US stocks rose on Friday (October 17th) as investors reacted positively to President Trump's remarks alleviating concerns about further trade escalation with China, while regional bank stocks rebounded after Thursday's sharp declines. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 239 points. Trump said his proposed 100% tariffs on Chinese goods would be unsustainable, although he blamed Beijing for recent trade tensions, and confirmed that his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was still possible at the end of the month. Consumer staples,...
Crude Oil falling flat, and is returning less than 0.50% profit on this Thursday after headlines that Israel has already broken the ceasefire deal between in the Gaza region, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) have confirmed they will postpone its upcoming Output Policy Meeting decision from Sunday to December 5. The conglomerate of Oil producers and exporters is again facing an existential crisis, with a slowdown in global demand with more non-OPEC supply to be released to markets taking place. The US Dollar Index...
Gold futures rise, finding some support after a volatile month. Futures are up 0.3% at $2,646.60 a troy ounce. The precious metal has gained as the U.S. Federal Reserve appears likely to continue interest-rate cuts at its December meeting, ING analysts write. The CME's Fed watch tool shows the market is currently pricing in a 68% chance of a 25-basis-point cut, up from around 56% a week ago. Lower interest rates typically boost the appeal of non-interest bearing bullion. On the other hand, Wednesday's inflation numbers were on the higher side, which could weaken the case for further rate...
The dollar edged up from a two-week low against its major peers in holiday-thinned trading on Thursday, though the yen headed for its strongest week in nearly three months on growing bets that Japan will hike rates in December. The yen slipped half a percent to 151.93 per dollar ,but with its 1.9% gain this week the currency has recovered losses suffered since the U.S. election. Markets see about a 65% chance the Bank of Japan will hike rates next month. The dollar index was marginally higher at 106.30 after suffering its steepest fall in four months that pushed it as low as 105.85 in the...
Gold edged higher as investors assess the outlook for US interest rates following inflation data on Wednesday that supported the case for a cut next month. Bullion rose 0.5% to $2,648.21 an ounce as of 10:53 a.m. in London, with pressure on the metal easing as a rally in the dollar lost steam. The greenback, which strengthened in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump's win, has weakened this week against other currencies amid month-end flows. A stronger dollar makes the metal more expensive for many buyers. The case for a December rate cut was bolstered by...
Oil prices were flat on Thursday after a surprise jump in U.S. gasoline inventories and postponement of the OPEC+ meeting on output policy to Dec. 5 from Dec. 1. Brent crude futures edged up by 8 cents to $72.91 a barrel by 0955 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 7 cents at $68.79. Trading is expected to be light because of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. OPEC+, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, delayed its weekend meeting to avoid a conflict with another event, the producer group said. The...