Economic News:
The dollar fell in Asia on Friday morning after the European Central Bank boosted interest rates more than expected on Thursday, as concerns about inflation outweighed concerns about growth.
The US Dollar Index, which measures the value of the US dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, fell 0.01% to 106.78.
The USD/JPY exchange rate rose 0.23 % to 137.62. On Thursday, the Bank of Japan maintained its ultra-easy policy settings.
The AUD/USD pair declined 0.3% to 0.6916, while the NZD/USD pair dropped 0.48% to 0.6234.
The USD/CNY pair increased by 0.01% to 6.7664, while the GBP/USD pair decreased by 0.23% to 1.1961.
The euro is set to end the week with its best week since May after the ECB raised interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday, its first rate hike since 2011.
The ECB was short on details of a so-called crisis tool aimed at reducing peripheral nation bond yields, as Italian bond prices fell following the resignation of Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi.
Commodities News:
Gold fell in Asia on Friday morning as investors worried about major central banks raising interest rates to combat inflation.
Gold futures increased 0.3% to $1.716.30. The dollar, which generally moves in the opposite direction of gold, fell slightly on Friday morning.
Gold is in a downtrend, and any rallies that occur are short-lived because gold is under pressure from falling inflationary expectations.
To combat rising inflation, the European Central Bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday.
The Federal Reserve of the United States is largely projected to hike interest rates by 75 basis points during its policy meeting on July 26-27.
Investors are waiting to see how hawkish the Fed’s rate forecast will be. If they continue to believe inflation is an issue and continue to raise interest rates, gold will suffer greatly.
The US economy is faltering, according to data released on Thursday, which revealed that weekly initial jobless claims in the US increased to an eight-month high and manufacturing activity in July fell.
Spot silver declined 0.3%, platinum gained 0.3%, and palladium increased 0.2% in other precious metals.
