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...
USD/JPY is trading with significant strength, surging to the upper end of its recent range as the Japanese Yen continues to underperform after the Bank of Japan's latest policy meeting. The pair is up 1.76% on the day and approaching the 146.00 area, driven by renewed divergence between the US and Japanese monetary policy outlooks and fresh signs of weakness in the US labor market. The BoJ kept interest rates unchanged at 0.50% and lowered its GDP and inflation forecasts for the current and next fiscal years, citing rising external risks and domestic uncertainties. BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda...
USD/CHF is trading with gains, extending its recovery to the upper 0.8900s after a busy Thursday (01/05) filled with US economic data and renewed Fed rate cut speculation. Although the ISM Manufacturing PMI and jobless claims reports pointed to labor market fragility and continued sector contraction, the greenback remains strong, supported by a steady US Dollar Index and risk-sensitive flows ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls report. US jobless claims for the week ended April 26 jumped to 241,000, up from 223,000 the previous week and well above consensus estimates. The increase marked the...
Oil held steady on Thursday after strong earnings from Meta (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) supported U.S. equities and a delay in U.S.-Iran talks offset concerns about the U.S. economy and the prospect of higher OPEC+ oil output. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 15 cents, or 0.3%, to $58.04 a barrel by 12:30 p.m. ET (1630 GMT). Brent crude futures fell 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $60.90. Both contracts fell more than 1% earlier. "Crude remains the target for lower prices in the near term as OPEC+ signals production, which is likely to be approved at next week's OPEC...
Gold slumped to its lowest in two weeks on Thursday, pressured by signs of easing trade tensions and a holiday in key consumer China, while focus was also on Friday's U.S. payrolls report to gauge the economic outlook. Spot gold fell 2.3% to $3,211.53 an ounce by 1:44 p.m. ET (1744 GMT), after hitting its lowest since April 14 earlier in the session. It hit a record $3,500.05 an ounce last week. U.S. gold futures settled 2.9% lower at $3,222.20. "There are signs of an impending trade deal, and talk from China that the Trump administration has been in touch. The risk-on trade is taking...
Oil rose again on Thursday after strong earnings from Meta and Microsoft supported US equities and offset concerns about the US economy and the prospect of higher OPEC+ oil output. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 47 cents, or 0.8%, to $58.68 a barrel by 1442 GMT. Brent crude futures rose 71 cents, or 1.2%, to $61.77. Both contracts had fallen more than 1% earlier. "It (oil price gains) can be attributed to the surge in equities due to the attractive earnings from Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Meta (META.O), opens new tab and possibly the postponement of the next...