Data released at the beginning of the European session today, Thursday, August 21, showed divergent trends in most of the services and manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Indices (PMIs) in the Eurozone and the United Kingdom in the preliminary reading for August. The Eurozone services index slowed to a two-month low of 50.7 in August, compared to 51.0 points in the August...
Crude oil prices rose mid-day in European trading on Wednesday, August 20, following a decline in inventories, according to preliminary figures from the American Petroleum Institute. Amid anticipation of official figures from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, markets are monitoring the situation related to a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, with US President Donald Trump brokering a peace agreement...
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of UK inflation, rose to 3.8% year-on-year in July, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning, Wednesday, August 20, after rising 3.6% in June, exceeding market expectations of 3.7%. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in July, compared to a decline of approximately 0.2% in...
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (RBNZ) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to cut the official cash rate (OCR) by 25 basis points to 3% at its meeting this morning, Wednesday, August 20, as expected. This resumes the series of rate cuts that paused at the July meeting after six consecutive rate cuts. The RBNZ statement indicated that annual consumer...
Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew by 1.7% year-on-year in July, according to figures released just a few moments ago, down from June's 1.9%. The core CPI, which excludes gasoline prices, rose by 2.5% year-on-year. On a monthly basis, the index rose by 0.3% in July after growing by 0.1% in June, matching expectations. This stability in inflation comes after...
Gold is trading higher in mid-European trading today, Monday, August 18, the opening session of the week, recovering its opening losses and testing its lowest levels in two weeks, amid market anticipation of the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump, President Zelenskyy, and some European leaders to discuss a peace agreement with Russia. The yellow metal is trading up...
Asian markets closed with near-collective gains at the end of trading on Monday, August 18, the opening session of the week, as Japanese indices continued to record new record highs, with no economic figures in the opening session. Investors monitored developments in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis following Putin's meeting with Trump at the end of last week, and anticipated Trump's meeting...
The three major US stock indices recorded declines at the opening of trading today, Thursday, August 14, shifting from the positive trading in futures before the opening, supported by corporate earnings and rising expectations of a US interest rate cut. However, producer price figures exceeded expectations, reducing bearish bets and negatively impacting the opening of the US market, with the...
Gold has been trading sideways since the beginning of the week between $3,330 and $3,370, with it stabilizing at midday trading today, Thursday, August 14, at $3,356 per ounce, up 0.05%, with the US dollar declining. Gold is affected by two factors: declining geopolitical tensions versus expectations of a US rate cut, which is causing sideways trading. The first option...
Preliminary estimates from the UK Office for National Statistics showed that UK GDP grew by 0.4% month-on-month in June, compared to a 0.1% decline in May. This was better than the 0.2% forecast, outweighing the impact of tariffs and business uncertainty. Conversely, the economy grew by 0.3% in the second quarter of this year, ending in June, after growing by...