The Japanese yen (JPY) halted the previous day's decline against its US counterpart, although it lacked bullish conviction and remained close to the multi-month lows hit last week. The Bank of Japan's (BOJ) cautious stance on further interest rate hikes, coupled with the Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish policy shift, dampened expectations of a sharp narrowing in the US-Japan interest rate differential. This, along with a generally positive risk tone, continued to act as a headwind for the JPY. Meanwhile, a potential BOJ rate hike in January or March remains on the table following the...
Gold prices extended its steady uptrend in the Asian session and climbed to fresh intraday tops, around the $2,620 region in the last hour. Against the backdrop of persistent geopolitical risks and fears of a trade war, a modest pullback in the US Treasury bond yields provided some support to the commodity. However, any meaningful appreciating move for XAU/USD seems elusive in the wake of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) shift in its aggressive stance. In fact, the Fed last week hinted at slowing the pace of interest rate cuts in 2025. This helped the US Dollar (USD) to hold firm near two-year...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) weakened for the second straight day against the US Dollar (USD) on Tuesday following the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) December monetary policy meeting minutes. Trading activity is expected to be subdued ahead of the Christmas break. The RBA minutes indicated that the board had become more confident about inflation since the previous meeting, although risks remained. The board stressed the need for monetary policy to remain "moderately tight" until there was greater certainty about inflation. The RBA board also noted that if future data were in...
The USD/CHF pair posted modest gains near 0.8990 during the early European session on Tuesday.The prospect of higher US interest rates in the longer term continues to support the greenback for now. Trading volumes are likely to thin out as the year-end approaches. The Federal Reserve (Fed) projections outlined a slower pace of interest rate cuts than traders had expected, supporting the US Dollar (USD). The Summary of Economic Projections, or ‘dot-plot', indicated a half-percentage-point rate cut in 2025, compared to a full percentage point cut projected in September. Data released by the...
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, reversing the previous session's losses, supported by a slightly positive near-term market outlook, despite thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday. Brent crude futures rose 42 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $73.05 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 38 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $69.62 a barrel by 0742 GMT. Changes in supply and demand in December have supported their less bearish outlook so far, analysts said in a note. A plan by China, the world's biggest oil importer, to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special bonds next...