped 1.5% to $3,373.75 an ounce. The yellow metal surged nearly 3% on Monday, erasing most of its losses recorded last week. Gold prices hit a record high last month, just above $3,500 an ounce. Gold rises on new Trump tariffs; Fed...
The dollar struggled to make headway on Tuesday as an unprecedented two-day surge in its Taiwanese counterpart spilled over to other regional peers and highlighted the fragility of the U.S. currency. The past two-day sharp moves in the Taiwan dollar subsided during the session, but Hong Kong's de-facto central bank intervened to stop the local currency from strengthening and China's yuan jumped in its return from an extended break. Investors were also awaiting actual progress in trade negotiations with the United States and evidence of a thaw in Sino-U.S. relations, as opposed to just...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) reversed its Asian session losses against its US counterpart and attempted to build on gains recorded over the past two days. Uncertainties over US President Donald Trump's trade policies and rising geopolitical tensions kept investors cautious, which in turn, was seen lending support to the safe-haven JPY. Further, bets that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will raise interest rates further in 2025, despite its dovish pause last week, turned out to be another factor supporting the JPY. However, optimism over a potential de-escalation in the US-China trade war and easing fears...
Oil prices rebounded more than 1% on Tuesday on a technical rebound and dip buying after the previous session's decline on OPEC+'s decision to accelerate output increases, although concerns about the market surplus outlook persisted. Brent crude was up 92 cents at $61.15 a barrel by 0309 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 89 cents at $58.02 a barrel. Both benchmarks had settled at their lowest levels since February 2021 on Monday, boosted by OPEC+'s decision over the weekend to further accelerate oil output increases for a second straight month. "Today's modest rebound...
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...