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 US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the US Dollar (USD) against a basket of six major currencies, retraced its recent gains and traded around 98.70 during Asian hours on Wednesday (6/18). Markets expect the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to keep interest rates unchanged at its June meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Traders now see a near 80% chance of a Fed rate cut in September, followed by another cut in October, according to Reuters. Traders are likely to closely monitor the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement on monetary policy, looking for direction going forward amid...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) remained weaker against its US counterpart for the fourth straight day and retested its monthly low during the Asian session on Wednesday (6/18). The Bank of Japan (BOJ) signaled a cautious approach to winding down its decade-long monetary stimulus amid uncertain economic growth. This forced investors to push back their expectations about the likely timing of the next BOJ rate hike to Q1 2026, which in turn, was seen weakening the JPY. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba failed to reach a tariff breakthrough at the G7...
Oil prices rose after surging to their highest in nearly five months on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump stoked speculation that the U.S. might join an attack on Iran, raising concerns about a disruption to Middle East supplies. West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 1.1% to trade above $75 a barrel earlier. Brent crude settled near $76 in the previous session. Trump met with his national security team on Tuesday, demanding Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" and warning of a possible attack on the OPEC producer leader ahead of the meeting in a social media post. So far, Iran's crude...
Gold was steady in early Asian trade, supported by continuing geopolitical tensions that typically boost the precious metal's appeal as a safe haven. The Israeli military issued two warnings about incoming missiles early Wednesday, local time, saying the launches had been detected as being aimed at Iran and that they were trying to intercept them. "The environment for precious metals remains favorable," Thu Lan Nguyen of Commerzbank Research said in a note. The head of FX and Commodity Research cited factors including continued high geopolitical uncertainty. Spot gold was little changed at...
GBP/USD plummeted over 1.2% on Tuesday, backsliding through near-term congestion and popping out the other side near the 1.3400 handle after global investors were knocked off their pre-seeded hopes that the Israel-Iran altercation would find a quick and peaceful resolution. Donald Trump, posting on social media Tuesday, declared that he wants an "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" from Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and announced that American military assets were moving into the Middle East conflict region. The escalation between Israel and Iran, on top of Trump's decision to further involve...