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...
The GBP/USD pair started the new week on a calm note, consolidating its relatively strong recovery from the 1.3140 area, its lowest level since April 14, reached earlier this month. Spot prices traded just below the mid-1.3400s during the Asian session, remaining largely unchanged throughout the day, although the fundamentals appear to be tilted toward bullish traders. The Bank of England (BoE), as widely expected, cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) last week, bringing the benchmark interest rate down to 4%, its lowest level since 2023. However, the narrow 5-4 vote indicated...
EUR/USD strengthened slightly after posting losses in the previous session, trading around 1.1650 during the Asian session on Monday (August 11th). The pair was supported by a strengthening euro (EUR), driven by prevailing expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) will end its easing cycle in September. Furthermore, the euro was supported by improving market sentiment due to the possible end to the Ukraine-Russia war. News of a possible Trump-Putin meeting next week has some hoping for a deal that could end hostilities in Ukraine. The EUR/USD pair also strengthened as the US dollar...
Gold futures in New York were steady as traders awaited clarification from the White House on its tariff policy, after a US government agency surprised markets last week by formally deciding that 100-ounce and one-kilogram gold bars would be subject to duties. Gold futures traded around $65 an ounce above the global spot benchmark on Monday, after surging to a record on Friday before erasing gains as the government told Bloomberg it would clarify what it called "misinformation" about tariffs on gold and other specific products. The price spread between trading centers in the US and London...
Oil prices fell after their biggest weekly drop since late June before a meeting between U.S. and Russian leaders on Friday, which raised the prospect of an end to the war in Ukraine and more supplies. Brent traded near $66 a barrel, after falling 4.4% last week, while West Texas Intermediate was above $63. President Donald Trump did not reveal additional sanctions on Russia, or tariffs on its energy buyers, when he announced the summit in Alaska, despite setting an August 8 deadline for the Kremlin to agree to a ceasefire. U.S. and Russian officials are working on a deal that would lock...
The EUR/USD consolidates near the week's highs, shy of testing the 1.1700 figure on a week in whichthe US Dollar is poised to finish the week with over 1.84% losses against its peers. The hangover of last week's US Nonfarm Payroll figures, and subsequent worse-than-expected employment data, underpins the Euro, due to increasing chances that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will resume its easing cycle. The EUR/USD trades at 1.1648, down 0.14% daily, as market mood is upbeat due to the chance that the Ukraine-Russia war could end. News of a possible Trump-Putin meeting next week leads some to...