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By Mike Dolan Jan 26th - What's important in the U.S. and Global Markets Today By Mike Dolan Editor-at-Large of Finance and Markets Gold was unstoppable Monday, as it reached $5,000 per ounce at its highest level ever. It has risen?more that 80% in the last 12 months. What is the cause of the recent surge? Pick your favorite: a falling dollar; a fractured world order; renewed trade tensions; concerns about Fed independence and an inflationary horizon. The central?bank?buying boom and retail speculation continue. Looking ahead, it appears that gold and precious metals, with silver also at record levels, will...

Ankur Banerjee gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets Investors are unsure when and how the authorities may intervene. After Friday's volatile surge, the yen has risen to a 4-month high of US$153.81 from as low a USD159.23. On Friday, sources said that the New York Federal Reserve had contacted traders in order to check rates. This is often a precursor of an actual intervention. The markets have also been focused on the U.S. cooperation and have been "generally selling" the dollar during Asian hours. This kind of big yen movement without an...

Prices of oil were not much different on Monday, after rising more than 2% the previous session. Supply concerns held back benchmarks despite disruptions to production in major U.S. oil-producing regions. Brent crude futures dropped 7 cents or 0.1% to $65.81 per barrel at 0221 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude was $61.01 per barrel, down by 6 cents or 0.1%. Both benchmarks closed Friday at their highest levels since January 14, with weekly gains of 2.7%. In the next few days, a U.S. aircraft carrier strike force and other assets will arrive in the Middle East. "Oil prices have...

Prices of oil?recovered?on Friday, after U.S. president Donald Trump renewed his threats against Iran. This sparked fears that military action could disrupt crude supply while outages are occurring in Kazakhstan. Brent crude futures rose by 76 cents or 1.2% to $64.82 per barrel at 1026 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude?was up $75 cents or 1.3% at $60.11. Both benchmarks were set at weekly gains of around 1.1%. Prices rose earlier in the week due to U.S. president Donald?Trump’s actions on Greenland, but fell by about 2% on Thursday after he backtracked on tariff threats and ruled out a military...

Tom Westbrook gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. The Bank of Japan only did enough to keep the yen stable in the Asia session. They also boosted inflation forecasts, but this didn't deter the market from expecting two rate hikes for the year. Dollar was also under pressure in general as investors may have anticipated that the Greenland drama of the past week will make the U.S. less attractive as an investment destination. The world's net long U.S. positions total $27,6 trillion. This leaves a lot of room to trim. After retracting...

The oil prices rose on Friday, after U.S. president Donald Trump renewed his threats against a major Middle Eastern producer in?Iran. This sparked fears of military action which could disrupt supply. Brent crude futures for the month of March increased by 35 cents or 0.55% to $64.41 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude rose 33 cents or 0.56% to $59.69 per barrel at 0243 GMT. Both contracts fell by about 2% Thursday. After Trump informed reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. had an "armada", heading towards Iran, he hoped not to have to use this weapon. He...

Tom Westbrook gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. Investors in Tokyo are waiting to see how U.S. market's react to the transatlantic tension over?Greenland. The U.S. market resumes trading after a long holiday. During that time, the rest of world sold its stocks and dollar as a response to President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on European Allies who opposed his efforts to "control the Danish Arctic territory". Trump told Norway's prime minister by text that he does not feel obliged to think "pure peace" anymore because he did not receive...

The oil prices were unchanged on Monday after rising the previous session. Iran's crackdown on protests has quelled the civil unrest, and reduced the chances of an attack by the U.S. on the Middle Eastern major producer, which could disrupt the?supplies. Brent crude was trading at $64.18 per barrel as of 0158 GMT. This is a 5 cents, or 0.08% increase. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 8 cents or 0.13% to $59.52 per barrel in February. The contract expires Tuesday, and the March contract, which is more active, was $59.36 up 2 cents or 0.13%. The unrest was quelled by...

