Oil is on track for the biggest weekly gain since mid-June after President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Russia, as the market braced for the fallout from US tariffs that take effect on Friday. West Texas Intermediate was steady above $69 a barrel, up more than 6% for the week, the largest weekly move since Israel attacked Iran. Brent settled below $72 on Thursday. Trump has threatened economic penalties on Moscow if a swift truce on the war in Ukraine isn't reached, and singled out India for higher levies, in part due to its buying of Russian crude and weapons. For...
The Swiss franc underperformed its Group-of-10 peers after President Donald Trump announced a 39% tariff on the nation's products while setting a 10% global minimum rate. USD/CHF rose 0.2% to 0.8135. The latest tariff on Switzerland was higher than the 31% rate Trump initially threatened to impose in April when he unveiled duties on dozens of trading partners The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index inched up 0.1% to the highest level since late May The downside for the Swiss franc may be limited as that greenback tends to weaken whenever Trump raises tariffs and as Switzerland's...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) touches a fresh four-month low against its American counterpart during the Asian session on Friday and seems vulnerable to weaken further. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) revised up its inflation forecasts on Thursday and offered a less gloomy outlook on the economy, keeping hopes alive for the resumption of rate hikes later this year. However, BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda struck a dovish tone and signaled patience in policy normalization, to observe the tariff impact after the US-Japan trade deal. Furthermore, domestic political uncertainty, which has been fueling concerns about...
The Australian dollar stabilized around $0.643 on Friday, halting a six-day losing streak as Australia avoided the latest US tariff hikes, with most imports remaining subject to the 10% rate. On Thursday, President Trump issued an executive order revising "reciprocal" tariffs on several countries—raising rates 10–41%—while countries not listed will face an automatic 10% duty and transshipped goods an additional 40%, taking effect seven days after the order. However, Australia avoided steeper tariffs, with its rate held at 10% despite earlier threats of a hike to 15–20%. The White House...
Gold prices were muted around $3,290 per ounce on Friday and were on track for its worst weekly performance since late June, pressured by a stronger US dollar following President Trump's introduction of higher tariffs on multiple countries. Trump reaffirmed a 10% global base tariff and imposed retaliatory duties of up to 41% on nations without trade agreements with the US. He also announced a 40% levy on goods suspected of being rerouted through third countries to bypass existing tariffs. Meanwhile, US data showed that both core and headline PCE prices exceeded expectations in June,...