The Australian dollar (AUD) retraced its recent decline on Friday (6/20). The AUD/USD pair remained firm after the release of the interest rate decision from China. However, the pair's gains could be limited due to weaker risk sentiment amid rising Middle East tensions. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) decided to leave the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) unchanged on Friday. The one-year and five-year LPRs were at 3.00% and 3.50%, respectively. US intelligence agencies believe that Iran has not yet decided whether to pursue nuclear weapons, despite having developed a large stockpile of enriched...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the US Dollar (USD) against a basket of six major currencies, extended its decline for the second straight day and traded lower around 98.70 at the time of writing. Traders are likely to gauge the Fed Monetary Policy Report, which is scheduled to be released on Friday. The Federal Reserve Board will submit a report to Congress containing a discussion of "the conduct of monetary policy and economic developments and prospects for the future." The US dollar may have strengthened again due to rising safe-haven demand, driven by growing concerns over...
EUR/USD extends its winning streak for the third straight day, trading around 1.1520 during Asian hours on Friday (6/20). The currency pair strengthened as the US dollar (USD) weakened, possibly on technical pullback. The US dollar could recover on increased safe-haven demand, driven by growing concerns over potential US involvement in an Israel-Iran air war. Iran has not yet decided whether to build a nuclear weapon, despite having developed a large stockpile of enriched uranium needed to make a bomb, according to a senior US intelligence official quoted by The New York Times. Meanwhile,...
The USD/CHF pair lost momentum to around 1.3690, ending three consecutive days of gains during Asian trading hours on Friday (6/20). Concerns about the US involvement in the Middle East conflict fueled demand for the Swiss Franc (CHF), a safe-haven currency. The US Philly Fed Manufacturing Index will be published later on Friday. The conflict between Israel and Iran has entered its seventh day. The White House said that US President Donald Trump will make a decision in the next two weeks on whether to join Israel in the war. Uncertainty about the war raging in the Middle East and fears that...
Gold prices fell on Friday and were on track for a weekly decline, as an overall stronger dollar and prospects for fewer U.S. interest rate cuts offset support from rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,355.49 an ounce, by 0245 GMT, and down 2.2% so far this week. U.S. gold futures were down 1% at $3,371.80. "There's a lot of uncertainty in the Middle East right now that's keeping traders from taking aggressive positions on either the long or short side of the spectrum," said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst, Asia Pacific at OANDA. Middle East...