Market News

Gold, the ultimate inflation hedge, isn’t much use to investors these days. Oil is in a bear-market freefall that began in June, spearheading the longest commodity slump in at least a generation.

In European trade, the common currency Euro recovered from recently struck 2-year troughs versus the U.S. Dollar.

Asian stocks rose Monday, with the regional index headed for its steepest three-day advance in almost two months, as commodity shares climbed amid a rally in crude oil. New Zealand’s dollar dropped while Japanese bonds extended gains.

Asian stocks rose Thursday, extending a global surge in equities as the regional index headed for its steepest two-day advance in 13 months. Crude oil pared a fourth weekly decline, while the euro traded near a two-year low and wheat fell.

On Thursday, the Swiss National Bank warned investors that it intended to intervene in the FX markets with the introduction of a negative interest rate, specifically -0.25% on certain deposit accounts with high balances, in order to discourage investors from buying the safe haven Swiss Franc.

Asian shares rallied on Thursday after U.S. stocks enjoyed their strongest session this year as the Federal Reserve sounded upbeat on the economy and promised to be patient in removing policy stimulus.

After a short recess from the Dollar’s prolonged rally, the greenback has swung back into positive territory, edging higher as investors await a policy statement from the Federal Reserve Bank.

Asian markets were calm on Wednesday as a brewing financial crisis in Russia and the rout in oil prices sent investors scurrying for the cover of top-rated bonds.

Another fall in the price of oil sent investors rushing to the safe haven currencies and helped to push up the Japanese Yen to a 1-month peak versus both the common currency Euro and the U.S. Dollar.

In a surprise move last night, the Russian Central Bank raised the base interest rate by a whopping 6.5%, from 10.5% to 17%.

Wall Street saw the biggest stock swings in two months yesterday as oil volatility dragged the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index further from the record it reached less than two weeks ago.

As was widely expected in Japan, the general election held yesterday sent the Shinzo Abe coalition back into power, with the Prime Minister now free to push through his plans to further weaken the Euro which will, hopefully, revive the stagnant Japanese economy.

Asian shares slipped to nine-month lows on Monday as oil prices sank to fresh 5-1/2 year lows on concerns about a supply glut and slower global growth, hitting stocks of energy and commodity producers and exporters.

The value of the Russian ruble has sunk to new lows against the U.S. dollar and the euro, even as the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) raised its key interest rate again in an effort to arrest the free-fall in the currency and bolster the country's faltering economy.

OPEC cut the forecast for how much crude oil it will need to provide in 2015 to the lowest in 12 years amid surging U.S. shale supplies and reduced estimates for global consumption.