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...
The US dollar (USD) started the week on a stronger footing against its major peers, supported by safe-haven demand and diminishing odds of a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut anytime soon. Risk sentiment soured as markets braced for the July 9 deadline, when the United States (US) is expected to formally notify trading partners of new tariffs potentially as high as 70%, targeting over 100 countries. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, moved higher during the early American trading hours. At the time of writing, the index was trading...
Gold (XAU/USD) is currently under pressure as markets await more news of trade deals ahead of Wednesday's tariff deadline. In the European session, Gold is trading around $3,300 at the time of writing. Liquidity and trade volumes are increasing on Monday as the US returns to financial markets following Friday's Independence Day holiday. US yields have also firmed after Thursday's Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report revealed a resilient labour market. This reduced the prospects that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would lower interest rates in July. The positive economic data has eased fears of a...
The US Dollar and the Swiss Franc are the best performers among major currencies on Monday, as investors rush for safety, anxious that Trump's tariffs will cause a significant disruption in global trade. Between them, however, the Dollar is showing a mild advantage. The USD/CHF advances to levels right above 0.7970, yet still below the 0.8000 psychological level and less than 100 pips above the 14-year low, at 0.7875, hit last week. The US president announced over the weekend that he will send letters to some countries specifying the tariffs that will be applied to their products, but did...
Oil pared losses on Monday as a tight physical oil market offset the impact of OPEC+ hiking oil output more than expected in August as well as concern about the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on economic growth and oil demand. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Saturday to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day in August, more than the 411,000 bpd hikes they made for the earlier three months. Brent crude futures fell as low as $67.22 a barrel and by 0815 GMT were down 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $68.08. U.S. West Texas...
The EUR/USD pair is accelerating its reversal on Monday, as the US Dollar appreciates, in tandem with US Treasury yields. Growing uncertainty about the outlook of global trade, as the initial July 9 deadline approaches, has restored the traditional safe-asset status to the US Dollar, at least for now. The Euro (EUR) has returned to the lower range of the 1.1700s, at the early European trading session, and is moving right below 1.1720 at the time of writing. Correlation studies suggest a deeper Euro correction if the USD Index recovery extends below the key 97.00 level. Eurozone's upbeat...
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...