Gold prices held steady Friday as investors stood on the sidelines ahead of a key U.S. payrolls report due later in the day
Brent crude hovered at $114 a barrel Friday, on track for its second consecutive weekly gain, as investors eyed U.S. jobs data for clues on whether the world's largest oil consumer will be able to dodge a recession.
Should the United States tolerate slightly higher inflation, in order to have the economy grow at a faster rate and create more jobs?
Gold prices recovered some early losses on Thursday after European stock markets fell, snapping a three-day rally, and as investors weighed up the prospect of a fresh round of quantitative easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Gold and silver prices closed modestly higher on the futures markets Wednesday as strong demand from foreign buyers offset expectations that the Federal Reserve will signal fresh, potentially inflationary, intervention in the market next month.
Global demand for gold lifted the price of the yellow metal Wednesday, countering a growing appetite for risk among U.S. investors, many of whom expect the Federal Reserve to come to the aid of the U.S. economy, perhaps as early as September.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Re-enters positive territory, although the Department of Justice's suit against AT&T could derail those gains.
The pace of U.S. private sector job growth slowed in August for the second month in a row, but factory activity in the Chicago area continued to expand, suggesting the economy would dodge a recession.
Gold fell on Wednesday after a near 3 percent rally the day before sparked by Federal Reserve comments on possible measures to boost U.S. growth, and the bullion price is still set for its biggest monthly gain in nearly two years.
Small U.S. businesses in July moderated what had been a blistering pace of borrowing, held back by uncertainty over U.S. economic growth and the debt crisis.
Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.3 to 0.8 percent.
Brent crude hovered at $114 a barrel Wednesday, after posting six days of gains, on expectations the United States will act again to try and boost growth and increase demand for oil.
Asian stocks edged up Wednesday, poised to end a volatile month on a mildly stronger note, while the dollar struggled on heightened expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would do more to stimulate the economy.
The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as dozens of investors, on Tuesday lodged objections to Bank of America Corp's proposed $8.5 billion mortgage-backed securities settlement.
Bank of America Corp's mortgage practices came under fresh fire as state and federal regulators questioned whether the largest U.S. bank is doing what it must to address perceived harm to homeowners and investors.
The U.S. Federal Reserve could embark on a third round of quantitative easing depending on upcoming economic data but should first confirm that inflation has eased, a senior Fed official said in the Asahi newspaper on Wednesday.
Stocks rose for a third straight day on Tuesday in a volatile session, after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting boosted expectations the U.S. central bank will act again to stimulate the economy.
The U.S. Federal Reserve considered a range of actions to help a struggling economy at its August meeting, including the unprecedented step of tying the interest rate policy outlook to a specific unemployment level.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke faced dissent in moving forward with aggressive action in response to the U.S. economic slowdown, released minutes from the board's Aug. 9 meeting reveal. The minutes show some Fed officials discussed a more aggressive effort to tackle the slowdown, including another round of Treasury bond purchases, and shifting Fed holdings into long-term Treasury Securities.
A top Federal Reserve official who dissented from the central bank's move this month to ease monetary policy further signaled he would drop his opposition.
The latest Fed minutes show is that the central bank is well aware that the U.S. economic recovery is underperforming -- it's like a car traveling in the right lane on an interstate highway at 40 miles per hour (barely adequate) -- and it's prepared to take additional action to strengthen the recovery, should the tepid growth conditions continue.
Gold and bonds surged on Tuesday and U.S. stocks rebounded in choppy trade as a recovery in risk appetite among some investors was countered by bearish economic news.
