Friday, 30 October 2026
Independent coverage of global markets, trade and finance
Good morning, lovely people, and happy hump day. Today’s issue is packed with energy news — from retail fuel price hike to macroeconomic headwinds as another ratings agency trims India’s GDP forecast. To soften the fisc…
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is weighing whether to send possibly thousands of U.S. troops into Iran as he looks for a way to achieve some of his key goals and end the war, according to the two current U.S. offic…
Iran has responded to US and Israeli attacks by launching a series of counterstrikes against states across the Middle East, with serious consequences for the oil and gas industry and the global economy.
Spot Gold (XAU/USD) was trading around $4,115 an ounce, up 0.40% for the day, while Gold futures (GC00) gained 1.1% to $4,111.50, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The yellow metal rebounded after Tuesday’s steep 5.7%…
Precious metals investors are watching market conditions closely as gold and silver hover at pivotal price points. While both metals have already posted impressive gains, multiple converging factors suggest we may be wi…
International gold prices have just suffered their worst monthly drop in nearly 18 years, and Wall Street titan JPMorgan has dropped a bombshell, slashing its gold price forecasts for the second half of the year by 20% …
The US Treasury market is undergoing a violent repricing. On Monday, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield briefly broke above 4.76%, its highest level since January 2025. The 5-year yield rose to levels last seen in ear…
Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rose more than 30% over the past week, according to new maritime tracking data, marking a notable improvement even as shipping through the critical energy chokepoint remains f…
Most commodity markets operate on a single dominant clock. Supply tightens, prices rise. Demand weakens, prices fall. Gold, by contrast, runs on at least two clocks simultaneously, and they are currently telling very di…
The United States and Israel launched a major military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28, triggering a weekslong war that has spread to neighboring countries and roiled energy markets around the globe.
Gold (XAU/USD) price retreats some 0.40% on Monday after last Friday's hawkish remarks by Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Kevin Warsh, which sparked speculation of a possible rate hike at the September meeting. Despite this…
Gold (XAU/USD) steadies on Friday after falling nearly 2% the previous day, as surging Oil prices fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may need to raise interest rates amid a worsening inflation outlook. A…
Oil rose for a third day as President Donald Trump threatened further strikes on Iran, hours after the US resumed its blockade on the Islamic Republic’s shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
In early 2025 the Bank of Canada warned that escalating trade tariffs are raising inflation risks that could push inflation above its 2% target and force a pause or reversal of the central bank’s rate-cutting cycle, inc…
Global oil and natural gas prices surged sharply on Thursday after Iran launched fresh strikes on key energy infrastructure across the Gulf, including Qatarâs main liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, raising concern…
Forecasts point to a strong El Niño event at the end of 2026, raising fears over food supplies and prices. While we believe these fears are overstated at the global level, El Niño poses a more significant regional risk …
Stat of the Day: Corporate insiders sold $77.6 billion of stock during the first half of 2026, a 20% increase from a year ago. The only time the selling spree was more intense was back in 2021.
Kevin Warsh’s first Federal Reserve meeting delivered a clear message to markets: inflation is back at the center of policy. The Fed held rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, but Warsh’s debut press conference, a shorter poli…
Asian markets traded cautiously on Thursday, with much of the region's price action muted as traders adopted a wait and see approach ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole speech, even though the symp…
The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures data released on August 26, 2026, showed headline inflation remaining elevated at 3.7% year-over-year and core PCE steady at 3.3%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysi…
Oil prices fell on Wednesday as Washington's shift from military strikes to economic pressure on Iran eased immediate supply fears, while uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and expectations fo…
The dollar held to a narrow range on Wednesday, with investors reluctant to take large positions before the release of U.S. inflation data and the start of the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole symposium later in th…
In late June, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the Financial Stability Report (FSR). According to the report, as of September 2025, India’s household debt stood at 45.5% of its gross domestic product (GDP). In J…
Qatar pushes Iran talks as a tanker is hit in Hormuz, some UAE flights face disruption