Market Update

Gold prices rose on Friday, limiting their monthly losses during January, amid a fluctuating performance by the U.S. Dollar (USD) and concerns about the rollout of Coronavirus vaccines. This marked the first gains for the yellow metal most active contracts in seven sessions, after six consecutive declines. Gold futures for …

The number of active oil and natural gas rigs increased this week for the tenth consecutive week, according to the weekly report by Baker Hughes. This marked the biggest number of increases in a row for the rig count since June 2018. In addition, January marked the sixth consecutive monthly …

Bitcoin surged on Friday, after Billionaire and business tycoon Elon Musk added a hashtag with the name of the world’s largest cryptocurrency to his Twitter bio. The digital currency is currently up by around 9% at $35,377, but earlier today, it rose by as much as 20% after the move …

European stocks closed Friday lower, due to reduced risk sentiment among investors due to the recent correction wave that followed some unusual surges on retail stocks due to speculations. In addition, concerns about the rollout of Coronavirus vaccines deepened the European market losses this week. The STOXX Europe 600 index …

Consumer Sentiment in the United States declined marginally in January, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. The Consumer Sentiment Index registered 79.0 in January 2021, down from 80.7 in December. In addition, the index remain below its level in January 2020 at 99.8, prior to the Coronavirus …

The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), or the Chicago Business Barometer, rose by 5.1 points to 63.8 in January, according to data by ISM-Chicago and MNI on Friday. This is the highest reading for the index since July 2018. Surveyed business had various responses to the question, “How is the …

The United States Pending Home Sales Index declined by 0.3% in December to 125.5, data by the the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed on Friday. This is the fourth consecutive monthly decline for the index. On an annual basis, pending home sales rose by 21.4% last month. Meanwhile, existing …

Canada’s Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 0.7% in November to mark its seventh straight monthly expansion, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Friday. This reading came in higher than the market expectation of 0.4%.

The US oil giant Chevron turned to incur losses in the fourth quarter of $ 11 million, as lower fuel margins, the costs of acquisitions and the effects of foreign currency overshadowed the improvement in the results of exploration activities. It is expected that oil companies will benefit from the …

A Reuters survey concluded that OPEC oil production increased for a seventh month in January after the organization and its allies agreed to further ease record restrictions on supplies, but an involuntary drop in Nigeria’s exports limited the increase. The survey revealed that the 13 member states of the Organization …