Oil held the biggest decline in a week on cautious optimism about easing tensions in the Middle East and the outlook for supply. West Texas Intermediate traded below $62 a barrel after closing 1.7% lower on Thursday. Brent settled near $65. A peace agreement between Israel and Hamas took another major step forward following Israel's approval of a framework that would see hostages and prisoners released. OPEC+ agreed to raise production quotas again at a gathering on Sunday, exacerbating concerns of an oversupplied market in the coming months. Still, the...
Gold rose slightly in the early Asian session, up 0.3% to $3,986.90/oz, recovering from a sharp overnight decline. This gain is seen as a technical recovery, and according to Fadi Al Kurdi (FFA Kings), gold's bullish momentum still has the potential to continue. On the sentiment side, the US government shutdown delayed the release of important data and added fiscal uncertainty, thus maintaining interest in safe assets. Furthermore, the September FOMC minutes showed that the Fed sees significant labor market risks for further interest rate cuts, although it remains cautious due to...
The Australian dollar strengthened to around $0.657 on Friday (October 10), rebounding from a nearly two-week low. This gain came after RBA Governor Michele Bullock struck a cautious tone: services inflation remains sticky, second-quarter inflation was slightly above forecasts but trending upwards. She also emphasized the volatile monthly CPI data and said the labor market remains tight but is approaching equilibrium. The market also expects the RBA to hold interest rates (after keeping them at 3.6% in September). Despite today's strength, the AUD is still headed for a slight weekly decline...
Oil extended the biggest decline in a week on cautious optimism about easing tensions in the Middle East and the outlook for supply. Brent traded below $65 a barrel after closing 1.6% lower on Thursday. Israel approved a framework that would see Hamas release hostages in exchange for prisoners, a major step toward a peace agreement to end the bloody conflict in Gaza which has destabilized the Middle East. Meanwhile, traders were on alert after the US sanctioned more than 50 individuals, firms and vessels involved in the Iranian energy trade, including a key crude-import terminal and a...
Gold rebounded from earlier losses on Friday (October 10th) and is on track for its eighth consecutive weekly gain, driven by widespread political and economic uncertainty and expectations of further US interest rate cuts, while silver is nearing a record high. Spot gold, which hit a record high of $4,059.05 on Wednesday, rose 0.6% to $3,998.02 an ounce by 11:12 GMT – a gain of 2.9% so far this week. US gold futures for December delivery rose 1% to $4,012.30. Non-yielding bullion is traditionally considered a hedge during times of broader uncertainty. "Gold is no longer just a defensive...