The S&P 500 rose on Monday, led by tech, as a new month of trading began. The benchmark gained 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 18 points. Micron Technology gained 5% to lead chipmaker stocks higher. Nvidia and AMD were up 3% and around 1%, respectively. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) climbed 1.6%. Other tech names such as Meta Platforms and Palantir gained 1.2% and 2%, respectively. The moves came after data center company Iren reached a multiyear $9.7 billion deal with Microsoft to provide the megacap technology company...
Gold prices fell on Friday as investors booked profits from the previous session's record high, but were set for an eighth straight weekly gain, boosted by strong safe-haven demand amid concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans. Spot gold fell 0.1% to $2,935.75 an ounce. Bullion is up about 1.7% this week after rising to a record $2,954.69 on Thursday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,950.30. "It's just a classic move of new record highs and profit-taking… (but) the fundamentals of gold remain solid," said Alex Ebkarian, chief operating officer at Allegiance Gold. Gold...
Oil prices fell more than $2 a barrel on Friday, posting a weekly decline as investors grappled with fading Middle East risk premiums along with uncertainty about a potential peace deal in Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell $2.05, or 2.68%, to settle at $74.43 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $2.08, or 2.87%, to settle at $70.40. Brent crude futures fell 0.4% for the week, while U.S. crude futures posted a weekly loss of 0.5%. "There's a risk-off sentiment here," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital in New York, who also cited relative calm in the Middle...
Silver (XAG/USD) prices faced selling pressure above the key $33.00 level during North American trading hours on Friday (21/2). The white metal declined as the US Dollar (USD) strengthened, with Federal Reserve (Fed) officials continuing to point to restrictive monetary policies. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose near 106.75. On Thursday, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said that the central bank should keep lending rates "steady" for "some time," noting that the net effect of US President Donald Trump's new economic policies is...
Oil prices fell on Friday, but were on course to secure a weekly gain, as traders eyed supply chain disruptions in Russia and a drawdown in U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles. Brent oil futures had fallen by 0.8% to $75.86 per barrel as of 08:05 ET (13:05 GMT), while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures had slipped by 0.9% to $71.85 per barrel. Oil prices rose this week as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a major route for Kazakh oil exports, reduced flows by 30-40% after a Ukrainian drone hit Russia's Kropotkinskaya pumping station. Meanwhile, Russia escalated attacks...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, pushes back on its recent decline and trades slightly below 107.00 at the time of writing on Friday. The Greenback claws back ahead of the United States (US) preliminary Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data release for February. European data released earlier in the day already revealed a further slowdown in the economic activity in Europe. The US economic calendar finally offers some data releases that might move the Greenback. The preliminary S&P Global Services PMI for...