Three major US indexes closed at new record highs after a lower-than-expected inflation report raised the possibility of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this year and prompted investors to shift to riskier assets. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Nasdaq rose 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 470 points. Technology stocks led the rally, with AMD and IBM surging 7.5% and 8.77%, respectively, after IBM said it had successfully implemented a key quantum error correction algorithm on AMD chips, boosting sentiment across the sector. Intel rose 1.6% after returning to...
Gold prices dipped on Monday as the U.S. dollar soared to an over two-year high after a robust jobs report last week cemented expectations the Federal Reserve will proceed with caution with cutting interest rates this year. Spot gold fell 1% to $2,661.76 per ounce as of 03:57 p.m. ET (2057 GMT). Prices hit their highest in a month on Friday. U.S. gold futures settled 1.3% lower at $2,678.60. The dollar index (.DXY), rose to its highest since November 2022 after the U.S. jobs report underscored the strength of the economy and muddied the Fed outlook. A higher dollar makes bullion more...
Oil prices climbed about 2% to a four-month high on Monday on expectations that wider U.S. sanctions on Russian oil would force buyers in India and China to seek other suppliers. Brent futures rose $1.25, or 1.6%, to settle at $81.01 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.25, or 2.9%, to settle at $78.82. That put Brent on track for its highest close since Aug. 26 and WTI on track for its highest close since Aug. 12, and kept both benchmarks in technically overbought territory for a second day in a row. Moreover, with Brent and WTI front-month prices rising over...
The dollar index topped 110 on Monday, the highest level since October 2022, and extending a 0.6% gain in the first week of the year, as traders scaled back expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, driven by a stronger-than-expected jobs report on Friday. Concerns over inflationary policies under President-elect Donald Trump also added to the cautious outlook. Traders now anticipate only 27 basis points of rate cuts in 2024, a sharp reduction from the 50 basis points forecast earlier this month, with the expected single quarter-point cut likely postponed to the second half of...
Gold prices are likely to rise further in 2025, according to Phillip Nova analyst Priyanka Sachdeva in a research note. The yellow metal surpassed the $2,700/oz mark last Friday after consolidating in the $2,600/oz range for over a month, the analyst points out. A sustained consolidation above the $2,700/oz mark would enable gold bulls to target $3,000/oz, Sachdeva adds. There is strong long-term support for a bullish upswing in gold, particularly with macroeconomic factors expected to play a significant role in 2025. Gold investors are currently focused on the release of the U.S....
Silver prices (XAG/USD) fell on Monday, according to FXStreet data. Silver trades at $30.09 per troy ounce, down 0.81% from the $30.34 it cost on Friday. Silver prices have increased by 4.15% since the beginning of the year. Source: FXstreet