Market Update

Barclays reported a 14% fall in full-year pretax profit on Wednesday as earnings were poleaxed by surging costs, a collapse in deal fees and multi-million dollar fines relating to an administrative blunder. Earnings fell short of expectations and came as rising interest rates should be boosting returns, sending shares in …

European stocks opened lower on Wednesday, with British bank Barclays falling after it reported disappointing earnings and French luxury group Kering falling after revenue from its Gucci brand slumped. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.3 percent, while Barclays fell 8.1 percent to the bottom of the index. The banking …

The Nikkei fell on Wednesday, tracking lower US stock futures as investors digested hawkish rhetoric from the Federal Reserve (Central Bank of America) after the US inflation report. A jump in US bond yields overnight contributed to the rise in Japanese bank stocks, but hurt real estate stocks. The Nikkei …

Oil prices fell in early Asian trade on Wednesday, after falling more than $1 a barrel in the previous session, as industry data pointed to a much larger-than-expected build in US crude inventories. Brent crude futures fell 20 cents to $85.38 a barrel by 0111 GMT, while US West Texas …

Gold prices fell on Wednesday with the rise of the dollar after data showed that inflation rose in the United States last month at the slowest pace since late 2021, which increased investor concerns about the Federal Reserve (US Central Bank) continuing to tighten monetary policy. Spot gold prices fell …

Almost all financial markets traded with an optimistic yet cautious mode throughout the first half of the day, as investors awaited the release of US inflation figures. Economic DataThe United States Consumer Price Index rose at an annualized pace of 6.4% in January, better than the previous 6.5% but missing …

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s governor Philip Lowe said inflation is way too high and that it needs to come down.The AUD/USD pair holds lower ground near 0.6980 after Philip Lowe’s Testimony during the mid-Asian session on Wednesday. The pair appears to give more weight to the hawkish Fed signals …

The White House’s unsuccessful attempt to cancel the fiscal year 2023 sale of 26 million barrels of crude kept in US strategic petroleum stocks has provided an unexpected downside for oil price this week, with the ICE Brent-WTI spread widening further to $6.5 per barrel. On the other side, OPEC’s …

The USD/CAD pair broke two days of losses and rose towards 1.3350s on US inflation data. The US Consumer Price Index for January was mixed, with MoM aligned with estimates, while YoY figures were above forecasts. The USD/CAD pair braces to its early gains in the day, though it retreated …

The US labour demand will weaken on rising interest rates, south-dominated jobs recovery according to Fitch Ratings. Fitch Ratings expects the US labour market to weaken as aggregate demand stagnates over the course of the year in response to the lagged effects of higher interest rates, according to a new …