By Anna Szymanski What Mike Dolan, the ROI team and I are looking forward to reading, watching and listening to this weekend. From the Editor Hello Morning Bid readers! The week began with a bang and it is yet to be seen if it will end on a whimper. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell revealed that the Justice Department threatened to indict him on Sunday, drawing widespread condemnation. In a wide-ranging, multifaceted interview with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Trump stated that he did not plan to fire Powell and also hinted at a possible delay in intervening in Iran....

The oil prices increased slightly on Friday, as participants in the market weighed supply risks. However, the likelihood of an?U.S. The likelihood of a U.S. strike against Iran has decreased. Brent rose 5 cents or 0.1% to $63.81 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate climbed 8 cents or?0.1% to $59.27 per barrel at 0749 GMT. Brent and WTI both reached multi-month highs in this week, after protests erupted in Iran and U.S. president Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of strikes against the country. Brent prices are still on track for a fourth consecutive week of gains. BMI analysts...

Kevin Buckland gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. The move away from the high-flying technology?stocks, which set the pace for the record global equity 'rallies of last year, gained more momentum to the benefit?cyclical shares and?value stocks. As an example, Japan's high-tech Nikkei index dropped by 1% during the narrative. It had previously reached a record-high. The Topix index, which is a broader measure of the market, extended its record-breaking climb by 0.4%. The Russell 2000 index is currently outpacing S&P 500, with a 0.7% gain overnight while the larger index has...

The oil market fell after four consecutive days of gains on Wednesday, as Venezuela resumed exports. Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories and products rose. However there were fears that Iranian supplies would be disrupted due to deadly civil unrest. Brent futures fell 20 cents or 0.3% to $65.27 per barrel by 0525 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude was down 23 cents or 0.4% at $60.92 per barrel. Suvro Sarkar is an energy analyst with DBS Bank. He said that oil prices had already factored in a geopolitical premium in recent days, due to the rising tensions in Iran and drone...

The nickel price has been on a rapid rise as investors bet that Indonesia, which is the world's biggest producer of battery metals, will slow down its explosive output growth. The London Metal Exchange (LME) 3-month metal has risen from a low of $14.235 per metric tonne in mid-December to a peak of $18,905 on January 14, a level last traded in 2022. Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources minister Bahlil lahadalia, in mid-December, triggered a nickel resurgence with his?promise? to cut production. An official from the Energy Ministry confirmed that this year, the annual mining permits for ore will be...

Chile's Environmental regulator announced?on Friday that Antofagasta Minerals was fined?about $775,000. This is because the company failed to comply with water management regulations in its Centinela Copper Mine. Centinela's Esperanza project and El Tesoro, Antofagasta, will produce 223,800 tons of copper by 2024. SMA, the regulator, said that the company did not follow the monitoring rules in the "El Tesoro project's" environmental impact study or the additional monitoring plan. This was evident because the regulator did not have records of a well called 'LE-1. They also failed to measure water flow at "La Cascada", spring, as often as they were...

BHP, the global mining company, said that striking contract workers were disrupting an important route which?provides access? to Chile's Escondida copper mines and Zaldivar?copper?mines. This is causing problems with shift changes and a?intermittent vehicle traffic?. Workers employed by Finning, who have been on strike for the past month, have set up intermittent blocks on the roads leading to BHP’s Escondida mine and Antofagasta Minerals’ Zaldivar mining. BHP confirmed the roadblocks affected vehicle traffic at Escondida and shift changes. "Our company was affected by a conflict with a third party for four days. The blockades on the mining route have caused...

Investors rushed into safe-haven assets amid the geopolitical turmoil, and also on expectations of U.S. rate cuts. Metal prices rose 147% in 2017 due to a combination of?strong demand for investment, challenges with scaling up the refining process, and a persistent shortage on the market. How does silver trade work? Over the Counter London is the largest marketplace for silver and gold, and it's where brokers and banks handle all of the buy and sell orders. The trading is done over the counter between financial institutions. An investor must be in a relationship to gain access to this market. Bars...

