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 slid about 1% to an eight-week low on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks about progress in talks with Moscow created uncertainty on whether the U.S. would impose new sanctions on Russia. Brent crude futures fell 75 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $66.89 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 81 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $64.35. Those moves marked a fifth consecutive day of losses for both crude benchmarks, with Brent closing at its lowest since June 10 and WTI closing at its lowest since June 5. Trump said on Wednesday that his special...
The dollar dropped on Wednesday and the euro hit a one-week high as traders bet that the Federal Reserve will cut rates more times than previously expected this year, following weaker than expected jobs data for July. With no major U.S. economic releases on Wednesday traders continued to focus on the implications from Friday's jobs report. U.S. employment growth was weaker than expected in July while the nonfarm payrolls count for the prior two months was revised down by a massive 258,000 jobs, suggesting a sharp deterioration in labor market conditions. The greenback fell sharply after...
The GBP/USD climbs solidly during the North American session, up by 0.37% ahead of the Bank of England's (BoE) meeting and as traders digest the recent Nonfarm Payroll figures, and over the weekend developments, that opened a spot for US President Trump to nominate a Fed Governor. At the time of writing, the pair trades at 1.3342.The Bank of England is expected to reduce rates by 25 basis points, to 4%, according to money market futures data. The decision is expected not to be unanimous, with banks like Morgan Stanley expected to hold, Catherine Mann, a 50 basis points cut, Swati Dhingra,...
Oil prices rose early on Wednesday, for the first time in five sessions, as a report showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. inventories amid strong summer demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for September delivery was last seen up US$0.95 to US$66.11 per barrel, while October Brent oil was up US$0.92 to US$68.56. In its weekly survey, the American Petroleum Institute reported U.S. oil inventories fell by 4.2-million barrels last week, while the consensus analyst estimate expected a drop of 1.8-million barrels, according to Oilprice.com. The Energy Information Administration will...
The US Dollar is trading lower on Wednesday, weighed by a combination of renewed stagflation concerns following weak US macroeconomic data and investors' caution, awaiting Trump's nominee for the Fed Chair. The US President narrowed down the number of candidates to four after the rejection of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The best positioned are the National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, and former Governor Kevin Warsh, both proponents of an easier monetary policy. Governour Crhistopher Waller and David Malpass, a former Trump administration official and ex-president of the...
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...