On Thursday, crude oil prices stopped their five-day losing streak. As a result, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude exploded toward $64.00 per barrel. Concerns mount among traders. Traders are moving tentatively ahead of a U.S. meeting between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin scheduled for early next week. This expectation has created an unprecedented level of market volatility.
The precious metals market faced challenges. After two days inching higher, gold prices dropped back down to weekly lows near $3,330 per troy ounce. In the same vein, silver prices retreated from much of their recent gains, falling under the $38.00 per ounce level.
Changes in crude oil and precious metals came against a backdrop of mixed action in foreign exchange markets. The USD/JPY currency pair has recovered after dipping this morning to below 146.00, highlighting policy divergence. It left the day on a high note, closing on the strong side of 147.50 with respectably solid gains. On the other hand, the EUR/USD wasn’t able to continue its two-day rising streak, falling back under the 1.1700 level.
It was a huge day for the British pound. The GBP/USD spiked to five-week highs just under the 1.3600 level before falling back to finish with limited declines on the day. On the other hand, the Australian dollar was unable to hold onto its strong start, which had propelled AUD/USD to two-week highs just under 0.6570. The antipodean currency pair finished the day close to the 0.6500 level.
The market’s attention now turns to the big economic data starting on Friday. On August 15th, Japan will release its Advance Q2 GDP Growth Rate. In the meantime, we’ll have our eyes set on monitoring Consumer Inflation Expectations down under in Australia. Retail Sales figures will be the key to Friday’s economic landscape. There is a potential for this release to influence currency and commodity shifts heavily.
As traders navigate these developments, they remain alert to potential shifts in market sentiment driven by geopolitical events and economic data releases. That context is exactly why the upcoming Trump-Putin meeting is so important. It would drastically lower oil prices while resetting broader market dynamics.