Monday, August 31
Gold prices rose on Friday as mounting expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next week buoyed sentiment, while silver soared to a record high. Spot gold was up 1% to $4,212.16 per ounce at 1:36 p.m. ET (1836 GMT), but was on track for a 0.4% weekly loss. U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled unchanged at $4,243 per ounce. "The market is increasingly confident that the central bank is going to cut (rates) and in response to that, we've seen the U.S. dollar weaken a little bit and that's accretive for gold," said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. U.S. economic data showed the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index rose 0.3% in September, with the annual increase slowing to 2.8% from 2.9% in August. This followed private payr
European shares were little changed on Friday and ended the week with modest gains, while investors evaluated a long-delayed U.S. inflation report that reinforced expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was flat at 578.87 points at the close, after three straight days of gains. For the week, the index was up 0.4%, building on the previous week's rally. Meanwhile, German stocks rallied 0.7% on Friday after Chancellor Friedrich Merz narrowly averted a government crisis by securing an absolute majority for a pensions bill in parliament. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, increased 0.3% in September, in line with analyst expectations. The data maintained expectations that the Fed
The central bank Friday announced open market operation (OMO) purchases and dollar-rupee buy-sell swaps to steer banking system liquidity toward the desired 1% of the net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) threshold.This move follows a period of liquidity strain caused by the central bank's foreign-exchange interventions and seasonal currency leakage, economists said.The RBI announced OMO purchases of ₹1 lakh crore in two tranches of ₹50,000 crore each on December 11 and 18. The forex swap for $5 billion will have a tenure of three years, and the first leg of the transaction will take place on December 16.These moves should inject ₹1.45 lakh crore into the banking system. Average system liquidity stood at ₹1.68 lakh crore in November and ₹2.63 lakh crore in December so far, RBI d
India's equity indices gained over half a per cent after the Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Friday and indicated there would be more easing. The upsides helped by the measures erase losses in the week sparked by a weaker rupee and foreign investor selling.Following the RBI's announcement, the NSE Nifty finished at 26,186.45, up 0.6% or 152.70 points. The BSE Sensex ended at 85,712.37, up 0.5% or 447.05 points. Despite these gains, both indices remained almost unchanged for the week after recording increases in the previous three weeks."The market got a boost because of the RBI's repo rate cut and moreover, the dovish outlook that many hadn't expected," said Pranay Aggarwal, CEO, Stoxkart.The Nifty Midcap 150 index advanced 0.4% while the Small-cap 250 index
