Japanese stocks experienced a sharp decline on Wednesday, led by chip and electronics stocks, which were pressured by weakness in US technology stocks overnight. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.9% to 50,523.00. Stocks such as Kioxia Holdings fell 11%, SoftBank Group fell 9.1%, and Advantest plunged 8.1%. This decline reflects uncertainty in the Japanese market regarding the global technology sector. The Japanese yen also weakened slightly against the US dollar, with USD/JPY trading at 153.62, slightly higher than 153.55 at the Tokyo market close the previous day. Investors are now focused...
Oil rose on Friday but remained on track for its biggest weekly decline since late last year as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on major trading partners injected volatility and uncertainty into global markets. Brent crude futures rose near $70 a barrel on Friday, helped by a falling dollar and potential U.S. plans to replenish its strategic oil reserves, but are still down more than 3% this week. Trump signed an order Thursday to cut tariffs on Mexico and Canada covered by the trade pact through April 2, just days after the tariffs went into effect. (Newsmaker23) Source: Bloomberg
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, had its worst week in more than a year, down more than 3.5% since Monday and trading near 103.70 at the time of writing on Friday (07/3). The greenback is undergoing a regime change where the US Dollar is no longer favored by traders. The interest rate differential between the Federal Reserve (Fed) and other central banks is set to narrow after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday that there could be two to three rate cuts this year. On the economic data front, all eyes...
Silver (XAG/USD) prices faced selling pressure near $32.70 during European trading hours on Friday (07/03). The white metal traded cautiously ahead of the United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for February, which will be published at 13:30 GMT. The US NFP data will significantly influence market expectations regarding the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy outlook. Upbeat labor market data will increase market speculation that the Fed will keep interest rates steady in the current range of 4.25%-4.50% for a longer period. Conversely, a weak figure will weaken it. Technically,...
Gold price (XAU/USD) builds on the steady intraday ascent through the first half of the European session and climbs back closer to the top end of its weekly range. The US Dollar (USD) selling bias remains unabated in the wake of rising bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates several times in 2025 amid worries about slowing US economic growth. This keeps the USD depressed near a multi-month low and turns out to be a key factor acting as a tailwind for the non-yielding yellow metal. Moreover, the uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump's trade policies and their...
Oil prices rose on Friday but fell for the biggest weekly drop since October as uncertainty over U.S. tariff policy raised concerns about demand growth at a time when major producers are preparing to increase output. Brent crude futures rose 50 cents, or 0.72%, to settle at $69.96 a barrel by 0746 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 47 cents, or 0.71%, to settle at $66.83 a barrel. But Brent fell 4.9% for the week, its biggest weekly drop since the week of Oct. 14. WTI is set to drop 4.8%, also its biggest weekly drop since that week. Markets, including oil, have been...