Weekly News Summary for June 21-27

Friday,  June 21: Gold Registers 6-year High as Fed Changes Outlook

Spot gold on Friday rallied above the $1,400 level to reach its highest since September 2013, gaining a weekly boost of almost 5%, while gold futures made a similar move past $1,400 to post prices not registered since July 2014.

The precious metal’s strength was mainly due to the Federal Reserve’s change in outlook, which has reinforced expectations for three rate cuts this year and send the US dollar down nearly 1%.

Monday, June 24: Turkish Assets Rise after Erdogan’s Defeat

Turkish assets edged higher on Monday, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffered a major blow, as his candidate for Istanbul mayor conceded defeat during Sunday’s mayoral election redo.

Following the election’s result, the lira rose to 5.72 overnight, while Turkey’s main BIST 100 index gained some 2%, the banking index added over 3%, and the 2-year benchmark bond yield slipped to 18.65% from Friday’s 19.92%.

Tuesday, June 25: Global Stocks Fall on US-Iran Geopolitical Tension

Global stocks were down on Tuesday as risk appetite weakens, after tensions in the Middle East intensified, as US President Donald Trump announced plans to implement sanctions that would forbid Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his office access to financial resources.

Dow futures shrunk 21 points, while S&P 500 futures shed 4 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures declined 20 points, whereas European and Asian equities traded in the red as well, with China’s Shanghai Composite falling 0.8%.

Wednesday, June 26: Oil Prices Climb on Strong US Stockpile Decline

Oil prices recovered on Wednesday after a brief drop, as weekly figures from the American Petroleum Institute showed a solid reduction of 7.6 million barrels in US crude inventory.

US West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures climbed 1.8% to $58.89 per barrel, while Brent oil futures were up 1.2% to $65.08 a barrel.

Thursday, June 27: Dollar Up vs. Yen, Investors Cautious ahead of G20

The dollar hovered close to a one-week high against the yen on Thursday, driven by optimism over trade talk developments, but investors remained wary ahead of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, at the G20 summit in Osaka Japan.

The greenback slightly changed at 107.73 yen, having added around 0.6% overnight to 107.85 yen, its highest since June 20, after US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said the trade agreement between the US and China is about 90% done.