Author: FX
Oil surged over 4% on Thursday as stalled US-Iran peace talks and Strait of Hormuz uncertainty rattled global markets, pushing equities lower while lifting the US dollar. Source link
ING’s Senior Economist Min Joo Kang highlights that South Korea’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) jumped 1.7% QoQ in 1Q26 on strong chip exports and AI-related investment, prompting an upgrade of the 2026 GDP forecast to 2.8% YoY. However, ING expects growth to slow in 2Q26 as energy disruptions bite, while rising inflation expectations and “chipflation” increase pressure on the Bank of Korea to hike rates in 2H26.K shaped recovery complicates policy path”We expect strong chip momentum to continue, but also a slowdown in 2Q26 growth as energy disruptions affect activity across petrochemicals and other manufacturing sectors. The Korean government implemented…
The S&P 500 just hit a fresh record high. Futures had been down more than 50 points at one time but the S&P 500 is now up 5 points to 7143 and the Nasdaq is close to unchanged. In Europe, it’s been more of a struggle as oil prices stay elevated (Brent up $1.36 today to $103.28) A look at the daily closes showsGerman DAX (DEU40): -0.1% France’s CAC 40 (CAC40): +1.0% UK’s FTSE 100 (UKX): -0.1% Spain’s IBEX 35 (IBC): -0.65% Italy’s FTSE MIB (FTMIB): +0.4% This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com. Source link
Scotiabank strategists Shaun Osborne and Eric Theoret note the Pound (GBP) is marginally softer versus the US Dollar (USD) but outperforming most G10 currencies, supported by better‑than‑expected United Kingdom (UK) Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data. Markets have raised Bank of England (BoE) hike expectations for June and September, though no move is seen at the upcoming meeting. Technically, GBP/USD shows modestly bullish momentum within a 1.3450–1.3550 range.BoE expectations rise as PMIs surprise”Fundamental releases were mixed with slightly greater than expected public borrowing and weaker CBI sentiment however the markets appear to be celebrating the better than expected preliminary PMI’s with…
FUNDAMENTAL OVERVIEWSilver has come under renewed pressure on Tuesday after the markets got a bit scared following Iran’s refusal to participate in the Islamabad talks due to the US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Most of the losses were then pared after Trump extended the ceasefire to allow more time for Iran to put forward a proposal to end the war but didn’t lift the blockade. There’s no deadline for this latest extension, so we might just get stuck in this new situation until the bombs start dropping again or they finally reach a deal. For now, the short-term…
TD Securities strategists Prashant Newnaha and Alex Loo note that Australian activity has stabilised in April, with services rebounding into expansion while manufacturing remains in contraction. However, they stress that input and output prices across both sectors have surged to multi‑year highs. Against this backdrop, they expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to deliver another 25 bps rate hike in May.Australian data support May RBA hike”The Flash Composite PMI Output index rebounded from contraction to expansion in April, but this was entirely due to services activity picking up while manufacturing activity contracted.””With activity on balance stabilising but price pressures accelerating…
The Highway Channel Indicator is a trend-following technical analysis tool designed for MetaTrader 5. It draws two boundary lines — an upper band and a lower band — that form a channel around price action. Think of it as a highway with guardrails. When price stays between the lines, the trend is intact. When it breaks through, something meaningful might be happening. Unlike static support and resistance lines that traders draw manually, this indicator recalculates its channel boundaries in real time based on recent price data. Most versions use a combination of moving average logic and volatility-based calculations (similar in…
The safe-haven signal appears broken this week, with yields and dollar strength pulling gold steadily lower instead. Source link
There are just a couple of expiries to take note of on the day, as highlighted in bold below.That being for EUR/USD with a heavy chunk layered between 1.1650 to 1.1700. As things stand, US-Iran headline risks continue to drive the market mood and dollar/trading sentiment along with it. That is the tail wagging the dog, as traders are starting to feel more fearful again amid a lack of breakthrough on the next round of talks.There were some fake news involving Iran missiles overnight here, but that was enough to unmask the risk rally from earlier this week as being…
Gold (XAU/USD) sticks to intraday losses through the Asian session on Thursday, albeit it continues to show some resilience below the $4,700 mark. The US Dollar (USD) gains positive traction for the third straight day as signs of friction between the US and Iran remained due to the American naval blockade of Iranian ports. Furthermore, a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz and dimming hopes for more rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) act as a tailwind for the Greenback, exerting some pressure on the non-yielding yellow metal.US President Donald Trump announced a temporary extension of the Iran…