The Federal Reserve is likely to start a series of interest-rate cuts next week and keep going through the end of the year, traders bet on Wednesday after tamer-than-expected producer price inflation last month calmed worries that price pressures would hold the central bank back from policy easing. Traders stuck to bets the Fed will start with a quarter-point reduction at its meeting next week, and continue with same-sized cuts through year-end, based on pricing of futures contracts that settle to the Fed's policy rate. The producer price index increased 2.6% in August from a year earlier,...
Oil prices edged up on Thursday, held in check by threatened U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican crude imports that could take effect this weekend. Brent crude futures settled 29 cents, or 0.4%, higher at $76.87 a barrel. U.S. crude futures finished at $72.73 a barrel, up 11 cents, or 0.2% higher than Wednesday, when they settled at their lowest level this year so far. "We're getting close to the deadline and people are getting nervous," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff as early as Saturday on...
USD/CHF steadies after two consecutive days of gains, trading around 0.9070 during the Asian session on Thursday. This decline is mainly attributed to a weaker US Dollar (USD). The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against six major currencies, hovers slightly below the 108.00 mark at the time of writing. Traders are awaiting the release of the US fourth-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth data, scheduled for Thursday. The market consensus expects a slowdown in annualized GDP growth, with a forecast of 2.6%, down from the previous 3.1%. Inflationary concerns persist,...
XAU/USD trades dangerously close to its record high in the $2,790 region as the latest macroeconomic developments put pressure on the US Dollar (USD). Ahead of Wall Street's opening, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its decision on monetary policy. The ECB lowered key rates by 25 basis points (bps) each, as expected. With this decision, the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility stood at 2.9%, 3.15% and 2.75%, respectively. The accompanying statement and the subsequent President Christine...
The USD/JPY pair dipped near 154.30 during the European session on Thursday (1/30). The asset weakened as the Japanese Yen (JPY) performed strongly across the board amid growing expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will continue to raise interest rates this year. BoJ hawkish bets have been rising on the assumption that Japan's spring wage negotiations will result in another strong hike this year. On Thursday, BOJ Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino also said that the central bank "will raise interest rates if the economy and prices move in line with expectations." Meanwhile, the US Dollar...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the US dollar against a basket of six major currencies, was trading flat around 108.00 at the time of writing on Thursday (30/1). All eyes are now on the European Central Bank (ECB), where a 25 basis point (bps) interest rate cut is expected. After a somewhat hawkish pause from the Federal Reserve (Fed), markets are keen to see if the ECB will comment on the US political situation with Donald Trump back in office. That is something that Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not do. He refused to comment on any questions that referred to President Donald Trump....
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...