European stocks rallied on Thursday, driven by the energy sector and mixed results from major companies. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2% in early London trading, with energy stocks leading the gains after Brent oil prices jumped 4%. This surge came after the United States imposed sanctions on two Russian oil giants, Rosneft and Lukoil, for their perceived lack of commitment to peace in Ukraine. On the corporate side, Nokia surged 11% thanks to strong demand for its cloud and artificial intelligence services, while Volvo Cars soared 23% after posting above-expected profits. Conversely,...
Gold (XAU/USD) weakened on Tuesday after briefly surging to an all-time high of $3,508 per ounce during the Asian session as a rebound in the US dollar and Treasury yields triggered mild profit-taking. At the time of writing, the precious metal was trading near $3,485 in the early American session, extending its six-day winning streak. Despite the brief correction, demand remained strong, driven by safe-haven asset flows and expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates at its September 16-17 monetary policy meeting. The precious metal's rally to record highs was...
Oil prices retreated from earlier gains, as negative sentiment in broader financial markets offset support from technical buying. Brent rose above $69 per barrel, posting its fourth gain in five days. The dollar posted its biggest gain since July, weighing on commodities priced in that currency, while global bonds experienced significant declines. Trend-following Commodity Trading Advisors have been consistently buying crude oil over the past few weeks, helping push prices higher, according to Nicky Ferguson, head of analytics at Energy Aspects Ltd. Their buying is likely to continue for...
The dollar strengthened to its highest level in a month, as investors sought safe havens amid weakening global stock and bond markets. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.7%, its biggest intraday gain since July 30. The currency strengthened against all G-10 currencies, with the Japanese yen and British pound weakening sharply. Traders expected the dollar to remain relatively stable on a day dominated by headlines about the UK budget crunch and potential political upheaval in Japan. Despite the prospect of weaker employment figures, the dollar could draw support from stalled yuan...
Gold briefly hit a record high as the prospect of a US interest rate cut and growing concerns over the Federal Reserve's future provided fresh impetus to the precious metal's multi-year rally. Gold bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.9% on Tuesday to reach $3,508 an ounce, surpassing its previous high set in April before paring gains as the dollar strengthened. The precious metal has gained more than 30% this year, making it one of the best-performing major commodities. The latest rally was driven by expectations that the US central bank will cut interest rates this month,...
Oil prices rose to their highest level in nearly a month, driven by technical buying ahead of this weekend's OPEC+ meeting. Brent rose above $69 per barrel, marking its fourth gain in five days. Trend-following Commodity Trading Advisors have been buying crude consistently over the past few weeks, helping push prices higher, according to Nicky Ferguson, head of analytics at Energy Aspects Ltd. Their buying is likely to continue for a few more days, he said. OPEC+ will meet later this week to decide on October production. Most market observers expect the group to opt to keep supply...