Silver rose above $47 per ounce on Wednesday, marking a new 14-year high as the US government shutdown fueled safe-haven demand for precious metals after lawmakers failed to reach a temporary funding deal. The closure will furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halt key services, with traders now focused on its duration since a prolonged shutdown could delay critical economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve's late-October meeting, including Friday's nonfarm payrolls. At the same time, the Silver Institute projected a global market deficit for the fifth straight year in...
Gold (XAU/USD) soars to yet another record high on Wednesday, extending its relentless climb as the United States (US) government shutdown fuels safe-haven demand. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading around $3,870 during the American session, after peaking at a fresh all-time high near $3,895. The US government officially entered a shutdown early Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a funding bill for the new fiscal year, forcing many federal operations to halt while essential services remain open. A last-minute stopgap measure that had cleared the Republican-controlled House was...
Oil prices slid for a third day in a row to a 16-week low on Wednesday as a U.S. government shutdown fed worries about the global economy, while traders expected more oil supply to come on the market with a planned output boost by OPEC+ next month. Brent crude futures fell 64 cents, or 1.0%, to $65.39 a barrel at 1:03 p.m. EDT (1703 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 55 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.82. That put Brent on track for its lowest settlement since June 5, while WTI was headed for its lowest close since May 30. U.S. oil production growth will stall if prices stay...
USD/CHF continues to trudge its way through familiar technical territory, with price action holding stubbornly just south of the 0.8000 major handle. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) continues to fight back against market expectations of a return to negative interest rates, with Swiss inflation already riding too close to zero to allow the SNB to make sharp policy moves. The US federal government has hit a slight policy snag after Congress failed to pass an interim budget spending bill that would finance government operations at the start of the federal government's fiscal year, which begins...
The British Pound (GBP) advances sharply against the US Dollar (USD) on Wednesday, with GBP/USD climbing to a one-week high, reaching its strongest level since September 24, as the Greenback remains under broad pressure amid a weaker-than-expected ADP Employment Change report, the ongoing United States (US) government shutdown, and mounting bets on further Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cuts. At the time of writing, GBP/USD is trading around 1.3512, extending its winning streak for a fourth day with a gain of 0.50%. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the Greenback's...