The British central bank released today the monetary policy vote at the end of the June 20 meeting, which showed that all members voted in favor of keeping interest rates at current levels of 0.75%. while the vote on the asset purchase program, the nine members also voted to to hold the the program value at 435 billion pounds sterling per month, which came according to expectations.

Oil climbed to a three-week high in the European market on Thursday, extending its gains for a third day in a row, as Brent rose to a 10-day high on the back of a slower supply in the United States and the continued geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region.

By 09:55 GMT, US crude rose to $55.25 per barrel from the opening of $54.11, recording a high of $55.60 (highest since May 31st) and a low of $54.09.

Brent crude rose to $63.25 per barrel from the opening of $62.44, recording a high of $63.88 (highest since June 10th) and a low of $62.37.

The US crude added 0.2% in its second daily gain, after the weekly report of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), while Brent lost more than 0.1%.

The EIA announced yesterday that the country's trade inventories fell by about 3.1 million barrels in the week ending June 14, the first decline in the last three weeks, exceeding experts' expectations of a drop by 1.5 million barrels.

According to the data, total US inventories fell to 482.7 million barrels, leaving the total of 485.8 million barrels, the highest level since July 2017, in a sign that the demand in the world's top oil consumer market is beginning to improve.

For the US oil production, last week it fell by about 100 thousand barrels per day, the second weekly decline in a row, bringing the total to 12.2 million barrels per day, moving away from the record level of 12.4 million barrels per day.

A US official said on Thursday that a US drone crashed into the international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz from an Iranian missile.

Earlier, some reports from Iran stated that the Revolutionary Guard dropped a US drone spy plane in the southern province of "Hormuz Jan".

Geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region escalated after last week's attacks on two oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington blamed Tehran for being behind the attacks, while Tehran had firmly denied its involvement.

On the other hand, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to meet on July 1st, followed by a meeting with non-OPEC allies on July 2nd, after weeks of debates over the date of the meeting.

OPEC and its allies are set to discuss whether to extend the global supply cut by 1.2 million bpd for another six months to the end of the year.

The British economy released at 08:30 GMT, its monthly retail sales reading, which fell by 0.5% in May, according to analysts' expectations of a 0.5% drop, while the previous reading was revised to a drop by 0.1% from 0.0%. This statement is negative for Sterling Pound.

Bitcoin fell marginally in today's spot trading to stay close to a 13-month high, while most forecasts suggest that the leading currency in the crypto market will continue to rise to new highs and reach the important psychological barrier of $10,000, amid the positive atmosphere that dominates the crypto market at the moment.

As of 09:00 GMT, at Bitstamp, Bitcoin is trading around $9,260, down by $20, or 0.2%, from the opening price of $9,280, with the highest at $9,362 , and the lowest at $9,362 .

On Wednesday, Bitcoin rose 2.25%, its seventh gain in the last eight days, while the world's largest cryptocurrency recorded a 13-month high of $9,477 on Monday.

The market value of cryptocurrencies on Thursday fell by more than $1 billion to $287 billion, with most of the major cryptocurrencies marginally falling in the market.

The market value  of cryptocurrencies hit $291 billion earlier in Tuesday, with the highest level since late July 2018. With the rally resuming, the market value could easily exceed $300 billion.

At the moment, Bitcoin prices are currently holding above the psychological barrier of $9,000, in a positive sign of the resumption of the recent rally, as prices are still strongly expected to reach the important psychological barrier of $10,000 amid  the positive atmosphere that currently dominates the crypto market.

Most crypto experts believe that Facebook's announcement of its digital currency this week will push the market forward, as Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat said "This is a sign of the interest in crypto industry".

On Tuesday, Facebook issued the white paper for its cryptographic industry project and named it "Libra" on its future cryptocurrency, which is due to be officially launched in the first half of next year.

Researchers at Binance believe that the currency "Libra" can enhance the size of the cryptocurrencies because of the increased access to it from both institutional investors and retail investors.

On the other hand, according to the CME, Bitcoin open contracts from on June 17 rose to their highest level ever at 5,311 contracts equivalent to 26,555 Bitcoin unites.