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...
Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday as a stronger dollar and large builds in U.S. fuel inventories last week pressured prices, reversing earlier gains driven by tightening supplies from Russia and other OPEC members. Brent crude settled down 89 cents, or 1.16%, to $76.23 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 93 cents, or 1.25%, to $73.32. Both benchmarks had risen more than 1% earlier in the session. Gasoline stocks rose by 6.3 million barrels last week to 237.7 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel build,...
Gold prices hit a near four-week high on Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected private employment report for December provided reassurance for some in the market the U.S. Federal Reserve may be less cautious about easing rates this year. Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,657.38 per ounce, as of 02:15 p.m. ET (1915 GMT) and hit its highest since Dec. 13. U.S. gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $2,672.40. Weaker private payrolls "is contributing to gold's move, because ultimately, weaker employment numbers imply that the economy has been weaker than many had expected," said Bart Melek, head of...
The U.S. dollar strengthened on Wednesday, benefiting from rising bond yields after the release of healthy U.S. economic data, while weak German industrial orders weighed on the euro. At 4:35 AM ET (09:35 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was trading 0.3% higher at 108.690. Dollar strengthens on rising Treasury yields The dollar continued to strengthen on Wednesday, following the previous session's positive tone after data showed U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in November, layoffs were low, while service sector activity...
Oil prices rose on Wednesday as supplies from Russia and OPEC members tightened while data showing an unexpected rise in U.S. job openings pointed to expanding economic activity and growing demand for oil as a result. Brent crude rose 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $77.42 a barrel by 0730 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 44 cents, or 0.6%, to $74.69. Oil output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries fell in December after two months of increases, a Reuters survey showed. Field maintenance in the United Arab Emirates offset a rise in Nigerian output and increases...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices held on to modest intraday gains through the first half of the European session on Wednesday, albeit lacked bullish conviction and remained below the $2,665 resistance zone retested the previous day. Uncertainty surrounding US President-elect Donald Trump's tariff plans, trade war fears, geopolitical tensions, and softer risk tone turned out to be key factors that acted as a tailwind for the safe-haven bullion. However, the Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish shift, which kept the US Treasury bond yields elevated near multi-month tops, along with the emergence of some...