Asia shares flat, oil falls before Fed gathering.
Stocks in Asia were flat, and oil slid on Tuesday before a key meeting of central bankers and as traders evaluated promising diplomatic signals toward ending hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.
European equity futures posted modest gains after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said security guarantees for his nation will likely be worked out within 10 days after talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders.
Japan’s Nikkei share gauge set a new intraday record high before heading lower. The U.S. dollar held on to gains from the previous session as traders awaited policy hints from the Federal Reserve ahead of its annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“The Jackson Hole Symposium looms as one potential source of volatility, and going into the event, the markets remain cautious,” Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com, wrote in a note to clients.
“A dovish shift is being priced in, with further strength in equity markets – and weakness in the U.S. dollar – reliant on the Fed meeting these expectations.”
Gold prices steady.
Gold prices moved little in Asian trade on Tuesday as traders kept to the sidelines in want of more cues on a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal, while anticipation of the Jackson Hole Symposium also spurred caution.
The yellow metal was nursing some losses from last week as markets bet that a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would herald a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a cadre of European leaders on Monday.
Russia-Ukraine focus helps stem some gold losses
While gold did log losses last week, it regained its footing by Monday amid growing doubts that Russia-Ukraine peace will be achieved swiftly. These doubts were furthered by reports stating that Trump will ask Ukraine to cede territory to Russia as the terms of a peace treaty– a notion that Kyiv has repeatedly rejected.
Still, Trump and European leaders were seen offering some security guarantees to Ukraine, although it was unclear what these would entail. Hostilities between Russian and Ukraine continued to take place over the weekend, despite the increased dialogue.
Oil slips.
Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as market participants contemplated possible three-way talks involving Moscow, Kyiv and Washington to end the war in Ukraine, which would likely lead to the lifting of sanctions on Russian crude.
Brent crude futures fell 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $66.28 a barrel by 0650 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September delivery, set to expire on Wednesday, fell 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $63.10 per barrel.
The more active October WTI contract was down 30 cents, or 0.5%, at $62.40 a barrel.
Prices settled around 1% higher in the previous session.
Following talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a group of European allies in the White House on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post he had called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy, to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three presidents.
“Oil prices are largely responding to outcomes of recent meetings between Trump-Putin and Trump-Zelenskiy and while no outright peace deal or ceasefire seems imminent, there has been some progress made and chances of further escalation or intensification of sanctions on Russia from U.S. or Europe may be off the table for now,” said Suvro Sarkar, lead energy analyst at DBS Bank.
“Trump’s language on secondary sanctions on importers of Russian oil has also eased off , which would have otherwise posed risk of disruptions to global oil supplies. Hence, we believe geopolitical risks have eased a tad for the oil market this week.”
Important Note: The information found on Ausprime platform is intended only to be informative, is not advice nor a recommendation, nor research, or a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for a transaction in any financial instrument and thus should not be treated as such. The information provided does not include any specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. The past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and/or results. Past Performance or Forward-looking scenarios are not a guarantee of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking or past performance statement
