Ripple fell over one percent, or $0.01 on Tuesday on profit-taking after scoring the second weekly gain in a row on positive Ripple Middle East news. 

As of 07:36 GMT, Ripple fell 1.48% to $0.51626, with an intraday low at $0.51147, and a high at $0.53429, with Ripple's market value now receding to $50.4 billion. 

at the Global Islamic Economic Summit 2018, Ripple announced the launch of a new Dubai office, with Dilip Rao, Ripple’s Global Head of Infrastructure Innovation, stating: “I think the UAE government saying that 50% of all government transactions will be on distributed ledger technology by 2020 is a fantastic way to encourage innovation, to bring Fintechs to your market and then to then build the capability locally to iterate on those solutions that the Fintechs bring to you.”

Dilip also noted how financial institutions in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman have already started to use XPR systems to process cross-border payments or conduct tests for the blockchain network in Ripple.

The Path of Ripple

It's worth mentioning that Ripple was first launched on March 7, 2015, to start trading at $0.015, with the virtual currency losing nearly two thirds of its value by early 2016 to $0.0059, before rising 5% during 2016 to $0.0063, and then skyrocketing 28,000% to $1.748 by the end of 2017, before marking unprecedented highs in January at $3.30, then losing up to 90% of value on a violent selloff wave that stormed crypto assets this year. 

Ripple then reversed nearly 80% higher in only a few days in September on positive news for the cryptocurrency and its standing between major financial institutions. 

Silver futures slipped to January 2016 lows in American trade while the dollar index tapered off January 2017 highs, in a day that lacks major data releases from the US. 

As of 07:29 GMT, silver futures due in December shed 0.26% to $13.97 an ounce, plumbing early 2016 lows, while the dollar index slipped 0.18% to 97.37 away from early 2017 highs. 

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard delivered a speech titled "Artificial Intelligence and the New Financial Landscape" at the Fintech conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, earlier today, as markets await a more crucial speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, hosted by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. 

The Federal Reserve voted at the November 7-8 meeting to maintain interest rates at below 2.25% as expected by market analysts, while vowing to carry on the path of policy tightening.  

Oil futures sank today with US crude plumbing December 2017 lows, while Brent hit March 20 lows, following a report by OPEC on global demand and supply outlook for 2019. 

As of 05:59 GMT, US crude futures due in December fell 4.29% to $57.36 a barrel, while Brent January futures slumped 4.04% to $67.29 a barrel, as the dollar index shed 0.32% to 97.23 away from early 2017 highs. 

 OPEC's monthly report 

OPEC released its monthly report on global demand and supply outlook for 219, at which it cut estimates for demand on its own oil by 250 thousand to 31.54 million bpd next year. 

Conversely, OPEC expects an increase in global supplies 2019 outside OPEC in particular, with global demand growth overall estimated to fall by 70 thousand bpd to 1.29 million bpd. 

OPEC reported its output rose 127 thousand bpd in October to 32.90 million bpd despite the drop in Iranian supplies. 

Otherwise, Saudi Arabia oil minister Khalid Al Falih said Sunday that his country plans to cut crude supplies for global markets by 500 thousand bpd in December due to lower seasonal demand. 

US President Donald Trump called on Saudi Arabia and OPEC to not cut output, believing that prices should be lower based on demand and supply foundation, which comes a week after the US reinstated sanctions on Iranian oil exports, with the Trump's administration counting back then on Saudi Arabia to fill Iran's void in the market. 

Recent reports indicated a consensus in OPEC on cutting output by a million bpd next year to maintain market balance, with Saudi Arabia taking center stage with half a million cut. 

OPEC President And UAE energy minister Suhail Al Mazroui assured the organization is capable of increasing output any time to counter any possible shortages. 

Otherwise, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak stated no decision has been taken yet on extending the deal to cut global output to next year, adding that despite US sanctions on Iran, the market remains balanced. 

Iran Sanctions 

Otherwise, as US sanctions went into effect on Iranian oil exports starting November 4, eight countries were granted waivers for 180 days, mainly China, India, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Greece, Taiwan, and Turkey, already the largest importers of Iranian oil. 

In Russia, output rose to a new record of 11.41 million bpd in October, after averaging 11.36 million bpd in September. 

US Oil Rig Count 

Baker Hughes, a US oil services company, reported an increase of 12 rigs in the rig count to a total of 886, the highest since March 2015. 

Otherwise, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard delivered a speech titled "Artificial Intelligence and the New Financial Landscape" at the Fintech conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, earlier today, as markets await a more crucial speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, hosted by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. 

The Federal Reserve voted at the November 7-8 meeting to maintain interest rates at below 2.25% as expected by market analysts, while vowing to carry on the path of policy tightening.  

Sterling rallied over one percent in American trade off early November lows against the greenback, following a basket of labor data from Britain and amid a lack thereof from the US today. 

As of 05:39 GMT, GBP/USD rose 1.24% to 1.3008, with a session-high at 1.3047, and a low at 1.2842. 

Earlier UK data showed the unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in the three months ending September from 4.0% in August, while average earnings rose 3.0% as expected, accelerating from a 2.8% increase.

UK jobless claims rose 20.2 thousand, considerably past estimates of a 4.3K increase, and compared to a 23.2K addition in the previous reading. 

UK Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said the ministers of the government will be called upon once the Brexit deal is agreed upon, asserting there's no specific timeline for that yet.

That comes after reports of holding a ministerial meeting tomorrow Wednesday to sign the Brexit bill, and after Reuters reported that a preliminary Brexit agreed has been reached between negotiators of both sides. 

Otherwise, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard delivered a speech titled "Artificial Intelligence and the New Financial Landscape" at the Fintech conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, earlier today, as markets await a more crucial speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, hosted by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. 

The Federal Reserve voted at the November 7-8 meeting to maintain interest rates at below 2.25% as expected by market analysts, while vowing to carry on the path of policy tightening.