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 Australian dollar (AUD) weakened against the US dollar (USD) on Friday (August 8), after three days of gains. The AUD/USD pair weakened as traders priced in a greater than 92% probability of a 25 basis point interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) next week, which would lower the cash rate to 3.60%. The likelihood of an RBA rate cut increased as core inflation eased to 2.7% in June, well below the RBA's 2-3% target, along with rising unemployment and slowing wage growth. Supporting this outlook, Australia's Trade Surplus widened to $5,365 million (month-on-month) in...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), a measure of the value of the US dollar (USD) against a basket of six global currencies, strengthened slightly to around 98.15, ending two consecutive days of declines during Asian trading hours on Friday (August 8th). Federal Reserve Chairman Alberto Musalem is scheduled to speak later on Friday. The DXY strengthened after Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller reportedly emerged as a leading candidate to replace embattled Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Waller argued that the US central bank could "view" the inflationary impact of tariffs as transitory....
Oil headed for its biggest weekly drop since June, as traders assessed that US efforts to end the war in Ukraine would not impact supplies, even as Washington imposed sanctions on India for importing Moscow's crude. West Texas Intermediate crude traded below $64 a barrel, down more than 5% this week, while Brent closed near $66. The US benchmark has declined for the past six days, marking its worst decline since 2023. US President Donald Trump, who has set a Friday deadline for Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, has said he is willing to meet with Vladimir Putin, although the Russian leader...
Gold consolidated early in the Asian session. President Trump said on Thursday that he would nominate Stephen Miran, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a short-term vacancy on the Fed's Board of Governors. Miran will replace Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who decided to step down about six months before her term ends. "Miran was the architect of Trump's tariff policy, with the market viewing the appointment as a tilt toward a more dovish monetary policy," ANZ Research analysts said in a note. The prospect of further Fed rate cuts could boost the appeal of the...
GBP/USD extended recent bullish momentum on Thursday, gaining over two-thirds of one percent on the day and climbing above key technical indicators as market rebalance both a weaker US Dollar (USD) and a stronger Pound Sterling (GBP). A new Federal Reserve (Fed) Board of Governors member selected by Donald Trump is bringing protectionist policy home to the Fed, and a rate cut barely squeezed through the Bank of England's (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), trimming expectations of follow-up rate cuts. United States (US) President Donald Trump has selected Stephen Miran, the current...