German Chancellor Olaf Scholz postponed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline certification, designed to bring Russian gas to Germany on Tuesday after Russia formally recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. The €10 billion pipelines, which were recently completed but not yet operational, transported 55 cubic meters of natural gas …
Read More »Gold Slips From Over 8-Month High
Gold fell on Monday after hitting its highest level in more than eight months, as demand for safe havens waned after the US and Russian presidents announced their intention to hold a summit on the Ukraine crisis, and the metal came under further pressure from an expected interest rate hike …
Read More »Gold Hits $1900 As Russia-NATO Tensions Boil
The Gold Index (XAU/USD) hit $1900 per ounce for the first time since June 2021 on Thursday, taking its on-the-day gains to more than 1.5% as geopolitical tensions between Russia, Ukraine and NATO simmer, stimulating demand for safe-haven assets.Gold now trades more than 2.0% higher on the week, taking its …
Read More »Ukraine’s Foreign Minister: Fire from a tank recorded in Eastern Ukraine
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kubela Dmytro said on Thursday that fire from a tank had been recorded in Eastern Ukraine. This development comes after mortar fire and shelling throughout Thursday morning that was only reported to have stopped at 1:00 p.m. local time. As for the market’s reaction, the latest round …
Read More »US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims rise to 248K
There were 248,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending February 12, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. This was above the median economist forecast for 219,000 initial claims and was also above last week’s 225,000 reading, which …
Read More »CBRT leaves policy rate unchanged at 14%
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced on Thursday that it left its policy (one-week repo) rate unchanged at 14% as expected.
Read More »FOMC Minutes: Most Policymakers Suggested Faster Interest Rate Hike
The minutes of the 25-26 January FOMC meeting, released on Wednesday, said that most participants suggested that a faster pace of increases in the target rate for the Federal Funds rate than in the post-2015 period would likely be warranted. Additional Quotes Participants continued to stress that maintaining flexibility to …
Read More »Russia’s Military: A Number of Drills Have Finished; Troops Are Expected to Return to Bases
“A number of drills have finished, troops are expected to return to bases,” Interfax reports, citing Russia’s military. “It continues set of drills involving almost all districts and navies.” “Some units of western and southern military districts have started returning to bases.”
Read More »Canada’s Trudeau invokes emergency powers in bid to end protests
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau activated rarely used emergency powers in the country in an attempt to end protests that have closed some border crossings with the United States and paralyzed parts of the capital. Under the emergency law, the government introduced measures aimed at cutting off funding to protesters …
Read More »US National Security Advisor: Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin any time
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Friday that we are in the window where a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin at any time and could happen during the Beijing winter Olympics.The US believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine and already communicated those …
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