The Japanese yen strengthened, breaking through 152 per US dollar on Wednesday (October 29th), continuing its two-day rally. Market participants are positioning themselves ahead of this week's Bank of Japan (BOJ) decision. The BOJ is not expected to change interest rates now, but officials are said to be opening discussions about when to raise interest rates further in the future. This pressure arises because Japanese inflation remains stubbornly high. Yen sentiment strengthened after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and said Japan...
GBP/USD fell again for a second session and is now trading around 1.3250 in the Asian session on Wednesday morning. The pound weakened after data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed food prices in the UK fell at the fastest rate in almost five years. This decline in price pressures has made the market increasingly confident that the Bank of England (BoE) will cut interest rates. Traders now estimate there is a 68% chance the BoE will cut interest rates by 0.25% in December. Expectations of BoE easing are growing due to problems in the UK economy itself. The Office for Budget...
Gold rebounded more than 1% on Wednesday (October 29th) as investors found the precious metal attractive after prices fell to a three-week low in the previous session, while the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut decision and Chairman Jerome Powell's speech were the main highlights. Spot gold rose 1% to $3,991.59 an ounce, as of 07:48 GMT, after falling to its lowest level since October 6 on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.6% to $4,005.60 an ounce. "Bargain hunting could be (supportive) because it has lost a little over 10% of its value, which makes it attractive...
Oil prices were steady on Wednesday (October 29th) as investors weighed optimism over a meeting between the leaders of major consumers, the US and China, against expectations of an increase in production quotas from the next OPEC+ meeting. Brent crude rose 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $64.51 a barrel at 10:20 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $60.21. China's Foreign Ministry said Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with US President Donald Trump on Thursday in the South Korean city of Busan. The ministry said the meeting would "inject new momentum into the...
Silver (XAG/USD) strengthened on Wednesday (October 29th), rising 2.50% for the day and trading around $48.25 per ounce at the time of writing. The gray metal benefited from renewed interest in safe-haven assets as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy announcement, while geopolitical tensions and fiscal uncertainty in the United States (US) maintained a favorable backdrop for precious metals. Silver's rebound followed Gold's (XAU/USD) rally back above the symbolic $4,000 level, supported by expectations of a dovish Fed stance. Market participants...