West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is trading around $62 on Friday ahead of the weekend, staging a modest rebound after snapping a two-day losing streak. The US Oil found renewed buying interest following a retest of the $55 support zone, where a potential double-bottom structure has formed on the daily chart. While the short-term technical picture has improved, macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds, especially surrounding rising Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) output and the potential return of Iranian barrels, continue to weigh on sentiment. OPEC+ supply...
Gold rallied after its biggest weekly drop in six months, with safe-haven demand boosted by growing concerns about the US economic outlook and budget deficit. Bullion rose as much as 1.3% to around $3,245 an ounce in early Asian trade. That came after Moody's Ratings announced late Friday that it had downgraded the US government's main credit rating to Aa1 from Aaa. The agency blamed the inability of successive administrations to cut budget deficits. "While we acknowledge the significant strength of the US economy and finances, we believe this no longer fully offsets the deterioration in...
The AUD/USD pair kicked off the new week on a subdued note and consolidated just above the 0.6400 round-figure mark during the Asian session (19/05). Moreover, the spot prices remained confined within a familiar range for the past month or so as traders await fresh catalysts before positioning for the next leg of the directional move. Meanwhile, Monday's China macro data could provide some impetus to the AUD/USD pair and allow traders to grab short-term opportunities. However, the immediate market reaction is likely to be limited as the focus remains on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA)...
EUR/USD recovered from previous session's losses, trading near 1.1190 during the Asian session on Monday (05/19). The pair strengthened as the US dollar came under pressure following Moody's downgrade of the US credit rating by one notch from Aaa to Aa1 on the grounds of rising debt levels and rising interest payments. Moody's follows previous downgrades by Fitch Ratings in 2023 and Standard & Poor's in 2011. Moody's now projects US federal debt to reach around 134% of GDP in 2035, up from 98% in 2023, while the federal deficit is expected to widen to nearly 9% of GDP, driven by higher...
The Japanese yen strengthened past 145 per dollar on Monday, marking its fifth consecutive session of gains, as the US dollar weakened following Moody's credit rating downgrade. On Friday, the agency lowered the US credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, citing a worsening fiscal outlook and "a lack of effective policy action" to address mounting deficits. Domestically, recent data showed that Japan's economy contracted in the first quarter of 2025, with GDP falling worse than market expectations and marking its first economic contraction in a year. Investors are now turning their attention to the...