Market News - Gold, Oil & Forex

(RTTNews) - Pausing four consecutive sessions of losses, crude oil prices have moved higher on Wednesday as energy experts are skeptical of an early restoration of normal oil trade in the gulf region despite the likely success of the upcoming U.S.-Iran deal.

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50-3.75% as widely expected, but the updated projections delivered a distinctly hawkish message. In a notably shorter post-meeting statement, policymakers acknowledged that economic activity continues to expand at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty stemming partly from the Middle East conflict. The Fed highlighted strong […] The post Fed Holds Steady but Dot Plot Turns Hawkish as Officials Signal Rate Hike Ahead appeared...

The Kazakh government has inked a $10 billion deal with US chip-making giant Nvidia and an Armenian-American cloud company to develop a 'Data Center Valley' in the country’s northern Pavlodar region. The deal is seen as anchoring a broader effort to turn Kazakhstan into a global digital hub. Kazakhstan recently adopted a development strategy called “Digital Qazaqstan“ to guide the country’s transformation into a cognitive economy through 2029.  “Digital Qazaqstan represents a fundamental...

The artificial intelligence boom is fueling an energy revolution. The extreme electricity demands of the fast-growing sector are kicking the research and development of a huge number of next-gen energy alternatives into overdrive, with particular attention to clean energy sources that can provide power 24/7. As a result, the private and public sectors alike funnel billions into nuclear fusion and enhanced geothermal, among other future-facing baseload energy sources. In recent years, geothermal...

ExxonMobil and the company developing South Africa’s first LNG import terminal have signed a preliminary agreement for the U.S. supermajor to supply LNG to the proposed import terminal at the Port of Richards Bay, Zululand Energy Terminal (ZET) said on Wednesday. The Zululand Energy Terminal is being developed as a joint venture between Vopak Terminal Durban and Transnet Pipelines, and is expected to be South Africa’s first LNG import facility, enabling the import, storage, regasification, and...

A study of analyst recommendations at the major brokerages shows that Barrick Mining Corp (Symbol: B) is the #5 broker analyst pick, on average, out of the 50 stocks making up the Metals Channel Global Mining Titans Index. The Metals Channel Global

Poland’s government has approved a one-off windfall tax on fuel companies that benefited from soaring energy prices during the U.S.-Iran-Israel war, seeking to recover part of the billions spent protecting consumers from higher fuel costs. The proposed levy would impose a 60% tax on excess profits generated between March and December 2026, during the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Polish Finance Ministry estimates the measure will raise around 4 billion zloty (~$1.1 billion). Under the...

Crashing prices of Middle East’s key benchmark crudes in the wake of the U.S.-Iran deal have opened arbitrage for shipping oil from the Middle East to the United States and Europe, traders told Reuters on Wednesday. The earlier spot premiums of prices of the Dubai, Murban, and Oman crudes to swaps slumped into discounts this week after the market began pricing in an imminent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz following the tentative U.S.-Iran agreement. As a result of weakening Middle East crude...

Markets are entering the Federal Reserve decision with remarkably little uncertainty about what policymakers will do, but considerable uncertainty about what they will signal next. The first FOMC meeting under Kevin Warsh as Chair is widely expected to deliver an unchanged federal funds rate at 3.50%-3.75%, with little chance of dissent. Following Stephen Miran’s departure […] The post Fed Day Arrives: Dot Plot Holds the Key as Markets Await Warsh’s Debut appeared first on ActionForex.

Europe will have to contend with the energy price shock for months despite the tentative U.S.-Iran agreement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, European Central Bank (ECB) officials said this week. The ECB last week raised key interest rates for the euro area for the first time since 2023 as the Middle East conflict hiked energy prices that have started to feed into core inflation. The ECB raised the key interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, its first hike since 2023. Eurozone...