Oil prices plunged more than 2% on Thursday (July 10th), as investors weighed the potential impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on global economic growth. Brent crude futures closed at $68.64 per barrel, down $1.55, or 2.21%. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed at $66.57 per barrel, down $1.81, or 2.65%. On Wednesday, Trump threatened Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, with punitive 50% tariffs on exports to the US, pressuring his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, over the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil on charges of plotting...
EUR/USD weakened during the North American session, down more than 0.23%, as market participants digested the US jobs report that strengthened the Federal Reserve's case for maintaining interest rates at its upcoming July meeting. At the time of writing, the pair was trading at 1.1695 after peaking at 1.1749. Wall Street ended Thursday's session with gains as traders assessed the current US labor market situation. Initial Jobless Claims for the past week were below estimates and the previous reading, signaling strength. However, Continuing Claims rose to their highest level since 2022. On...
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $65.75 during the early Asian trading hours on Friday. The WTI price tumbles amid concerns about a supply hike for August by OPEC+, a surprise increase in US crude inventories, and intensifying US tariff pressures. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) agreed at a July 6 meeting to hike their collective crude production by 548,000 barrels per day (bpd), as they continue to unwind a set of voluntary supply cuts. The group previously announced hikes of 411,000 bpd for May, June,...
Gold steadied after a two-day climb as traders focused on tariff threats from President Donald Trump and the outlook for US monetary policy. Bullion traded above $3,332 an ounce, after posting modest gains on Wednesday and Thursday that pared a weekly drop. The president proposed a slew of country-specific tariffs this week, including moves against Canada and Brazil, while pushing the overall deadline for implementation to Aug. 1. In addition, he's planning a substantial levy on imports of copper. Elsewhere, investors were considering the outlook for US...
The US dollar index climbed toward 98 on Friday, on track for a nearly 1% weekly gain, as investors responded to fresh tariff announcements and evolving monetary policy signals. President Trump ramped up trade tensions throughout the week, unveiling a 35% tariff on Canadian imports starting August 1 and signaling 15% to 20% blanket tariffs on most other trading partners. Earlier in the week, the administration also announced 50% duties on copper imports and Brazilian goods, all set to take effect on the same date. On the monetary policy front, Chicago Fed's Goolsbee pushed back against the...