Gold rose for a fourth day after a key U.S. inflation report bolstered expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut when policymakers meet next week. Bullion traded above $2,720 an ounce — near its highest in more than two weeks — after consumer price index data on Wednesday rose in line with expectations. The report reinforced bets for a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed's final meeting of the year, with swaps traders now largely pricing in the move. Lower borrowing costs typically help bullion, as it pays no interest. Gold has risen by almost a third this year, hitting a string of records and...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) halts its two days of losses against the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday. The AUD remains stronger after the release of domestic mixed employment data. The seasonally adjusted Employment Change increased by 35,600, bringing the total number of employed people to 14,535,500 in November. This exceeded the previous reading of 12,100 and the expected figure of 25,000. Meanwhile, the Unemployment Rate fell to 3.9%, the lowest since March, lower than market estimates of 4.2%. The AUD/USD pair faced challenges due to the broadly stronger US dollar (USD) following the...
Gold eased near $2,700 an ounce on Wednesday, taking a breather after a three-day rally as investors continued to digest the latest U.S. inflation data. The November report showed headline inflation rose as expected, while core inflation remained unchanged. That prompted traders to increase bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week, with Fed fund futures indicating a 98% chance of a 25 bps cut. Such moves typically benefit gold by reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets. However, concerns about persistent inflation remain in the year ahead, as other key...
Oil prices were little changed in Asian trade on Thursday as forecasts of weak demand and a higher-than-expected rise in U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories stemmed gains from an additional round of EU sanctions threatening Russian oil flows. Brent crude futures were up 14 cents at $73.66 a barrel at 0519 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 6 cents to $70.35. Both benchmarks rose over $1 each on Wednesday. OPEC cut its demand growth forecasts for 2025 for the fifth straight month on Wednesday and by the largest amount yet. "Investors will be closely monitoring the...
Gold slipped over 1% on Thursday as investors booked profits after it briefly reached a five-week high earlier in the session and squared positions ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting next week. Spot gold lost 1.2% at $2,684.15 per ounce by 01:40 p.m. ET (1840 GMT), while U.S. gold futures settled 1.7% lower at $2,709.40. Bullion climbed to its highest level since Nov. 6 earlier in the session. Source: Reuters