Dear followers everywhere, welcome to a new global tour of the financial, business, corporate and energy markets around the world and everything new for today, Tuesday, December 3, 2024.. coming to you from Banker, so stay with us.
Starting with the global gold markets, where expectations of a US interest rate cut pushed gold prices to rise
Gold prices witnessed a rise during early Tuesday trading, supported by growing expectations of a reduction in US interest rates this month, with the focus shifting to upcoming economic data to obtain additional insights into the monetary policy of the largest economy in the world.
Gold increased in spot transactions to $2,642.42 per ounce after falling by about one percent yesterday, Monday.
US gold futures rose to $2,665.30.
From gold to energy markets, as Reuters quoted sources in the OPEC+ alliance as saying that the alliance will likely extend, at its meeting on Thursday, the latest round of oil production cuts until the end of the first quarter of 2025, in order to provide additional support to the oil market.
The OPEC+ alliance, which pumps half of the world’s oil production, aims to gradually end production cuts during 2025. But the slowdown in global demand and increased production outside the alliance countries constitute an obstacle to that plan and affect prices.
One source told Reuters that this reduction will likely be extended into the first quarter.
We are still on our global tour and the next news is from the United States and US President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement of his intention to prevent the giant Japanese steel company “Nippon Steel” from acquiring its American competitor “US Steel”, a deal that was announced a year ago and is worth $14.9 billion.
Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, “I am completely opposed to US Steel, which was once great and powerful, being acquired by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan.”
From the United States to Germany, where the IG Metal union ended its warning strikes against the German Volkswagen automobile company, on Tuesday, after nearly 100,000 employees participated in the strikes yesterday and today.
The strikes, which lasted for two hours per shift, ended this morning with the end of the night shift.
Since the beginning of the morning shift, work has returned to normal at the Wolfsburg plant and other factories.
The last news in our global tour from the European Central Bank and the warning of the bank’s board member, Piero Cipollone, on Tuesday, that the customs duties that are expected to be imposed by the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will lead to a decline in economic growth and a decline in inflation in the euro zone countries.
Cipollone added during an interview at a financial conference that these fees will weaken the economy by reducing consumption.
