Commodities

The last trading week ended with a decline in the US dollar as risk appetite improved with optimism around Omicron, in addition to data out of the USA. As a result, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the US currency against a basket of currencies, fell to 95.7. …

Nonfarm Payrolls relatively disappointed prior estimates, but the labor market indicators were stronger than expected. The employment data has had a modest impact on the forex market. In the light of the NFP data, the US Fed is very determined to move out of easing policy settings.Economic DataNonfarm Payrolls (NFP) …

Will the Bank of England hike interest rates again at the beginning of February? Market observers do believe the answer is yes. The monetary policy committee may wait until May, though February’s meeting is looking much more 50:50 than it did just a few weeks ago. Partially, that is because …

Inflation in the Eurozone climbed to an annual rate of 5 percent in December, the second-consecutive record, according to the European Union statistics office’s initial estimate, which was released on Friday.The rate was slightly higher than the previous month’s increase of 4.9 percent. Inflation around the world has jumped as …

US energy companies kicked off the new year by continuing to add oil and natural gas rigs this week after increasing the rig count in 2021 after two years of declines.The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose two to 588 in the week to …

WTI slipped back under $79.00 on Friday but remains on course for substantial weekly gains. Supply as well as geopolitical issues have been key drivers of oil this week, with the broader macro-economic story taking a back seat.  Oil prices have come under modest selling pressure on the final day …

Gold has been swinging either side of the $1790 level in recent trade in wake of the latest jobs report. XAU/USD is being shielded from higher yields by the weaker US dollar, and if this reverses, gold will be in trouble.Gold is nervously holding on to very modest on-the-day gains …

Oil prices rose on Friday and headed for the highest weekly increase since mid-December, due to unrest in Kazakhstan and production outages in Libya, which raised concerns about supplies. Brent crude futures rose 76 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $82.75 a barrel by 0939 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude …

Markets are awaiting the release of US employment data during December at 13:30 GMT. This data will be necessary given its strong impact on the dollar and the currency market movements. Markets expect to add 400,000 jobs in December, compared to 210,000 jobs previously recorded. Expectations also indicate a decline …

The North American trading session closed Thursday with prevalent passive performance, while the US dollar has managed to retain its gains against most of the major currencies since the release of FOMC minutes.Economic DataThe weekly jobless claims reading rose to 207 thousand claims for the week ending 31 December, compared …