Oil drops on hurricane impact, gold hits record, bitcoin falls ahead of Fed meeting

• Crude Oil

It’s the Epicenter of U.S. Gas Exports, and a Hurricane Magnet: When Francine slammed southern Louisiana, it became the latest storm to hit near an area that has become the epicenter of U.S. LNG exports.

Oil falls after back-to-back gains on storm disruptions, still settles higher for the week: Oil futures finished with a loss on Friday as concerns about the demand outlooked lingered, but prices gained for the week after Hurricane Francine disrupted output in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mitsubishi Corp. in Talks to Buy Stake in Exxon Mobil’s Texas Project: Mitsubishi Corp. is in talks to buy a stake in Exxon Mobil’s project in Baytown, Texas, which aims to be the world’s largest low-carbon ammonia facility.

China’s Slowdown Threatens Pace of Global Oil-Demand Growth: A rapid slowdown in Chinese oil-demand growth is driving down global consumption, reinforcing expectations that demand will peak by the end of the decade, the IEA said.

• Gold

Gold prices climbed to all-time highs today, reaching $2,589.70, and are currently trading at $2582. The outlook remains positive as market participants have increased the possibility of a 50-bps interest rate cut. According to CME’s Fed watch tool, the probability of a 50bps rate cut is currently at 59%, up from 50% on Friday.  
 
From a technical perspective, gold broke above the $2,530 psychological barrier last week. Looking ahead, the bullish trend is expected to continue in the short term, supported by the 50-period EMA, with the next main target being the $2,500 price mark. Conversely, breaking the $2,565 price could indicate some temporary bearish correlation.
Trading Range: $2,570 to $2,610
Expected Trend: Bullish                
 
Gold prices in the UAE for the day (morning) are as follows:
24 Carat AED 313.00
22 Carat AED 290.00
21 Carat AED 280.50
18 Carat AED 240.50
 
Crypto

Bitcoin prices (BTC) fell over 3% on Monday and were trading at $58,826.93 ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee meeting which begins on Tuesday. Major altcoins Ethereum (ETH), Tether, BNB, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, Toncoin, Cardano, Avalanche, and Shiba Inu were trading with up to 5% losses around this time. Among gainers was Tron which was trading up by over 1% meanwhile.

Bitcoin’s 3% drop to $58,071 comes amid investor uncertainty following the Trump assassination attempt, leading to over $116M in liquidations. All eyes now turn to the Fed’s interest rate decision, with markets split between a 25 and 50 bps rate cut. The US Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting will begin on Tuesday and the outcome will be announced on Wednesday. It is widely believed that the largest Central Bank could cut interest rates by 25 bps. The rate cut is expected to be a positive development for cryptos.

Bitcoin experienced steady growth over the past week, recovering from a low of $54,000 to currently trading at $58,000. The week began with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) releasing a comprehensive report on global crypto scams in 2023, revealing staggering losses. The US topped the list, with over $4.8 billion lost to crypto scams, followed by Canada and the UK. The Mudrex Co-founder highlighted India’s ranking at fifth position with reported losses exceeding $44 million
 

Last Updated on 6 months by News Desk 1