Dollar bulls were ready to pounce on the euro on Thursday should the European Central Bank sound dovish on rates later in the day, given the Federal Reserve had pressed the pause button on its easing cycle overnight Markets are more than fully priced for the ECB to trim rates by 25 basis points to 2.75% later on Thursday, with even a small chance of 50 basis points given how weak the EU economy is. "The euro area's inflationary pulse is evaporating, and the risk of a sustained inflation undershoot is material," warned analysts at ANZ. "The complex economic and political challenges facing...
Oil prices steadied in Asian trade on Thursday as traders digested hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, while U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated plans to increase domestic energy production. Oil prices were nursing losses over the past week after Trump called for lower oil prices and higher output in the U.S. and other major suppliers. Data showing a bigger-than-expected build in U.S. oil inventories also weighed on crude prices. Markets remained largely skittish over Trump's plans to impose more trade tariffs on major global economies, especially China. The White House on...
Silver price (XAG/USD) extends its winning streak for the third consecutive session, trading around $30.90 per troy ounce during Asian trading hours on Thursday. The precious metal holds its gains amid dovish signals from major central banks. The Bank of Canada (BoC) has ended its quantitative tightening and joined Sweden's Riksbank in delivering a rate cut. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) is also expected to lower rates this week, while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the People's Bank of China (PBoC) have signaled potential rate cuts ahead. In the United States (US), the...
Gold price (XAU/USD) oscillates in a narrow band near the top end of its weekly range during the Asian session on Thursday and remains close to a multi-month peak touched last week. A fresh leg down in the US Treasury bond yields is seen as a key factor acting as a tailwind for the commodity. Apart from this, concerns about the potential economic fallout from US President Donald Trump's tariff plans further benefit the safe-haven precious metal. Meanwhile, Trump's demand for lower interest rates and signs of abating inflation in the US support the prospect for further policy easing by the...
The GBP/USD pair is trading with modest gains around 1.2445 during the early European trading hours on Thursday (1/30). A modest pullback in the greenback is providing some support to the major currency pair. Investors will be looking closely at the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the fourth quarter (Q4), due on Thursday. In addition, weekly Initial Jobless Claims and Pending Home Sales will be published. According to the daily chart, the bearish outlook for GBP/USD remains intact, with the price holding below the important 100-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). However, the...