Commodities

According to France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, cutting off Russia from SWIFT remains on the table but as a last resort. Meanwhile, the UK Defence Minister Robert Wallace said, “we’d like to cut Russia off from SWIFT.” “It is difficult as “not every country wants them out,” Wallace added.

Today, the US Treasury Department imposed expanded economic measures, which target the basic infrastructure of the Russian financial system including all major Russian financial institutions. The measures announced by the US Treasury target nearly 80% of all banking assets in Russia, which will have a profound and long-term impact on …

Precious metals gave up gains, gold fell below $1,900 an ounce and palladium fell more than 5% as stocks rebounded after US President Joe Biden unveiled tough new sanctions against Russia on Thursday. And the price of gold in spot transactions fell 0.6 percent to $ 1895.76 an ounce, after …

Fears and panic dominate financial markets as Russia launched a military assault on Ukraine. Moscow attacked not only the Donbass region but got near Kyiv during US trading hours. Russia ignores global sanctions and seems determined to take full control of Ukraine, while sanctions tend to avoid Russian energy. A …

Oil markets saw the most intra-day volatility since in nearly three months on Thursday, with front-month WTI futures surging over $8.0 to above $100 for the first time since 2014, only to then drop all the way back to $93.00. The initial surge in crude oil prices was triggered as …

US President Biden outlined a new round of sanctions against Russia on Thursday in response to an invasion of Ukraine that threatens to embroil Europe in a major war.The latest sanctions targeted Russian banks, as well as some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals. Biden depicted the measures as a necessary …

Stocks in Europe were sharply lower, but the S&P 500 rebounded after an early decline. Energy markets swung wildly, and shares in Moscow collapsed. Oil prices and global stock markets swung wildly on Thursday after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, raising fears of a wider economic crisis that could …

Gold changed course after hitting a multi-month high of $1,974.40 a troy ounce and plummeted to $1,877.96, now bouncing modestly from the latter up to $1,889.80.Gold began shedding ground heading into the US opening, accelerating its slide afterwards. A recovery in Wall Street put the final nail on gold’s coffin …

US President Joe Biden was scathing in his criticism of Russia’s attack on Ukraine on Thursday and announced that he would be authorizing new sanctions on Russia, including on exports. Biden said that the sanctions are designed to maximize the long-term impact on Russia’s economy but minimize the impact on …

Richmond Fed President and FOMC member Thomas Barkin said on Thursday that he hopes the Fed can restore interest rates back to pre-pandemic levels fairly quickly, reported Reuters. Barkin added that it is timely to normalise rates given strong demand, the tight labour market and high inflation. Barkin said that …