Oil prices dropped to a near two-month low on receding tensions in the Middle East, a complex interplay of escalating supply levels, demand worries, and challenging economic indicators. The global benchmark, US WTI crude currently clinging below $80 a barrel, has lost more than 10% from a near two-year high tested last month. A similar … Read more
U.S. inflation rose moderately in March, but that is unlikely to change financial markets’ expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off cutting interest rates until September. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 0.3% last month, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Friday. Data for February was unrevised to show … Read more
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, but policymakers indicated they still expect to reduce them by three-quarters of a percentage point by the end of 2024 despite stodgier expected progress towards the U.S. central bank’s 2% inflation target. The Fed‘s new policy statement described inflation as remaining “elevated,” and updated quarterly economic … Read more
Indian equities are poised to lure more foreign inflows after the general elections, with the economy’s promising growth prospects and the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts acting as catalysts. That’s the view from Rajiv Batra of JPMorgan Chase & Co., who says global funds’ positioning in India’s $4.3 trillion stock market remains light and investors will … Read more
The US Federal Reserve’s two-day monetary policy meeting is slated to begin later today, and the central bank is widely expected to stay put on interest rates after the recent data on inflation. Inflation data released last week showed that consumer prices in the US rose again in February. Consumer prices rose 0.4% for the … Read more
Gold prices in the international and domestic markets suffered losses in the first two months of 2024. A strong US dollar, expectations of further delay in US Fed rate cuts, and a rally in global equities affected the sentiment surrounding the metal. The US Dollar has gained almost 3% since the start of January. Firm … Read more
Nifty, which has been looking for a directional headway on either side, ended the week 0.33% down with all major news trigger events like Budget, earnings, US Fed and RBI policy meetings behind us. Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, says this data vacuum presents an opportunity for time correction. “But our modest … Read more
Nomura on Friday forecast the U.S. Federal Reserve delivering a 100-basis-point interest rate cut in 2024 and reducing the pace of balance-sheet rundown in June, followed by an end to quantitative tightening in December. “We expect Friday’s PCE (personal consumption expenditures) report to show the 3m and 6m annualized pace of core PCE running below … Read more
Gold prices finished above $2,000 for the fifth straight week, with Comex Feb futures ending the week at $2066.90, up by 2.4% as the dollar lost the plot to dip sharply to five-month lows of 101.4 level after the release of PCE data on Friday. Gold prices are up 13% ytd heading into the last … Read more
The year 2023 was very interesting. Initially, the world was concerned of a global recession after interest rates were hiked by 4.25% in 2022, and inflation was still not under control; the banks had moved from QE to QT (money supply easing to tightening) and money supply world over was slowing down. The bright spot … Read more