The Japanese Yen (JPY) struggles to capitalize on the previous day's modest gains and oscillates in a narrow range against its American counterpart during the Asian session on Friday. The near-term bias, meanwhile, seems tilted in favor of the JPY bulls in the wake of the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) more hawkish stance. In fact, the BoJ remains on track for more interest rate hikes, while other major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve (Fed), are seen lowering borrowing costs further. Apart from this, a slight deterioration in the global risk sentiment, persistent geopolitical...
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices remained under selling pressure for the third straight day on Friday and traded near the lower end of the weekly range, around the $67.80 region during the Asian session. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, on Thursday delayed a planned supply increase by three months to April and extended a full halt to cuts by one year to the end of 2026. The announcements indicated that the cartel is concerned about a potential supply glut and slowdown in global demand, especially in China – the world's...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices recovered from hitting a one-and-a-half-week low during the Asian session on Friday and climbed to an intraday high, above $2,640 levels in the last hour. However, any meaningful appreciating move seems elusive ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report, which will be closely watched for the outlook on US interest rates and provide a fresh impetus to the non-yielding bullion. Despite this, the commodity remains on track for a second straight weekly decline. The closely watched US jobs data will guide the Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers in their next monetary...
Silver prices held steady above $31 an ounce on Friday, near a one-month high as traders bet the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again this month. The probability of a 25 basis point rate cut in December jumped to about 72%, up from 66% last week. The expectations grew even after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank was in no rush to cut rates, citing strong growth, a robust labor market and persistent inflation pressures. Additionally, speculation is growing that China could announce more stimulus measures during a key political meeting this month, which...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices struggled to capitalize on their decent intraday uptick from one-and-a-half-week lows touched early Friday (6/12), albeit managed to hold modest gains through the first half of the European session. The US Treasury bond yields remained depressed amid bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will lower borrowing costs in December. This, in turn, pushed the US Dollar (USD) near multi-week lows and acted as a tailwind for the non-yielding yellow metal. Additionally, a slight deterioration in the global risk sentiment, geopolitical tensions, and trade war fears turned out to be...