HONG KONG: Oil prices tanked Monday on easing US-Iran tensions while precious metals swung wildly following last week&#39;s dollar-fueled collapse sparked by Donald Trump&#39;s pick to lead the Federal Reserve. The retreat was also reflected in equity markets, with most regional indexes tracking a retreat on Wall Street and extending Friday&#39;s losses amid fresh concerns over the tech sector. Both main crude contracts shed more than three percent in early Asian trade as the US president said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran after it warned that any attack on the Islamic Republic would trigger a regional conflict. Washington has hit out at the country&#39;s leadership in recent weeks over its response to anti-government protests last month, with Trump threatening military action while ordering the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East. He has also pushed for an agreement over Iran&#39;s nuclear program.&nbsp;&lsquo;A regional war&rsquo;Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday likened the recent protests to a &quot;coup&quot; and warned that a US attack would trigger a broad conflict. &quot;The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,&quot; he said. Asked about the Iranian leader&#39;s warning, Trump told reporters on Sunday: &quot;Of course, he is going to say that. &quot;Hopefully, we&#39;ll make a deal. If we don&#39;t make a deal, then we&#39;ll find out whether or not he was right,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Stronger dollar&nbsp;Oil&#39;s drop was helped by a stronger dollar, which came on the back of news that Trump had tapped Kevin Warsh to take the helm at the US central bank. The president said Warsh, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker and Fed governor, &quot;will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best&quot;. Traders regard Warsh as the toughest inflation fighter among the final candidates, raising expectations of monetary policy that would underpin the greenback. The choice also eased recent concerns about the Fed&#39;s independence following a series of attacks on incumbent Jerome Powell over his reticence to cut rates as quickly as the president wanted. The dollar surged across the board on the news, having taken a battering for most of last week on concerns the White House was happy to see it weaken. While Warsh is seen as more open to keeping rates higher, Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management said: &quot;People do not get handed the keys to the most powerful central bank on earth because they plan to drive in the opposite direction of the people who gave them the keys. &quot;The Fed may be independent, but personnel is policy, and this appointment was unlikely to have been made in a vacuum.&quot; The announcement sent dollar-priced precious metals plunging Friday, with gold losing as much as 12 percent and silver more than 30 percent at one point. And the losses mounted on Monday, with gold shedding as much as six percent to touch $4,586, while silver briefly lost around 11 percent to $75.&nbsp; Both bounced back slightly but were well down from their record highs of $5,595 and $121 touched last week.&nbsp;Gold and silver&nbsp;The easing of Iran tensions added to the selling pressure on gold and silver, which are also considered go-to havens in times of turmoil and uncertainty. Most equity markets were in the red following a sell-off on Wall Street that came amid fresh concerns over the wisdom of the vast sums being invested in artificial intelligence and when traders will begin to see returns. Seoul, which has hit multiple records this year thanks to its big tech weighting, sank more than two percent, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei and Manila were also well down. Tokyo rose.&nbsp;Key figures at around 0230 GMT&nbsp;Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2% at 53,422.01 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.7% at 26,919.07 Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8% at 4,083.84 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1870 from $1.1856 on Friday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3693 from $1.3688 Dollar/yen: UP at 155.00 yen from 154.64 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.68 pence from 86.63 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.5% at $62.92 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 3.3% at $67.02 per barrel New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4% at 48,892.47 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5% at 10,223.54 (close)

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Both main crude contracts shed more than three percent in early Asian trade as the US president said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran after it warned that any attack on the Islamic republic would trigger a regional conflict.

Oil tumbles on Iran hopes, precious metals hit by stronger dollar

HONG KONG:&nbsp;Gold and silver hit record highs on Monday, while most equity markets fell after Donald Trump revived trade war fears by threatening several European nations with tariffs over their opposition to the United States buying Greenland. The US president has fanned already-rising geopolitical tensions this month by insisting that Washington would take control of the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-threatens-europe-with-tariffs-over-greenland-as-protesters-rally" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">North Atlantic island</a>, citing national security needs. And on Saturday, after talks failed to resolve &quot;fundamental disagreement&quot; over the Danish autonomous territory, he announced he would hit eight countries with fresh levies over their refusal to submit to his demands. He said he would impose 10% tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland from February 1 -- rising to 25% from June 1 -- if they did not agree to the takeover. Tariffs threats&nbsp;The announcement drew an immediate response, with a joint statement from the countries saying: &quot;Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.&quot; The move also threatened a trade deal signed between the United States and European Union last year, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul telling ARD television: &quot;I don&#39;t believe that this agreement is possible in the current situation.&quot; &lsquo;Anti-coercion instrument&rsquo;Meanwhile, aides to French President Emmanuel Macron said he would ask the EU to activate a never-before-used &quot;anti-coercion instrument&quot; against Washington if Trump makes good on his threat. This measure allows for curbing imports of goods and services into the EU, a market of 27 countries with a combined population of 450 million. Bloomberg reported member states were discussing the possibility of retaliatory levies on &euro;93 billion ($108 billion) of US goods. Trade war&nbsp;The prospect of a trade war between the global economic heavyweights shook markets, with <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/gold-soars-past-4500-as-safehaven-demand-hits-record-levels" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">safe-haven</a> assets extending gains that had come on the back of Trump&#39;s threats against Iran last week and the US ouster of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/gold-price-hits-record-high-of-438376-on-us-rate-cut-bets" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gold</a>, a key go-to in times of turmoil, hit a peak of $4,690.59, while silver struck $94.12. On equity markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, and Wellington retreated, though there were gains in Seoul and Taipei.&nbsp;European and US futures sank. &lsquo;Next signpost&rsquo;The dollar also retreated against its peers, with the euro, sterling, and yen all higher. &quot;The next signpost is whether this moves from rhetoric to policy, and that is why the concrete dates matter,&quot; wrote Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. &quot;On the European side, the decision path matters as much as the headline, because there is a difference between merely mentioning the anti-coercion instrument as a signal and formally pursuing it as action. &quot;Even if the immediate tariff threat gets negotiated down, the structural risk is that fragmentation keeps rising, with more politicized trade, more conditional supply chains, and higher policy risk for companies and investors.&quot; There was little major reaction to data showing China&#39;s economy expanded five percent last year, in line with its target.&nbsp; However, growth in the final three months slowed sharply from the previous quarter. Investors in Seoul and Taipei brushed off a warning from US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that South Korean chipmakers and Taiwan firms not investing in the United States could be hit with 100% tariffs unless they boost output in the country. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Key figures at around 0230 GMT </h2>Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0% at 53,412.88 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7% at 26,670.01 Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1% at 4,099.23 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1628 from $1.1604 on Friday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3397 from $1.3382 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.54 yen from 158.07 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.79 pence from 86.69 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1% at $59.52 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $64.15 per barrel New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2% at 49,359.33 (close) London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 10,235.29 (close)

