Author: FX

Summary:Iran war newsflow was subdued; talks between Tehran and Washington are continuing via Pakistani intermediaries, focused on establishing a framework for a potential agreementJapan’s core CPI rose 1.4% year-on-year in April, a four-year low and below the 1.7% consensus; the core-core measure, which strips out fresh food and energy and is closely watched by the BOJ, slowed to 1.9% from 2.4% in March, its weakest since July 2024Asian equities traded mostly higher, drawing support from a solid Wall Street handover and cautious optimism around Iran developmentsThe Nikkei gained more than 2%; mainland Chinese equities lagged at +0.2% while Hong Kong…

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The GBP/USD pair is seen oscillating in a narrow trading band during the Asian session on Friday, though it remains on track to register modest weekly gains. Spot prices remain capped near the 100-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) and currently trade around the 1.3425-1.3430 region, nearly unchanged for the day.The British Pound (GBP) has been struggling to attract any meaningful buyers amid mixed signals over the Bank of England’s (BoE) policy outlook and the UK political uncertainty. In fact, Swati Dhingra, an external MPC member, said that the BoE might not need to raise rates if its “scenario ​B” -…

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Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked 1.4 billion Indians to do something that, on the surface, sounds almost reasonable: stop buying gold for a year. Speaking at a BJP rally in Hyderabad, he said: “For a year, be it any function, we shouldn’t buy gold jewelry.” Skip the wedding jewelry. Skip the festival coins. Give the country a break. Within 72 hours, his government backed the appeal with a policy move that had (gold?) teeth… hiking the gold import duty from 6% to 15%. The rupee, meanwhile, hit a record low of 96.97 against the dollar on May 20.…

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This is one of the most frustrating problems in forex trading. Traders often focus on a single pair without knowing how the underlying currencies are actually performing against the broader market. The Currency Slope Strength indicator for MT4 was built to fix exactly that gap. What the Currency Slope Strength Indicator Actually Does At its core, the Currency Slope Strength indicator measures the momentum direction of individual currencies — not just pairs. It calculates a slope value for each major currency (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, CAD, CHF, NZD) by analyzing how that currency is moving across multiple pairs simultaneously.…

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Exxon Mobil is in talks to return to Venezuelan oil production nearly two decades after being pushed out, with a deal potentially covering six fields and coming together within weks.Summary: Source: The New York Times (gated), citing anonymous sourcesExxon is pursuing negotiations that could restore its oil production presence in Venezuela, roughly two decades after being forced outA potential agreement, said to be weeks away, could cover contracts across as many as six Venezuelan oil fields in multiple parts of the countryExxon described Venezuela as uninvestable as recently as January; the company declined to comment on the reportVenezuela’s government and…

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Market sentiment pivoted on Thursday as shifting headlines around US-Iran peace talks drove a choppy and mixed session across asset classes, with equities extending their weekly advance and oil reversing a significant intraday gain on hopes that a Hormuz reopening could be approaching. A dense global data slate, including a four-year high in US Manufacturing PMI, a near-complete collapse in the Philly Fed headline reading, and deeply disappointing services activity across the eurozone and UK, added layers of complexity to an already headline-sensitive session without resolving the central question traders have been asking for weeks: how close, exactly, is a…

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Here is what you need to know for Friday, May 22:The US Dollar Index (DXY) trades with a neutral tone near the 99.20 level after stronger than expected US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may maintain a cautious stance on interest rate cuts. The DXY marked a new daily high on Thursday, the eighth straight day of higher highs.Additional support for the Greenback emerged as Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin stated that current policy is “in a good place to respond to ongoing shocks,” while adding that long-term inflation expectations remain contained.…

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We’re negotiating on Iran, we’ll get it one way or the otherWe have total control of the Strait of HormuzI want Hormuz open, free and with no tollsThe US will get Iran’s uranium, we will likely destroy itThe Iran conflict will end soonThere’s nothing new here as he continues to repeat the same stuff over and over again. The key part is that he doesn’t want tolls on the Strait of Hormuz, which is also what US Secretary of State Rubio said earlier in the session.Despite all the positive and negative headline noise, the key issues remain and it’s hard…

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