EUR/USD
1.18535
-0.172%
Gold
4976.89
-1.106%
Oil
63.198
0.963%
USD/JPY
153.361
0.399%
GBP/USD
1.36347
-0.154%
GBP/JPY
209.108
0.245%
Real-time News
February 16th - Some staunch gold bulls are unfazed by the historic pullback in the precious metal, still anticipating a renewed surge to unprecedented levels. In late January, New York gold futures prices briefly broke a record high of $5,600 per ounce, only to suffer an unprecedented plunge the following day. During this period, one or more investors began buying December-expiring call option spread contracts with strike prices of $15,000/$20,000 on the COMEX division of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Even after gold prices consolidated around $5,000, this position continued to grow, now reaching approximately 11,000 contracts. "Its truly surprising to see so many deep out-of-the-money call option spread open interest after a technical pullback," said Akash Doshi, global head of gold and metals strategy at State Street Investment Management. "Some traders may see this as a cheap lottery opportunity."Market news: According to Bank of Americas latest foreign exchange and interest rate sentiment survey, market sentiment towards the US dollar in February was at its most negative level in 14 years. Currently, short positions in the US dollar have reached their highest level since January 2012.February 16 – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated on February 16 local time that the Russian delegation will travel to Geneva on the evening of the 16th (Moscow time) to participate in the Geneva negotiations on the Ukraine issue, in accordance with the consensus reached during the meeting between Russian and US leaders Anchorage. Russia believes that any agreement reached on the Ukraine issue must be lasting and guarantee the elimination of the root causes of the conflict. He also pointed out that the main security threat to Russia at this stage comes from European countries holding a confrontational stance.February 16th - With the Federal Reserve poised to release a highly anticipated bank capital proposal related to Basel III, U.S. lending institutions may face new mortgage requirements. Michelle Bowman, the Federal Reserves chief banking regulator, stated that this new measure related to residential real estate will consider increasing the "risk sensitivity" of mortgage capital requirements on banks books. One approach is to use loan-to-value ratios to determine the applicable risk weights for residential real estate exposures, rather than using a uniform risk weight. "This change could better align capital requirements with actual risk, support on-balance-sheet lending by banks, and potentially reverse the trend of mortgage activity shifting to non-bank institutions over the past 15 years," Bowman said.The British government has abandoned its plan to cancel local council elections.