The nickel price has been rocketing as investors bet that Indonesia, which is the world's biggest producer of battery metals, will slow down its explosive output growth. The London Metal Exchange's (LME) 3-month metal price has risen from a low in mid-December of $14,235 to a high of $18,905 on January 14, a level that was last traded in 2022. Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil?Lahadalia, mid-December, sparked the nickel revival with a promise of reducing production. An official from the Energy Ministry confirmed that this year's annual "mining" permits will be reduced to 250-260 millions wet tons ore,...

Copper prices rose on Friday, after Capstone Copper announced that a workers’ strike forced a production?halt at the Mantoverde Mine in Chile. The most traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed daytime trade up 0.64% at 101,340 yuan ($14.553.65) per metric ton but ended the week lower by 0.52%. As of 0700 GMT, the benchmark three-month Copper on the London Metal Exchange had gained 1.30% and was expected to finish the week with a gain of 0.93%. The strike was triggered after Capstone and the largest union of mine workers failed to reach an agreement on collective bargaining....

Copper prices rose on Friday as supply concerns grew after Capstone Copper, a miner in Chile and a local trade union reported that a strike had forced the company to halt production at its Mantoverde Mine. As of 0330 GMT, the most traded copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange had risen?0.32%, to 101,020 Yuan ($14,507.49), a metric tonne, but was expected to end the week with a loss of 1.15%. The benchmark copper for three months on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.01%, to $12.884.50 per ton. The strike was triggered after Capstone and the largest union at the mine...

Global Commodities Holdings Ltd. (GCH), a UK-based company, launched the trading of premiums on physical nickel Thursday. The initial "nickel" product that was introduced last year did not gain much traction. GCH began trading nickel products at fixed prices last year, giving the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) and London Metal Exchange an additional?venue. After a nickel shortage in 2022, the LME lost many of its users' confidence. However, LME nickel volume has recently recovered. GCH reported that fixed-priced Nickel trading was not popular, as participants were unable to hedge their price risks due to the lack of tools. The new...

Shanghai Copper finished off its lows on Tuesday as investors shrugged off the sluggish market and the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE)'s move to increase margin requirements for certain contracts. After a drop of more than 1%, the most traded copper contract on the?SHFE?closed trading daytime up 0.04% to 101,280 Yuan ($14,544.41) per metric ton. As of 0740 GMT, the benchmark three-month price for copper at the London Metal Exchange increased by 1.10%. It now stands at $12,894.50 per ton. Red metal prices remained near record highs despite the sluggish demand for spot metals. The?SHFE also increased daily price limits and...

The Shanghai Futures Exchange increased margin requirements on certain copper contracts, which led to a drop in the price of copper in China. As of 0330 GMT, the most-traded metric ton?copper contract traded on SHFE fell 0.65%, down to 100,580 Yuan ($14440.15). However, the benchmark three-month?copper? on the London Metal Exchange gained 0.65%, to $12,836.50 per ton. SHFE announced on Tuesday it will increase the margin ratios for certain metals, including copper, silver, gold, and aluminum futures contracts, and expand daily price limits from January 22, 2019. This?move was widely seen as a way to stabilize the market, since copper...

Rio Tinto announced a 7% increase in its fourth-quarter iron-ore shipments, Wednesday. This was aided by a record quarterly production from the?Pilbara operation and strong rail and ports outload performances. Iron ore prices rose in the third quarter, boosted by a resilient demand from China, its top consumer, where strong steel exports helped to sustain buyer interest. Iron ore was shipped by the world's biggest producer of steel-making material, the Pilbara operation of Rio Tinto, in the three months ending December 31, up from 85.7 Mt last year. This exceeded the?Visible Alpha estimate of 88.2Mt. Rio shipped 326.3 metric tons...

The price of copper dropped on Tuesday as industrial consumers began to resist paying high prices for inventory levels that are multi-year highs. Benchmark -three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange fell?0.8%?to $12,868 per metric ton by 1045 GMT. The previous session saw a 1.3% rebound. LME copper prices have risen by 30% in the last six months. Last week they reached a record high of $13,407, driven by speculation on the backs of fears that disruptions at mines would lead to shortages. Ole Hansen is the head of commodity strategy for Saxo Bank, Copenhagen. He said: "Copper can't run...