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 prices rallied on Friday (September 20th) and headed for a fifth straight weekly gain, with market attention focused on further cues after the US Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut of the year. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $3,672.08 an ounce at 1:36 PM EDT (17:36 GMT). Prices have risen 0.8% so far this week. US gold futures for December delivery closed up 0.7% at $3,705.80. The US central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, but tempered the move with a warning about persistent inflation, raising doubts about the pace of future easing. Following the...
Gold prices (XAU/USD) edged higher on Friday, halting a two-day decline, trading around $3,663 in the US session. This move followed a wild midweek reaction to the Fed's interest rate decision. On Wednesday, the Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.00%–4.25%—a move fully anticipated by the market. Gold briefly touched a record near $3,707, but quickly corrected after Jerome Powell's less dovish press conference, triggering a recovery in the US dollar and Treasury yields. Powell emphasized that there was no need to act quickly, calling the cut a "risk-management cut" to mitigate...
Oil prices weakened for a third day, dragged down by expectations of a large global supply surplus next year. Brent traded near $67/barrel in London, with the market assessing that OPEC+ production recovery and rising output from competitors could build inventories, holding prices within a narrow range. Concerns about supply disruptions from Russia provided limited support. Ukraine's attack on energy infrastructure—including two refineries on Thursday—has pushed Russian processing capacity below 5 million bpd, the lowest since April 2022 (JPMorgan estimates). However, the narrative of a...
EUR/USD is heading lower for the third day in a row, trading at 1.1775 at the time of writing on Friday, down from the four-year highs above 1.1900 hit earlier this week. A larger-than-expected decline in weekly US Initial Jobless Claims and a sharp rebound in the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey provided additional support to the US Dollar on Wednesday. In Europe, the calendar has been light, but a new wave of anti-austerity protests is gathering strength in France, which is adding weight to the Euro (EUR). Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in France's main cities on Thursday...
Gold prices edged higher on Friday, poised for a fifth consecutive weekly gain, following the U.S. Federal Reserve's first rate cut of the year, while investors awaited further signals on the U.S. policy outlook. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $3,650.89 per ounce as of 0817 GMT. Bullion is up 0.2% so far this week. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.1% to $3,683.40. "The Fed policy outlook remains the primary driving force for bullion bugs, even as the precious metals enjoys tremendous support from central bank purchases and safe haven demand; any dips below $3,600 are bound to be...