Gold prices stabilized during trading Friday, July 23, but are heading for the first weekly decline in five weeks, as the rally in the dollar made the metal more expensive for holders of other currencies. The spot price of gold settled at $1807.45 an ounce by 06:34 GMT, recording a …

Barclays Bank said on Thursday that supply and demand factors in the oil market predict a slow increase in prices over the next few months and raised its forecast for the price of crude oil in 2021 by between three and five dollars a barrel. “Oil prices could rise to …

UK retail sales rose 0.5% in June versus expectations of 0.4% and -1.3% from the previous month. Core retail sales, which excludes auto fuel sales, came in at 0.3% m/m vs. expected 0.6% and -2.0% from the previous month. Yearly, UK retail sales rose 9.7% in June versus expected 9.6% …

After dropping for four consecutive months, US home sales rebounded modestly in June, with prices continuing to rise and inventories low. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that existing home sales rose 1.4% in June after declining 1.2% in May. It rose 22.9 percent year on year in June. …

Earlier today, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Johnson had urged the European Union to seriously consider proposals related to the Northern Ireland Protocol during his discussion with EU Commission chief von der Leyen. “Our position remains that we are looking forward to significant changes in …

The US major stock indices opened mixed, close to Wednesday’s closing levels. Looking at the major indices, the S&P 500 is down 0.1% today, almost unchanged at 4,354, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down slightly by 0.33% at 34,683, and the Nasdaq Composite opened slightly higher by 0.25% at …

The European Central Bank’s meeting today, Thursday, July 22, was quiet but announced new monetary policy targets that suggest extending support for a longer time to the eurozone economy while boosting inflation, which has been low for nearly a decade from its 2% target. The bank said it expects interest …

Data released by the US Labor Department on Thursday showed that there were 419k initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending July 17. The previous month’s reading was 368k and market expectations were optimistic at 350k. The advance figure for the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate …

The European Central Bank decided to keep its monetary policy unchanged as widely expected in today’s meeting. The ECB left the interest rates on the main refinancing operations, the marginal lending facility, and the deposit facility unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25%, and -0.50%. EUR/USD remained close to the 1.1800 handle, unaffected …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed concerns over the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the country and stressed the importance of vaccinations. Merkel said infection numbers are rising at an alarming rate and that the vaccination protects not just yourself but also people you care about. She also said …