Climate strikes back

News for today, Friday, February 4

The US dollar decreased approx. by 2% this week, which is the most noticeable weekly drop since March 2020. On the other hand, EUR/USD is up 0.2% to 1.1456. The main reason for Euro’s increase is the ECB press conference following a policy meeting where Central Bank’s president Christine Lagarde assumed soon interest rate hikes. This was supported by Goldman Sachs analytics. In today’s report, the strategists uncovered expectations of two 25 basis points increases of interest rate in September and December. The decision is supposed to come out in March.

Oil has increased on Friday as snowy storms have covered the USA promising a tight petroleum supply. Brent crude rose 0.5%, and WTI increased 0.6%. Thereby, WTI rallied over $90 after the Arctic blast reached Texas and interfered with some oil production.

While the USA freezes, the diplomatic climate seems unchanged: NATO’s ambassador said the US and its allies will continue to jeopardize Russia with sanctions reacting to military deployment near borders of Ukraine. “Massive economic sanctions and consequences” are promised to cover the Nord Stream 2 which is a Russian gas pipe, a key economic facility.

The price of Brent crude is $92.28, WTI — $91.51, GBP/USD — 1.3577, EUR/USD — 1.1458, and gold costs $1810.30 per ounce.