Oil steadied after closing at the highest in a month as investors weighed a host of geopolitical risks, including a potential escalation of US sanctions on Russian flows, in the run-up to an OPEC+ meeting on supply. West Texas Intermediate was little changed below $66 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent settled above $69. President Donald Trump said he was watching closely to see how Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed efforts to set up a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, and signaled he was considering additional measures if talks did not progress. At...
Gold edges lower in the early Asian trade, after hitting a record high on Tuesday. There has been growing unease among investors about U.S. monetary policy, ANZ Research analysts write in a note. The Trump administration is looking to remake the Fed's board of governors with candidates more amenable to the President's policies, they say. Investors await the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for August due Friday, which would shape the Fed's rate path trajectory. Weak data could benefit non-yielding assets, including precious metals, says Frank Walbaum, a market analyst at Naga, in a note. Spot...
The Australian dollar was little changed to around $0.652 on Wednesday, after a 0.5% drop in the previous session, as strength in the US dollar offset upbeat domestic GDP data. The greenback held firm, supported by safe-haven demand amid global economic uncertainty, renewed trade tensions, and geopolitical risks, while concerns over rising debt burdens across major economies further supported appetite for the dollar. On the domestic front, Australia's economy grew 0.6% in Q2, surpassing expectations of 0.5% and accelerating from a revised 0.3% in Q1, marking the 15th straight quarter of...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) maintains its offered tone through the Asian session on Wednesday amid heightened domestic political and trade-related uncertainties. Furthermore, the lack of hawkish signals from Bank of Japan (BoJ) Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino on Tuesday seems to encourage speculators to continue building short JPY positions. Apart from this, some follow-through US Dollar (USD) uptick lifts the USD/JPY pair back closer to a one-month top, around the 149.00 neighborhood touched the previous day. Meanwhile, expectations that Japan's tight labor market could fuel further wage gains and...
Gold's surge in recent days, to a new record high, is mostly likely due to haven demand, according to Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar. "This is likely tied to concerns over the Fed's independence and the legality of U.S. tariffs," Dhar says in a note. Demand for the precious metal as a haven for investors is "notoriously difficult to predict in respect to timing, duration and price impact," he says. Still, CBA's forecast for gold to average $3,500/oz in 4Q is already looking too low, says Dhar. A price around $3,650/oz instead next quarter is "now a real possibility," he...