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 prices settled marginally lower on Wednesday as U.S. fuel inventory builds and concerns about wider economic impact from U.S. tariffs outweighed some signs of increasing demand. Brent crude futures settled 19 cents, or 0.3% lower, at $68.52 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 14 cents, or 0.2%, at $66.38. U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 3.4 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts had expected a draw of 1 million barrels. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 4.2 million barrels, EIA data...
The EUR/USD holds to earlier gains of 0.25% on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump threatened to remove the Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell. This, along with a softer-than-expected inflation report on the producer side, capped the Euro's advance versus the US Dollar. At the time of writing, the pair trades at 1.1633 after bouncing off three-week lows of 1.1562. During the North American session, headlines at first suggested that Trump would sack Powell imminently. However, he later denied those rumors, though he continued to batter him, saying that Powell has been too late...
Gold price rose during the North American session by 0.78%, helped by US President Donald Trump's comments on firing Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell, despite his denials of the remarks, saying it is highly unlikely to fire him unless there is fraud. At the time of writing, XAU/USD trades at 3,348 after hitting a daily peak of $3,377 on Trump's headlines. A Bloomberg article revealed that "Trump discussed the possible move in a meeting with GOP lawmakers at the White House to discuss cryptocurrency legislation," with Trump saying that almost every one of them liked the idea of...
Gold price action is reacting to another critical US inflation report on Wednesday as price action remains sensitive to shifting interest rate expectations and movements in the US Dollar. At the time of writing, the XAU/USD is above $3,350, as traders digest inflation reports and shift focus to concerns related to Fed independence. The June PPI came in softer than expected, with the monthly headline figure coming in unchanged, below forecasts of a 0.2% increase. On an annual basis, headline PPI rose 2.3%, also underperforming expectations of 2.5% and marking a decline from May's...
The US Dollar slumps on Wednesday after CBS reported that US President Donald Trump asked a group of House Republicans whether he should fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The news offsets earlier gains triggered by softer-than-expected US Producer Price Index (PPI) data for June, which initially lifts the Greenback amid signs of easing inflation. At the time of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the Greenback's strength against a basket of six major currencies, is trading sharply lower near 98.00 during American trading hours, retreating from an intraday high of...
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...