Market News - Gold, Oil & Forex

Oil prices started the week higher after Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel on Sunday night, heightening fears that U.S.-Iran peace talks might once again fall apart. At the time of writing, Brent crude had climbed 2.51% to $95.43 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate had gained 2.34% to trade at $92.66 per barrel. Sunday's missile salvo marks the first direct Iranian attack on Israel since a ceasefire between the two countries took effect in April. The strikes came just hours after...

Persian Gulf oil exporters are scrambling to reroute their crude from ports to pipelines to keep the world running and keep their oil money flowing and fueling their economies. Sanction waivers abound. Venezuela’s oil output has shot up to 1.25 million barrels daily. The world of energy after the end of the war in the Middle East will be a very different one from what we’ve become accustomed to over the last five years. When the United States and Israel first fired on Iran, the overwhelming...

From ammonia to plastics, there can be no modern economy without a functioning chemicals industry, and Britain's is in peril, writes Sharon Todd The recent announcement of a £350m Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund from Chancellor Rachel Reeves is welcome but it is also an acknowledgement of an uncomfortable truth: the UK's chemicals sector is in trouble. Up and down the country energy intensive manufacturing is faltering. The Chancellor has also announced £120m for the ceramics sector,...

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has collapsed by 90% to 95% compared to pre-war levels, analysts concur. Some oil cargoes continue to trickle through the critical chokepoint, but under increasingly opaque operating conditions, complicating the tracking of oil and gas flows and obscuring the visibility of how much energy supply actually reaches buyers these days. Traffic appears to have ramped up in recent weeks, according to an analysis of shipping data by Reuters energy columnist...

Despite the Trump administration’s pivot away from renewable energies, solar continues to dominate new energy additions in the United States. Newly released data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows that at the close of last year, solar energy additions were the single largest form of new energy capacity installations for the 28th straight month, starting in September of 2023. In fact, in spite of a broad rollback of Biden-era clean energy incentives since Trump resumed...

The Trump administration is set to channel nearly $700 million in federal funds into the U.S. coal industry Thursday, invoking a Korean War-era statute to prop up existing power plants, finance new construction, and push open a California export terminal that has been blocked for nearly two decades. The centerpiece is $425 million distributed under the Defense Production Act to 13 existing coal plants across West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona,...

Markets ended the week in a far more defensive mood than they began it. After spending May climbing steadily on the back of AI enthusiasm, resilient economic growth, and hopes for easing geopolitical tensions, investors were suddenly forced to confront three separate risks at once. A sharp correction in technology stocks, renewed concerns that US […] The post Markets Face Triple Threat as AI Trade Cracks, Fed Risks Rise, and Iran Conflict Escalates appeared first on ActionForex.

Canadian Highlights Markets swung on hopes of a Middle East truce, but the outlook remains fragile. Canada’s economy has stalled out over the past two quarters, with weak domestic demand and patchy investment pointing to subdued momentum. The upcoming CUSMA review is now central, as Canada looks to pair greater trade clarity with an energy […] The post The Weekly Bottom Line: Canada’s Economy Stalls Ahead of Trade Negotiations appeared first on ActionForex.

U.S. inflation is showing renewed upward pressure, with our expectations for May CPI to rise 0.5% and the year‑over‑year rate pushing to 4.2%, largely driven by an 8% surge in energy goods and firmer food prices. We believe core inflation will be 0.2% as goods stabilize and services stay broadly steady outside of pockets like […] The post Economics Week Ahead appeared first on ActionForex.

We have some key data releases in the week ahead, but the focus will be on the Bank of Canada’s decision on interest rates on Wednesday where we expect a fifth consecutive hold. The surge in oil prices has sent inflation back above the central bank’s 2% target. But, there is nothing the BoC can […] The post Bank of Canada to Hold Interest Rates as Prices Rise But Economy Wobbles appeared first on ActionForex.