US stocks rebounded from early losses to close mostly higher on Friday amid hopes that Congress members were making progress toward ending the government shutdown. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones closed 0.3% higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed near the flatline as AI giants remained under pressure. Senate Republicans rejected Democrats' offer to scale down shutdown demands, but lingering hopes of an incoming agreement improved risk sentiment before the closing bell. The suspension of operations and government data were evidenced by the deteriorating consumer confidence measured by...
The EUR/USD pair is practically flat on Thursday, trading right below 1.1800 at the time of writing, not far from the multi-year highs reached earlier this week. Investors' appetite for risk is fading as optimism about the US deal with Vietnam gives way to caution heading into the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data release. In the Eurozone, June's services activity was revised higher to 50.5 from the previously estimated 50.0 reading. These figures reveal that the sector grew again in the last month, following a slight contraction in May. The impact of the data in the Euro, however, has been...
Gold price (XAU/USD) holds onto gains near the weekly high around $3,365 during the European trading session on Thursday. The yellow metal trades firmly ahead of the United States (USD) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for June, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. Investors will closely monitor the US NFP data as a few Federal Reserve (Fed) officials have expressed concerns regarding the labor market strength. Also, market experts believe that US business owners are reluctant for fresh hiring amid uncertainty surrounding the tariff policy imposed by President Donald Trump after his return to...
Oil prices fell on Thursday after gaining 3% in the previous session as investors are wary higher U.S. tariffs may be reinstated, which could cause lower fuel demand, and as major producers are expected to announce an output hike. Brent crude futures fell 45 cents, or 0.65%, to $68.66 a barrel by 0645 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 44 cents, or 0.66%, to $67.01 a barrel Both contracts rose to their highest in one week on Wednesday as Iran suspended cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, raising concerns the lingering dispute over the Middle East producer's nuclear...
The British pound edged higher toward $1.37, partially recovering from Wednesday's decline, as markets reacted positively to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's strong backing of Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Starmer defended Reeves amid speculation about her future, attributing her emotional moment to a "personal matter" and affirming she would remain chancellor "for a very long time to come." His remarks helped ease investor concerns that a potential replacement might be less committed to fiscal discipline and more inclined toward increased borrowing. Meanwhile, traders also digested comments from...
Silver price revisits two-week high near $36.80 during European trading hours on Thursday. The white metal trades firmly ahead of the United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for June, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. The US official employment data will significantly influence market expectations for the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy outlook as officials have lately warned of downside labor market risks. Economists expect US employers to have added 110K fresh workers, fewer than 139K in May. The Unemployment Rate is estimated to have accelerated to 4.3% from the prior...