Gold, a key go-to in times of turmoil, hit a peak of $4,690.59, while silver struck $94.12; on equity markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington retreated; there were gains in Seoul and Taipei.

Gold, silver hit records and stocks fall as Trump fans trade fears

HONG KONG: Oil slid Thursday after US President Donald Trump appeared to dial down threats of imminent military action on Iran, while Asian markets were mixed after Wall Street edged lower the previous day. Oil prices dropped three percent after Trump said Wednesday, he would &quot;watch it and see&quot; on possible intervention in the Islamic republic, after he said he was told the killings of protesters there had stopped. Crude prices had surged over recent days as Trump talked about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on demonstrations, sparking concerns over possible disruption to global supplies. Extreme volatilitySilver plunged as much as seven percent after hitting a record high above $93.75 an ounce, after Trump held off slapping tariffs on critical minerals. Gold also dipped. &quot;The swings in commodities highlight the extreme volatility being fed by President Trump&#39;s mercurial policy style,&quot; said Garfield Reynolds, Markets Live Asia Team Leader at Bloomberg. But &quot;so far the declines for raw materials are still too small to seriously dent this year&#39;s substantial rallies&quot;, he said. &quot;There&#39;s plenty of potential that investors will be itching to pile back into commodities assets given how often they&#39;ve bounced back to fresh highs following occasional corrections in recent weeks,&quot; Reynolds added. Tokyo was down 0.4 percent at the close, cooling off after gains fueled by speculation that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would call an election to capitalize on strong public approval ratings. Takaichi&#39;s ruling party and a coalition partner said Wednesday she intends to dissolve parliament next week for a snap election, seen as a chance to push through her ambitious policy agenda. Sydney, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila and Singapore posted gains, while Wellington, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur were down. Shanghai and Hong Kong closed 0.3 percent down and Taipei ended 0.4 percent lower. After the closing bell, Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC said net profit for the fourth quarter jumped 35 percent year-on-year, beating forecasts as demand for artificial intelligence skyrockets. London opened on a 0.1 percent high as official data showed Britain&#39;s economy grew more than expected in November. South Korean won slides&nbsp;Traders were also watching South Korea -- with Seoul up 1.5 percent -- as the won&#39;s exchange rate slid towards its weakest level in 16 years. In a rare mention, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the won&#39;s depreciation was &quot;not in line with Korea&#39;s strong economic fundamentals&quot; and that volatility in the foreign exchange market is &quot;undesirable&quot;. The won gained as much as one percent after Bessent&#39;s comments, which he posted on social media after meeting Seoul&#39;s finance minister Koo Yun-cheol in Washington. &quot;Bessent&#39;s comments can support the won in the near term, but markets may have more influence if they feel the fundamentals and politics are still in a worsening trajectory,&quot; said Brendan McKenna, a strategist at Wells Fargo in New York. The mixed picture in Asia came after Wall Street stocks fell again Wednesday as investors shrugged off solid bank earnings and an increase in retail sales in November. Analysts noted investor unease about possible US interventions in Iran and Greenland, and Trump&#39;s threats to Federal Reserve autonomy, most recently in the Department of Justice&#39;s criminal probe of the central bank. Key figures at around 0800 GMT&nbsp;Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4% at 54,110.50 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3% at 26,924.24 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3% at 4,112.60 (close) West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.4% at $59.94 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 3.4% at $64.23 per barrel Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1630 from $1.1647 on Wednesday Pound/dollar: FLAT at $1.3433 Dollar/yen: FLAT at 158.56 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.58 pence from 86.68 pence New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1% at 49,149.63 points (close) London - UP 0.1% at 10,197.73

Oil prices drop three percent after Trump said Wednesday, he would ‘watch it and see’ on possible intervention in the Islamic republic, after he said he was told the killings of protesters there had stopped.

Articles tagged with "Gold and Silver Prices"

Oil tumbles on Iran hopes, precious metals hit by stronger dollar

Gold, silver hit records and stocks fall as Trump fans trade fears

Oil plunges after Trump's Iran comments, Asian markets mixed