The Omicron variant would not discourage the Monetary Policy Committee from hiking rates. The BoE needs flexibility to deal with unforeseen events after Boris Johnson had announced the reintroduction of mask-wearing and travel restrictions. A rate hike will do nothing to counterbalance the pressure the new variant will place on …

The Bank of Canada’s last announcement on its benchmark policy rate has started out a wave of speculation about the possible future trajectory of Canada’s housing market, with the news that it expected rate hike potentially as early as April 2022.There will be an end to the record-low interest rates …

The Swiss National Bank has ceased to stand in the way of the franc’s appreciation, according to data published on Monday, in an eye-catching change in view of the safe-haven currency’s rise to its highest against the euro in more than six years.The central bank’s apparent stance will confound investors …

Gold eased on Monday, resuming a broad decline from the previous week, as the dollar has firmed and risk sentiment recovered with markets weighing how severe the economic impact would be from the Omicron coronavirus variant.Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,784.41 per ounce by 11:17 a.m. ET (1617 GMT) after …

Oil prices have continued to press higher, with front-month WTI crude futures now up more than USD 4.0 on the day and back in the USD 72.00s, nearly 50% of Friday’s steep decline over news on Omicron variant concerns has now been unwound.To get above the 50% Fibonacci retracement of …

Pending Home Sales in the US jumped by 7.5% on a monthly basis in October following September’s 2.3% drop, data published by the US National Association of Realtors showed on Monday. That saw the Pending Home Sales index jump to 125.2 in October from 116.5 in September. On a YoY …

The US session did not witness the release of any remarkable economic data, rather it has been dominated by concerns of probable lockdowns in Europe, the emerging new virus strain.On Friday, oil prices recorded their largest one-day drop since April 2020 by falling about $10 a barrel, as a new …

China’s post-COVID recovery has been hurt by Beijing’s crackdown on real estate and tech giants. Strong exports have saved the economy but what happens when global demand for Chinese goods decreases? Despite projections of 8% economic growth this year, China is struggling to handle many economic challenges. The debt crisis …

Bitcoin fell 8% Friday, on the same day, the S&P 500 index retreated by 2.3%, that is to mean the most famous cryptocurrency is not the ideal hedge against volatility in the financial market as may be claimed by its backers.The hedge today was bonds, similar to much of market …

The British pound recovers from earlier losses during today’s trading despite risk-of-market sentiment clouding the financial markets due to discovering a new COVID-19 variant in South Africa. The GBP/USD pair is trading at 1.3341, up some 0.14%.In the overnight session, market sentiment fell as South Africa announced the discovery of …