The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% and the S&P 500 gained 0.3% on Friday, led by a 10.8% surge in Amazon shares after the company said cloud revenue climbed 20% in the third quarter and beat estimates, lifting tech names broadly. The Dow traded up 60 points. Palantir and Oracle added 3% and 2.8%, repsectively, on AI optimism and Nvidia also traded higher. Elsewhere, Netflix rallied 2.9% on an announced 10 for 1 stock split and Tesla jumped 3.1%. Energy names diverged as Chevron rose 1.9% on stronger earnings and Exxon Mobil slipped 1.5% after a profit decline. On the other hand, Meta fell...
WTI crude futures fell 0.8% to $70.70 a barrel on Friday, but are up about 1% this week, as hopes for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine eased supply concerns. President Donald Trump has resumed peace talks after Putin and Zelenskiy signaled interest in ending the conflict. The potential lifting of sanctions on Moscow could boost global energy supplies, although the International Energy Agency noted that Russian oil exports may continue through alternative channels. Meanwhile, a delay in reciprocal U.S. tariffs provided some stability to oil prices, as investors grew more optimistic...
Gold prices briefly dipped below $2,900 on Friday (2/14), but are expected to end the week with a solid gain of more than 0.80% as traders booked profits ahead of the weekend. Economic data in the United States (US) was mixed, although the US dollar hit a yearly low and US Treasury yields plunged. XAU/USD was trading at $2,883, down 1.48% on the day. Retail sales in the United States fell sharply in January, weighing on the US dollar, which continued to weaken across the board. However, the precious metal benefited as traders squared off their positions amid fresh headwinds for gold, which...
The dollar index fell to 106.8 on Friday after much weaker-than-expected retail sales figures raised concerns about the strength of the consumer spending. Retail sales declined 0.9% last month, compared to forecasts of a smaller 0.1% fall and the control sales which is used to calculate GDP declined 0.8%, although consumer spending was likely hit by harsh weather and wildfires in LA. Meanwhile, both CPI and PPI exceeded forecasts, though the PPI components feeding into the PCE index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, showed signs of cooling. The data has reinforced the Fed's cautious...
Oil rose after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration remains committed to reducing Iran's oil exports. Brent futures added as much as 1.1% in London after earlier trading little changed. Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business that the US is keen to cut Iranian oil exports to 100,000 barrels a day. He also said that if President Trump asks, he will introduce more sanctions on Russian energy. The comments injected some volatility into an otherwise quiet trading session. So far this week oil markets have been gripped by Trump's...
Silver extended its rally past the $33 per ounce mark on Friday, the highest in over three months and outperforming other bullion as its demand in electrification and manufacturing magnified the the support from a global pivot to safety. The unexpected rebound in the ISM Manufacturing PMI for January improved the outlook for US factory demand following more than two years of monthly contractions. Additionally, new data showed that China put up 357 gigawatts of solar and wind power in 2024, among the main uses of industrial silver. Also on the solar power front, India's Oil and Natural Gas...