The dollar flirted with a two-month peak on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stuck to his patient approach on rates in a closely watched policy decision and offered little insight on when they could be lowered. The greenback was also on track for its first monthly gain for the year, bolstered by a hawkish Fed and U.S. economic resilience, with uncertainty over tariffs beginning to ease given recent trade deals struck by Washington. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was last steady at 99.77 , not far from a two-month peak of 99.987 it hit in the previous session....
The Australian Dollar (AUD) appreciates on Thursday, halting its five-day losing streak. The AUD/USD pair maintains its position following the release of key economic data from Australia and its close trading partner, China. Australia's Retail Sales rose 1.2% month-over-month in June, compared to 0.5% in May (revised from 0.2%). The reading came in above the market expectations of 0.4%. Retail Sales climbed 0.3% QoQ in the second quarter, compared to 0.1% in Q1 (revised from 0%). China's NBS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 49.3 in July, as against 49.7 reported in...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) edges higher against a softer US Dollar (USD) during the Asian session on Thursday and recovers a part of the previous day's slide to its lowest level since early April. Data released from Japan earlier today showed that Industrial Production unexpectedly grew in June, while strong Retail Sales pointed to resilience in consumer spending. This, along with some repositioning trade ahead of the crucial Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy update, offers some support to the JPY. Investors will look for signals on how the recent US-Japan trade agreement might influence the BoJ's...
Gold prices rebounded on Thursday from a one-month low hit in the previous session, as trade uncertainty sparked by the announcement of new US tariffs boosted bullion's appeal, even as expectations of a US interest rate cut in September eased. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $3,292.24 an ounce, as of 02:30 GMT. Bullion hit its lowest level since June 30 at $3,267.79 on Wednesday. US gold futures fell 0.2% to $3,287. "Gold at levels below $3,300 has attracted buying interest from traders as a value strategy, especially with the prevailing economic uncertainty, which aligns with Trump's threat of...
Silver prices hovered near $37 per ounce on Thursday, steadying after falling more than 2% in the previous session. The decline followed the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25%–4.5%, reflecting a cautious stance on future rate cuts despite political pressure from President Trump and dissenting votes from Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller. Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that it is still too early to consider cutting rates and gave little indication of when easing might resume. In response, markets pared back expectations for rate...