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Gold (XAU/USD) extends losses on Friday following a sharp two-day decline that pushed prices to their lowest level since early February, near the $4,500 mark. The drop comes as markets increasingly price in a ‘higher-for-longer’ global interest rate environment following this week’s major central bank monetary policy announcements.At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading around $4,580, pulling back from an intraday high near $4,735, and remains on track to post a third consecutive week of losses.Gold loses shine as hawkish central banks tighten gripThe Federal Reserve (Fed), Bank of Japan (BoJ), Swiss National Bank (SNB), Bank of England (BoE),…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled around 257 points, or 0.6%, on Friday as all three major US indices tracked toward a fourth consecutive losing week. The S&P 500 fell 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite underperformed with a decline of 1.2%. Overnight strikes between Iran and Israel, fresh attacks on energy sites in the Persian Gulf, and a Wall Street Journal report that the Pentagon is deploying thousands of additional Marines to the Middle East all weighed on sentiment. Volatility was amplified by the quarterly quadruple witching event, which saw trillions of dollars in options and futures expire, driving heavier…

EUR/USD trades with a mild downside bias on Friday as a modest rebound in the US Dollar (USD) weighs on the Euro (EUR), with price action lacking follow-through buying after failing to sustain a break above the 1.1600 mark.At the time of writing, the pair hovers near 1.1542, down around 0.38% on the day, though it remains on track to close the week in positive territory after two consecutive weekly losses.Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against a basket of six major currencies, is trading near 99.67, recovering after falling about 1.10% on Thursday.From a…

GBP/USD trims some of its previous-day gains on Friday, down by 0.84%, as traders turn risk-averse amid an escalation of the Middle East war and price in no rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in 2026. At the time of writing, the pair trades below 1.3350 after hitting a daily high of 1.3442.Sterling retreats as rising energy prices and hawkish Fed stance fuel Greenback demandThe jump in Crude Oil prices continues to underpin the Greenback, which, according to the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the performance of the American currency against six others, is up 0.48%.On Thursday, the…

AUD/USD trades lower around 0.7040 on Friday at the time of writing, down 0.68% on the day, as the pair is pressured by a return of safe-haven demand despite supportive domestic factors in Australia.The Australian Dollar (AUD) remains underpinned this week by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decision on Tuesday to raise its Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 4.10%, marking a second consecutive hike this year. Governor Michele Bullock stated that inflation remains too high and warned about potential second-round effects from rising energy costs amid tensions in the Middle East. Strong labor market data, with…

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said it will conduct an overnight variable rate repo (VRR) auction of Rs 1 lakh crore on March 23.The auction will take place between 9:30 am and 10:00 am on March 23, and the reversal of these funds will take place on March 24, as per the central bank’s release.The central bank announced the auction based on the current and evolving liquidity conditions of the banking system, the release added.Currently, the liquidity in the banking system is estimated to be in surplus of around Rs 16,875.36 crore.Earlier today, the central bank infused Rs…

Foreign currency assets, the largest component, dropped USD 7.678 billion to USD 555.568 billion, reflecting changes in the dollar value of non-US currencies like the euro, pound, and yen. | Photo Credit: LEE JAE WON India’s forex reserves dropped $7.052 billion to $709.759 billion during the week ended March 13, the RBI said on Friday.In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $11.683 billion to $716.81 billion. The kitty had expanded to an all-time high of $725.727 billion during the week ended February 13 this year.For the week ended March 13, foreign currency assets, a major component of…

OCBC’s Sim Moh Siong highlights that crude briefly surged toward USD120/bbl on Iranian attacks before easing as US officials signalled supply support and Israel suggested faster de-escalation. The bank has lifted its Brent outlook, expecting prices to hold near USD100/bbl through mid-year before gradually easing toward USD70/bbl by early 2027, with prolonged shipping disruptions posing upside supply risks.Brent outlook raised on supply risks”Crude prices briefly jumped toward USD120/bbl after a series of Iranian attacks on regional energy infrastructure.””We lifted our Brent outlook, expecting prices to hold around USD100/bbl through mid-year before gradually easing toward USD70/bbl by early 2027.””Prolonged shipping paralysis…

The Indian rupee fell past 93 per dollar for the first time on Friday and logged its worst single-day drop in over four years, on worries over the hit to Asia’s third-largest economy from the Iran war-led ‌disruptions to global energy ⁠supplies. The ⁠rupee fell more than 1% to 93.7350 against the U.S. dollar, eclipsing its previous record low of 92.63 touched on Wednesday. It closed at 93.71 and was down about 1.3% on the week, the steepest decline since late 2022. A prolonged spike in crude prices could slow growth and stoke inflation in the world’s third-biggest oil importer…

The rupee crashed 82 paise, or nearly 1 per cent, to settle at an all-time low of 93.71 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by persistent foreign fund outflows and a steep rise in crude oil prices amid mounting geopolitical tensions.Forex traders said the Indian rupee is under tremendous pressure as surging crude oil prices and a shift toward risk-aversion dented investor sentiments.Moreover, heightened geopolitical uncertainty risks are driving energy costs higher, which could widen the trade deficit and stoke inflationary pressures, they added.At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 92.92 against the greenback…