US stocks advanced on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones each up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%. The move followed a volatile session the day before, as investors focused on corporate earnings and the AI rally regained momentum after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing raised its revenue-growth target. Communication services, technology, and utilities led the gains, while financials underperformed. Among major movers, Nvidia rose 1.4%, Alphabet added 1.5%, Broadcom gained 1.7%, and Micron Technology advanced 2.3%. Charles Schwab was up 0.5% after an earnings beat and...
The Japanese yen strengthened for the fifth straight day on Thursday, remaining near the two-week high reached the previous day as the US dollar weakened. Markets are increasingly accepting that the Bank of Japan will continue its policy normalization, contrary to speculation that the Fed could cut interest rates two more times this year. This divergence in policy direction has narrowed the US-Japan interest rate differential, providing additional support for the lower-yielding JPY. Meanwhile, the market response to the US government shutdown has been subdued so far, with expectations of a...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) maintains its position against the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday, following the release of Trade Balance data. Additionally, the AUD/USD pair moves little as traders adopt caution after the United States (US) government shut down. Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday that Australia's Trade Surplus narrowed to 1,825 million month-over-month (MoM) in August, against 6,500 million expected and 7,310 million in the previous reading. Meanwhile, Exports fell by 7.8% MoM in August from 3.3% seen a month earlier as Gold exports declined after a run of...
Gold edges lower in the early morning Asian session on a likely technical correction. Front-month Comex gold futures closed 0.7% higher at $3,867.50/oz on Wednesday, a fresh high. Any declines in gold may be limited by the ADP report released overnight that showed an unexpected fall in U.S. private-sector jobs in September. A series of soft data would bring Fed rate-cut expectations closer, supporting gold's move toward higher psychological levels, says XS.com's Linh Tran in an email. "Gold will continue to grind higher but with intermittent swings around key psychological levels, given...
Oil held a run of losses after US crude inventories expanded for the first time in three weeks, ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on the weekend that will likely lead to the return of more idled supply. West Texas Intermediate traded below $62 after tumbling 6% over the previous three sessions. Brent closed near $65 on Wednesday. US crude stockpiles rose by 1.79 million barrels last week, while gasoline inventories swelled the most since late June, according to Energy Information Administration data. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are expected...
AUD/USD extends its bull run for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday, reclaiming the area above the key 0.6600 barrier, always amid the persistent offered stance in the US Dollar as investors gauge the impact of the recently announced US federal government shutdown. The Australian Dollar (AUD) halted its strong recovery on Wednesday, prompting AUD/USD to keep its trade around the 0.6600 region following a brief knee-jerk below that key level. The pair's U-turn came from a vacillating US Dollar (USD), which managed to set aside the initial bearish tone despite mixed US data releases and...