By Ritu, Capital Sands Oil prices rose on Friday, hitting three-month highs after data showed record online spending by U.S. consumers, stoking faith in the world's no. 1 economy even before the hoped-for end to the trade war between Washington and Beijing. Brent crude futures were up 6 cents, or 0.1%, at $67.98 a barrel , after rising to as high as $68.10, the highest since September. The West Texas Intermediate contract was up 11 cents, or 0.2%, at $61.79 a barrel. A survey on Thursday showed that online holiday purchases by U.S. consumers reached a record, beating analysts' expectations ...

By Ritu, Capital Sands Oil prices rose on Thursday, buoyed by a potential breakthrough in the Sino-U.S. trade war and OPEC-led efforts to constrain supply, although trading was quiet as many markets were in holiday mode. Brent crude was up 28 cents, or 0.4%, at $67.48 a barrel by 0651 GMT. West Texas Intermediate was up 25 cents, also a 0.4% gain, at $61.36 a barrel. "Oil prices continue to show year-end strength supported by a combination of definitive progress on the U.S.-China trade deal, the Dec OPEC/OPEC+ agreement, and slowing shale activity," said Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist ...

By Ritu, Capital Sands Japan plans to trim government bond issuance by 0.5% next fiscal year from current year's levels, government officials said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walks a fine line between supporting an economy and reining in huge public debt. The drop would mark the seventh straight year of declines in total debt issuance, despite rising fiscal spending as worries grow that cooling global growth and the U.S.-China trade war could hit corporate tax income in export-led Japan. The government is set to sell 128.8 trillion yen ($1.19 trillion) of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) in the ...

By Ritu, Capital Sands Oil prices trickled a fraction lower on Tuesday but remained near a three-month high as investors kept the faith with hopes that a fully fledged U.S.-China trade deal is in the pipeline and set to stoke oil demand in the world's biggest economies. Brent crude oil futures had slipped by three cents to $65.31 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude was down 4 cents to $60.17 a barrel. Under a partial trade agreement announced last week, Washington will reduce some tariffs on Chinese imports in exchange for Chinese purchases of agricultural, manufactured and energy products ...

By Ritu, Capital Sands Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here. The pound rallied for a second day amid optimism a speedy resolution to the Brexit deadlock is in store after the Conservative Party’s election victory. Sterling advanced against all its major peers after Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak said the government plans to put its Brexit legislation before Parliament ahead of Christmas to ensure the country will leave the European Union as planned at the end of January. “With the Tories’ decisive victory, U.K. markets should quickly ...

By Ritu, Capital Sands Asian markets were mixed on Monday morning in Asia as U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizersaid the phase one Sino-U.S. trade deal is “totally done,” but no date is set for the next phase two talks. China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1% by 11:35 PM ET, while the Shenzhen Component gained 0.6%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.3%. The phase one deal was agreed on Friday and the two nations are expected to official sign the partial accord in the first week of January, On the data front, China’s industrial output rose 6.2% in November from a ...

By Ritu, Capital Sands Britain's economy will cast off some of the Brexit uncertainty that has held it back since 2016 after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's election triumph, but the risk remains of another "cliff-edge" showdown with Brussels in a year's time. With Britain's exit from the European Union on Jan. 31 now a foregone conclusion, the question for investors is whether Johnson will stick to his campaign promise not to delay the end-of-2020 deadline for a new EU trade deal. That deadline is widely seen as tough to meet, given the scale of issues to be resolved. In the ...

By Ritu Capital Sands The pound rose to a three-and-a-half year high versus the euro and the highest in more than a year versus the dollar after exit polls suggested a win for the Conservatives, which should help ensure the UK's smooth exit from the European Union. The Chinese yuan rose in offshore trade and the Japanese yen fell after a source told Reuters that the United States and China have agreed some tariff reductions and a delay on tariffs set to go effect on Dec. 15. The early results suggest the election will relieve almost four years of uncertainty ...

By Ritu, Capital Sands European stocks found their feet again on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signalled that it’s likely to remain on hold throughout next year, seemingly convinced that historically low jobless rates won’t create enough inflationary pressure to warrant a rate hike. By 5 AM ET (1000 GMT), the benchmark Stoxx 600 was up 0.3% at 407.50, while the FTSE MIB was up 0.7% and the FTSE 100 was up 0.6%. Airlines and semiconductor stocks were among the biggest winners. The biggest gainer on the continent was, however, Russia's RTS, where the heavily-weighted commodities companies all profited from ...

By Ritu, Capital Sands The U.S. dollar slipped on Thursday in Asia after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold, suggesting that the current path of monetary policy was "appropriate" to support economic growth and would likely remain in place through next year. The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies slipped 0.1% to 97.035. Overnight, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left its benchmark rate unchanged in the range of 1.5% to 1.75%. "Committee judges that the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate to support sustained expansion of economic activity, strong ...