Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he told U.S. President-elect Donald Trump the United States has a trade surplus with Australia and it was in Washington’s interest to “trade fairly” with its ally, while the defence minister highlighted Australia’s record spending on security.
The U.S. dollar held below a 6-1/2-month peak against major peers and bitcoin edged further off record highs on Wednesday as markets hit pause on so-called Trump trades ahead of key U.S. inflation data later in the day.
Oil prices edged up on Wednesday on signs of near-term supply tightness but remained near their lowest in two weeks, a day after OPEC downgraded its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and 2025.
Bitcoin shot up to record highs of nearly $90,000 this week, as crypto saw a week-long rally after Trump’s election victory. But focus was now on just what his policies will entail for crypto, as well as the broader U.S. economic outlook.
Crude oil for December delivery was up 0.15% or 0.10 to $68.22 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in January rose 0.17% or 0.12 to hit $72.01 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.23% or 6.00 to trade at $2,612.30 a troy ounce.
