Euro gains ground ahead of Christine Lagarde's speech
Euro rose in European trade against a basket of major rivals for the fifth straight session, clinging once more above parity following remarks by ECB members.
Now investors await ECB President Christine Lagarde's speech later today, searching for clues on the future of monetary policies and interest rates in the euro zone.
EUR/USD rose 0.3% on Tuesday to 1.0050, after closing up 0.1% yesterday, the fourth profit in a row after bullish remarks by ECB policymakers.
Statements
Several ECB members believe further rate hikes by the ECB are upcoming in the new few months, but they'll depend on euro zone data.
The ECB doesn't target forex valuation according to members, but it's always looked on carefully to gauge its impact on other aspects of economy.
Christine Lagarde
ECB President Christine Lagarde is due to speak at an event hosted by the Frankfurt Society for Trade, Industry, and Science, and she's expected to provide clues on the future of inflation and monetary policies.
Wall Street edges down as the week opens up
US stock indices declined as the week opened up ahead of the important Federal Reserve's policy decisions.
The Fed is convening tomorrow to decide on policies to control runaway inflation, which carries on till Wednesday.
Analysts now expect the Fed to increase rates by 75 basis points at the September meeting.
Dow Jones steadied at 30,835 as of 14:17 GMT, while S&P 500 declined 0.1%, or 3 points to 3,870, as NASDAQ slipped 0.1%, or 15 points to 11,433.
Copper returns lower under pressure from dollar and Fed's policies
Copper prices fell on Monday as the dollar climbed against a basket of major rivals, and ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The Fed is convening tomorrow to decide on policies to control runaway inflation, which carries on till Wednesday.
Analysts now expect the Fed to increase rates by 75 basis points at the September meeting.
Analysts worry that such aggressive policy tightening by the Fed and other global central banks will weigh heavily on global demand on commodities and minerals.
Such worries are developing even as Chinese authorities prepare to loosen some Covid 19 restrictions.
The dollar index rose 0.3% to 110.05 as of 13:32 GMT, with a session-high at 110.1, and a low at 109.4.
Copper futures due in September fell 0.9% to $3.48 a pound as of 13:28 GMT.
Oil prices slide 3% to two-week lows
Oil prices tumbled 3% in European trade to two-week lows under pressure from weaker global demand on fuel.
Prices are also pressured by a surge in dollar's valuation against major rivals, making commodities costlier to holders of other currencies.
Global Prices
US crude fell 3.7% to $82.11 a barrel, the lowest in two weeks, while Brent declined 2.9% to $88.54 a barrel, the lowest since September 8.
US crude rose 0.2% on Friday, while Brent added 0.7%, on short-covering after sustaining hefty losses.
Oil prices are down 0.8% so far this week on track for the third weekly loss in a row.
Global Demand
The International Energy Agency expects fuel demand to stop growing in the fourth quarter due to an expected global recession as central banks tighten monetary policies.
In China, the world's second largest fuel consumer, demand remains weak due to continuous Covid 19 restrictions and a slowdown in industrial activities.
The Dollar
The dollar index rose 0.5% on Monday against a basket of major rivals, in turn pressuring dollar-denominated oil futures.
The spike comes after US 10-year treasury yields surpassed 3.5% for the first time since 2011.
Tomorrow, the Federal Reserve will convene to discuss policies, while expected to increase interest rates by 75 basis points to 3.25%.