Still, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the country would do all it could to avoid nuclear war. But hostilities with Ukraine persisted, as both countries launched debilitating attacks against each other over the past week.
Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Tuesday, extending a recovery from two-month lows as the dollar retreated from recent peaks, while increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine also fed safe haven demand.
-Oil prices edged up on Monday after fighting between Russia and Ukraine intensified over the weekend, although concerns about fuel demand in China, the world’s second-largest consumer, and forecasts of a global oil surplus weighed on markets.
Gold prices steadied in Asian trade on Friday, but were nursing their worst weekly performance in over three years as strong U.S. inflation and less dovish signals from the Federal Reserve sparked doubts over lower interest rates.
The primary driver of oil prices, both in the near term and looking ahead, will be the direction of the U.S. dollar,” said Phillip Nova’s investment analyst Danish Lim, adding that supply and demand dynamics had put pressure on prices recently.
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.
China unveiled a 10-trillion-yuan ($1.4-trillion) debt package on Friday to ease local government financing strains, as the world’s biggest oil importer faces fresh pressure from the re-election of Donald Trump as U.S. president.
The yellow metal was also pressured by strength in the dollar, as the greenback steadied before more cues on U.S. inflation and the Federal Reserve this week. An outlook for higher rates in the long term, under a Trump presidency, also weighed on bullion prices.
Oil prices fell slightly on Friday as the risk that a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico will significantly affect U.S. oil and gas output declined, while the market weighs how President-elect Donald Trump’s policies might affect supplies.
Oil prices ticked up on Thursday following a sell-off triggered by the U.S. presidential election, as risks to oil supply from a Trump presidency and a hurricane building in the Gulf Coast outweighed a stronger dollar and lower crude imports in top importer China.
