The European stock markets closed mostly higher in Thursday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.92%, Germany's DAX climbed 1.12%, the FTSE 100 was off 0.69%, France's CAC increased 0.97%, and the Swiss Market Index was up 0.80%. In Germany, price-adjusted production in the manufacturing sector declined 1.9% in June compared with May, according to preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office, falling to its lowest level since May 2020 during the COVID pandemic. In the UK, house prices rose 0.4% in July from June, the highest monthly rise since the start of the year, according to...
Gold fell as the latest US jobs report showed strength in the labor market, reinforcing the view that the Federal Reserve will maintain interest rates for the time being. US unemployment benefit applications fell for a sixth straight week, the longest losing streak since 2022. The dollar and bond yields pushed higher, weighing on bullion. Swap traders slightly trimmed their bets for interest rate cuts, projecting fewer than two cuts this year. Outflows from Chinese exchange-traded funds into gold also weighed on the market, according to Daniel Ghali, senior commodity strategist at TD...
Gold price (XAU/USD) trades almost 0.7% lower around $3,360 during the European trading session on Thursday. The precious metal faces a sharp selling pressure as global trade worries have eased amid hopes that the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) will close a trade agreement before the August 1 tariff deadline. On Wednesday, a report from Financial Times (FT) showed that EU officials have signaled green signal to a trade pact with the US to avert a damaging trade war. Market experts believe the US-Japan deal confirmed on Tuesday increased fears among EU officials that they...
Oil prices rose on Thursday, buoyed by optimism over U.S. trade negotiations that would ease pressure on the global economy and a sharper-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude futures had gained 52 cents, or 0.76%, to $69.03 a barrel by 1040 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 60 cents, or 0.9% to $65.85 per barrel. "The U.S. crude inventory draw and the trade efforts are adding some support to prices," said Janiv Shah, an analyst at Rystad. Two European diplomats said on Wednesday that the EU and the United States were moving towards a trade...
The Pound Sterling (GBP) declines against its major peers on Thursday as the preliminary United Kingdom (UK) S&P Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) report for July has shown that the overall business activity grew at a slower-than-projected pace. The Composite PMI come in at 51.0, lower than estimates of 51.9 and 52.0 in June, suggesting that the overall business activity continued to expand, but at a moderate pace. UK Composite PMI growth slowed down as the service sector activity surprisingly rose at a moderate pace. The Services PMI dropped to 51.2, while it was expected to come in...
Gold prices fell further on Thursday, as easing trade tensions dented demand for safe-haven assets, overshadowing support from a weaker dollar. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $3,379.69 per ounce, as of 0534 GMT, after dropping 1.3% in the previous session. U.S. gold futures eased 0.4% to $3,385.40. "Yesterday, gold prices were seen building up for the next bullish run until the news came out on trade front, triggering some profit-taking," said Brian Lan, managing director at GoldSilver Central, Singapore. "We've seen the dollar has also weakened quite a bit, and of course, this also supports...