Silver rose above $32 per ounce in February, the highest in three months, tracking the preference for safety in other precious metals as markets assessed the global growth outlook under threats of trade wars. US President Trump followed through with 10% tariffs on China, driving Beijing to announce retaliatory levies on US energy goods to be enacted next week. In the meantime, the JOLTS report indicated fewer job openings than expected in the US during December, while manufacturing orders declined sharply. Consequently, the market continued to bet on multiple rate cuts by the Fed this year,...
GBP/USD climbed 0.6% on Tuesday as tariff threats ease.President Trump's trade war threats are fading into the background.Data remains mid-tier until BoE's rate call on Thursday and Friday's US NFP.GBP/USD continued to grind higher on Tuesday, extending a recovery after the week's early plunge on trade war concerns sparked by US President Donald Trump's sweeping threats to impose stiff tariffs on his own constituents in an effort to punish some of the US' closest trade allies. Tariffs, which were supposed to go into effect on Tuesday, have been kicked down the road another 30 days, marking...
Oil prices steadied after falling on concerns that the U.S.-China trade war would hurt global growth, offset by President Donald Trump's increasing economic pressure on Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude was trading below $73 a barrel after a rocky start to the week as markets were rattled by tariff announcements and subsequent delays. Brent crude settled above $76. Trump has sought to use sanctions and tougher enforcement of existing measures to increase pressure on Tehran On Tuesday, Beijing issued a swift but calculated retaliation to Trump's levies, which so far appear to be...
Gold reached a record high of $2,845 late Tuesday during the North American session as the US Dollar tumbled, weighed down by falling US Treasury bond yields. The "trade war" between the United States (US) and China sparked a flight to the yellow metal's safe-haven status. The XAU/USD trades at $2,843, up more than 1%. Geopolitical issues are driving bullion prices. Although US President Donald Trump delayed tariffs on Mexico and Canada, duties of 10% on Chinese goods kicked in, sparking retaliatory actions by China. China applied tariffs on specific products, such as coal, Liquefied...
The Australian and New Zealand dollars clung to gains on Wednesday ahead of the resumption of trade in Chinese markets, where eyes are on Beijing's fixing of the yuan midpoint rate following the outbreak of Donald Trump's trade war. The dollar was on the back foot in the early Asian session, giving some respite to heavily battered currencies like the euro, which bounced back above the $1.02 level and last bought $1.0374. Volatility in currency markets eased a little on Wednesday after a turbulent start of the week following Trump's imposition of steep tariffs on top U.S. trading partners,...