Market News - Gold, Oil &amp; Forex

Oil Prices Slide After U.S. and Iran Sign Ceasefire Agreement

Oil prices were under pressure in early Asian trading on Thursday after the U.S. and Iran formally signed an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The speed at which oil markets have changed their tune in recent weeks has been remarkable, with the IEA now warning of an oil glut despite major tightness in today’s market. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $77.64 per barrel, down 2.40% on the day, while West Texas Intermediate had fallen 2.88% to $74.58 per barrel. The...

18 Jun 2026 7 days ago

USD/JPY Hits Two-Year High as Hawkish Fed Revives Rate Hike Bets

USD/JPY surged to a fresh two-year high after the Federal Reserve delivered a significantly more hawkish message than markets had anticipated, reviving expectations that US interest rates could rise again before year-end. While the Fed left the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.50%-3.75% as widely expected, the updated projections painted a much more inflation-focused picture. […] The post USD/JPY Hits Two-Year High as Hawkish Fed Revives Rate Hike Bets appeared first on ActionForex.

New Zealand Q1 GDP Meets Forecasts at 0.8% as Manufacturing Drives Growth

New Zealand’s economy expanded by 0.8% qoq in the first quarter of 2026, matching market expectations and accelerating from the 0.5% qoq growth recorded in the final quarter of 2025. GDP per capita rose 0.5% qoq, adding to signs that the recovery is becoming more broad-based. On an annual basis, economic activity increased 0.8% in […] The post New Zealand Q1 GDP Meets Forecasts at 0.8% as Manufacturing Drives Growth appeared first on ActionForex.

First impressions: NZ GDP, March Quarter 2026

The New Zealand economy made a solid start to the year with GDP rising by 0.8% in the March quarter. Revisions to recent history made this a stronger overall result than we were expecting. Key results Quarterly change: +0.8% (last: +0.5%, revised from +0.2%) Westpac f/c: +1.0%, market f/c: +0.8%, RBNZ: +1.0% Annual change: +1.5% […] The post First impressions: NZ GDP, March Quarter 2026 appeared first on ActionForex.

Research US: Fed Review: As Committed as Ever

The Fed maintained its monetary policy unchanged in Kevin Warsh’s inaugural meeting as the new Chair. Warsh did not submit personal projections, but the distribution of other committee views signals a shift to hiking bias. The meeting marked a clear step away from traditional forward guidance, but Warsh emphasized a firm focus on bringing inflation […] The post Research US: Fed Review: As Committed as Ever appeared first on ActionForex.

Warsh’s Debut as Fed Chair UShers in a Hawkish Hold

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held the policy rate steady at the target range of 3.5%-3.75% for a fourth consecutive meeting. The move was fully expected by market participants. The post-meeting statement was significantly pared down relative to the April release. Economic growth is still characterized as expanding at a “solid” pace despite elevated […] The post Warsh’s Debut as Fed Chair UShers in a Hawkish Hold appeared first on ActionForex.

WTI Crude Oil May Struggle to Recover as Sellers Stay Active

Key Highlights WTI Crude Oil declined heavily below $88 and $85. A major bearish trend line is forming with resistance at $89.50 on the 4-hour chart of XTI/USD. Gold could extend gains if it settles above $4,400. Bitcoin started a consolidation phase below the $67,500 resistance. WTI Crude Oil Price Technical Analysis WTI Crude Oil […] The post WTI Crude Oil May Struggle to Recover as Sellers Stay Active appeared first on ActionForex.

The Invisible Energy Crisis Threatening to Derail the AI Boom

Every AI boom forecast being published right now - every bull case, Big Tech earnings call, and valuation model - seems to be making the same assumption. The electricity will be there to power it when they need it. It won’t. Bitzero (NASDAQ: AIBZ) spent the last four years betting against that assumption. The company locked in more than a gigawatt of low-cost power across Norway, Finland, and North Dakota, well before the rest of the industry started fighting over every available megawatt. The...

Here are the five big takeaways from Kevin Warsh's first meeting as Fed chairman

The Federal Reserve and Chairman Kevin Warsh on Wednesday followed the script on interest rates closely.

State of Global Oil Inventories Ruins Iran Peace Optimism

As oil benchmarks crash and Brent slips below $80 per barrel, a growing number of analysts are sounding an alarm: Hormuz may reopen, but oil production in the region would not rebound immediately-and the world’s oil inventories are depleting. Back in May, Carlyle Group’s Jeff Currie warned that by July, parts of the world would face what he dubbed “minimum operational levels” of crude oil supply due to depletion resulting from storage withdrawals to avoid shortages amid the Hormuz crisis....

Clean Energy Investment Hits $2.2 Trillion, Nearly Double Fossil Fuels

Despite historic political headwinds against the global decarbonization effort, clean energy spending continues to see a meteoric rise around the world. The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Investment 2026, published in May of this year, projects that of the $3.4 trillion dollars that the world will spend on energy investments this year, $2.2 trillion will go to clean energy, and just $1.2 trillion will go to fossil fuels. This marks a historic shift in energy spending and in energy...