US stocks rose on Friday (October 17th) as investors reacted positively to President Trump's remarks alleviating concerns about further trade escalation with China, while regional bank stocks rebounded after Thursday's sharp declines. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 239 points. Trump said his proposed 100% tariffs on Chinese goods would be unsustainable, although he blamed Beijing for recent trade tensions, and confirmed that his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was still possible at the end of the month. Consumer staples,...
Gold (XAU/USD) extends gains on Friday, pushing past the recent $3,760-$3,720 range. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading around $3,780, hovering just below the all-time high of $3,791 set earlier this week, as the US Dollar (USD) corrects lower in the wake of the latest US economic data. The core PCE Price Index, the Federal Reserve's (Fed) preferred gauge of underlying inflation, rose 0.2% MoM, matching forecasts and down from July's originally reported 0.3%, which was revised lower to 0.2%. On an annual basis, the core measure held steady at 2.9%, underscoring that inflation is...
Oil prices were steady on Friday, on track for a more than 4% weekly gain, as Ukraine's attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure prompted Moscow to curb fuel exports. Brent futures lost 3 cents to $69.39 a barrel by 1146 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 6 cents at $64.92 a barrel. "The geopolitical risk premium, which has been steadily building over the last two months as Ukrainian drone strikes intensified, has now materialised into an actual supply shortage, much to the detriment of Europe, which is structurally short of distillates," said PVM analyst Tamas...
The data helped boost USD-supportive spreads and pare expectations around Fed easing risks over the balance of the year. A dose of geo-political worries added some further support to the USD at the margin. The USD has steadied in overnight trade but, at this point, it is looking at a fairly solid gain on the week following last week's rejection of the low 96 area. A new round of hefty tariffs (pharma, heavy trucks, household goods) announced by the White House has failed to move markets materially." "European stocks are mostly firmer and while the pharma sector is underperforming, it is...
EUR/USD is posting moderate gains on Friday, trading near 1.1675 at the time of writing on Friday from 1.1645 daily lows, but remains on track for a 0.55% weekly decline. In the United States (US), a batch of upbeat macroeconomic figures eased concerns about an economic downturn on Thursday, while in Europe, data have been uninspiring this week. To make matters worse, US President Donald Trump rattled markets with a new round of tariffs. Data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at a stronger pace than previously estimated in the second...
Silver slipped below $45 per ounce on Friday, easing from 14-year highs as the dollar strengthened following upbeat US data that tempered bets for deeper Federal Reserve rate cuts. Thursday's reports showed weekly jobless claims fell to 218K, highlighting labor market resilience, while second-quarter GDP growth was revised sharply higher to an annualized 3.8%, the fastest in nearly two years. Markets still expect a quarter-point Fed cut in October, though easing priced in for the year has narrowed to 39 basis points from about 43 earlier this week. Despite the pullback, silver remains up...