The U.S. dollar is stable against the euro and the pound on Monday morning and is weakly falling against the Japanese yen in anticipation of this year’s first meetings of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
The ICE-calculated index showing the U.S. dollar’s performance against six currencies (euro, Swiss franc, yen, Canadian dollar, pound sterling and Swedish krona) is down less than 0.1% in morning trading.
The euro/dollar pair is trading at $1.0866 as of 7:47 a.m., versus $1.0869 at the close of last Friday’s session.
The dollar/yen exchange rate is down 0.1% at 129.70 yen, down from 129.85 yen at the close of trading on Friday.
The pound is trading at $1.2394 versus $1.2396 at the close of last session.
The Fed will release the results of its meeting on Wednesday, February 1. Analysts expect the Fed leadership to raise the key interest rate by 25 basis points, meaning the hike will be more moderate than at previous meetings.
Market participants will also closely follow the speech of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, hoping to get new signals on the future trajectory of monetary policy.
Last week, it became known that growth in the Core Consumer Price Index (Core PCE), which the Federal Reserve closely monitors when assessing inflation risks, slowed to 4.4% in December from 4.7% in November, marking a fourteen-month low.
The outcome of the ECB and Bank of England meetings will be known on Thursday. Experts expect both central banks to raise interest rates by 50 bps.
The price of March futures on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stood at $86.28 per barrel by 7:10 a.m., down $0.38 (0.44%) from the close of the previous session. At the close of trading last Friday those contracts fell by $0.81 (0.9%) to $86.66 per barrel.
The price of WTI futures for March at electronic trades of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $79.31 per barrel by that time, which is $0.37 (0.46%) below the final value of the previous session. The contract fell by $1.33 (1.6%) to $79.68 per barrel at the end of last session.
Brent was down 1.1% and WTI, down 2.4% at the end of last week.
“Oil traders are locking in profits at the end of the month and taking a wait-and-see attitude ahead of OPEC+ and Federal Reserve meetings, the outcome of which will be known on February 1, and ahead of the entry into force of the EU ban on the import of Russian oil products on February 5,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group.
Meanwhile, the number of active oil rigs in the U.S. fell four units to 609 last week, oil services company Baker Hughes said. The number of gas rigs increased by the same number to 160.
Newly-elected Czech President Petr Pavel assured his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky of continued support for Ukraine and thanked him for his congratulations on the results of the recent presidential election.
“I thank President Vladimir Zelensky for his congratulations on the results of the presidential election and his invitation to visit Kiev,” Pavel wrote on his Twitter microblog.
He noted that “during our phone conversation today, I assured him that Ukraine can continue to count on the support of the Czech Republic.”
As reported, Zelensky congratulated Petr Pavel on his victory in the Czech presidential election and invited him to visit Ukraine.
Former chairman of the NATO Military Committee Petr Pavel on Saturday won the second round of presidential elections in the Czech Republic. After all ballots were counted, he received more than 58.3 percent of the vote. The inauguration is scheduled for March 9.
Ukraine intends to receive 24 fighter jets from international allies as part of the first batch, Yuriy Ignat, spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told the Spanish newspaper El País.
“The priority of the Air Force is to receive American F-16s, although Kiev is considering the option of French Rafale and Swedish Gripen,” the newspaper writes.
It is noted that the first package will include two battalions of 12 combat aircraft in each. “This is a new package of military assistance, which the Ukrainian army intends to receive from its international allies. The 24 fighter jets – ideally they should be American F-16s – would represent only the urgent first phase in a new chapter of arms supply to a country invaded by Russia: combat aviation,” the report said.
Company-trader “Ukrzaliznytsia” – “Energo Sales Trans” – in January for the first time bought natural gas for the needs of the production enterprises of UZ without intermediaries, which allowed to reduce the price to 18.6 thousand UAH per thousand cubic meters, the Ministry reported on Facebook page on Saturday.
“The cost of gas came out more than 25% lower compared to the prices at which the enterprises of the structure of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” bought natural gas at the end of last year through private suppliers. The new price was 18.6 thousand UAH per thousand cubic meters”, – the words of Deputy Prime Minister – Head of the Ministry of recovery Oleksandr Kubrakov are given in the message.
According to him, the next step will be the direct purchase of natural gas from the producers directly to the needs of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”.
Kubrakov recalled that in 2021 “Ukrzaliznytsia” was allowed to buy electricity from “Enerhoatom” and other subjects of state generation for the period up to 3 years under a special simplified procedure. In addition, in 2022 the government allowed Ukrzaliznytsia to purchase oil products directly under foreign economic contracts.
The weighted average price of natural gas on the Ukrainian Energy Exchange on 28 January was 19,950,000 hryvnyas per 1,000 cu.m.
Ukrainian tank crews have arrived in Great Britain for training and preparation for further participation in the war with Russia, the press service of the British defence ministry has said.
“Ukrainian tankers have arrived in the UK to prepare for further combat with Russia,” the statement reads.
It specifies that the UK will provide Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks along with global partner countries, demonstrating the strength of Ukraine’s support internationally.
