Oil prices are plummeting, with US oil futures plunging below $80 as markets expect the lifting of American sanctions on Iran. WTI crude fell to $79.94 per barrel, while Brent, the worldwide benchmark, closed at $81.19 per barrel.
Iran and the United States agreed to restart nuclear talks in November. If sanctions are lifted, global oil supplies may increase. Investors will be examining crude oil inventories to see how demand for oil has changed in the previous seven days.
Gold
The precious metal's price climbed following the Fed's meeting yesterday, which adopted a more dovish position on tapering. An aggressive strategy would have resulted in a faster interest rate rise, which is negative for gold since lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of investing in gold and make it more desirable to investors.
The CEO of AvaTrade, Daire Ferguson told me “the dollar index has also taken a hit, falling 0.2 percent and is trading at 93.847.” The price of gold swings in the opposite direction of the price of the dollar index.
Markets in Asia-Pacific
Chinese markets are witnessing a sell-off of junk-rated bonds, which appeared to be an intriguing investment a few months ago. However, the Evergrande (OTC:EGRNY) crisis has caused investors to fear, and they are now unwilling to engage in riskier assets. In approximately 5 months, an index tracking China's junk-rated bonds fell about 26%. The Nikkei was up 0.73 percent at 12.55 a.m. EST, while the Shanghai index was up 0.64 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.27 percent. The ASX 200 index increased by 0.31 percent, while the Seoul KOSPI increased by 0.44 percent.