Gold Prices Slip as Stronger Dollar, Fed Rate Outlook Weigh on Bullion 
Asian Stocks Slip as Iran Tensions, Samsung Weakness and Fed Caution Weigh on Markets 
China Inflation Cools in June as Producer Prices Hit Four-Year High 
Asian Currencies Slip as Stronger US Dollar, Iran Tensions Pressure Regional FX 
Gold Prices Slip as U.S.-Iran Conflict, Fed Rate Hike Bets Pressure Precious Metals 
Oil and LNG Tankers Turn Back as Strait of Hormuz Security Risks Escalate 
Dollar Slips After Fed Minutes as Iran Tensions, Inflation Risks Keep Markets Cautious 
Bernstein Raises 2026 Nickel Price Forecast as Indonesia Tightens Supply 
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in its latest speech called on the bank to unwind ‘ultra-expansionary policy’ in 2017. While the bloc’s inflation quickened to a three-year high of 1.1 percent y/y in December 2016, Germany’s gauge accelerated to 1.7 percent y/y. Bundesbank cautioned that inflation could reach 2 percent in January 2017, given the firm growth momentum.
ECB President Mario Draghi at the central bank's January meeting repeatedly pointed out that he and his colleagues were particularly keen to ensure that the rise in inflation was “sustainable”. Without a rise in core inflation from current levels just below 1 percent the ECB will have to stick to its ultra-expansionary monetary policy.
Meanwhile, forward Eonia bank-to-bank rates dated for the ECB meeting on Jan. 25, 2018 have risen to around minus 0.30 percent, some 5 basis points above the overnight rate of minus 0.35 percent. According to analysts this gap suggests markets are pricing in around a 50 percent chance of a 10 basis point hike in the ECB's minus 0.40 percent deposit rate by next January.
