【Market Evening】Gold price hits $1910 again. U.S. imports Iranian oil for the first time in 30 years

Market focus tonight

AP stock markets were mixed

Vietnam's stock market rose more than 1%, hitting a record high; South Korea, India, and Thailand's stock markets also rose slightly. Malaysian and Japanese stock markets fell about 1%. The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.99% to close at 28860.08 points. Most sectors fell, led by the real estate, machinery, banking, and steel sectors.

Spot gold maintained its upward trend

Gold price is now reported to be around US$1906 per ounce. Today is the beginning of a new week and the last trading day in May. So far this month, gold has gained 7.8%. Last week, the price of gold climbed to $1,912.76, the highest level since January 8.

"Gold prices have performed well this month for many reasons-the dollar has weakened, bond yields have fallen slightly, and higher-than-expected CPI data has triggered inflation concerns." Gold dealer Guardian Gold Australia business development manager John Feeney said. "People are right. Concerns about the new crown pneumonia epidemic in Southeast Asia are also increasing, which intensifies investors’ concerns about the slowdown in the global recovery.”

Crude oil futures rose

According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States imported 1.033 million barrels of Iranian crude oil cargo in March. This is the second time the United States has imported oil from Iran since the end of 1991.

As of 4 pm on the 31st, the price of Brent crude oil futures rose by 1.27% to US$69.6 per barrel; the price of New York crude oil futures rose by 1.25% to US$67.17 per barrel.

The decline in EIA data has also strengthened the demand outlook. U.S. government data show that crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell to the lowest level since March 2020 last week, and refineries increased their capacity utilization to pre-pandemic levels.

Since April, Iran and the world’s major powers have been negotiating in Vienna to formulate measures that Iran and the United States must take in sanctions against nuclear activities, so as to resume the full implementation of Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement. But the market's worries about the return of Iranian supplies have cooled this week.

USD index is under moderate pressure, rising 0.07%

The US dollar index was reported at 90.031. The intraday increase once reached 0.52%.

USD appreciated by 0.0003 against the euro and reported at 1.2192 U.S. dollars to 1 euro; the U.S. dollar appreciated 0.04 yen against the yen to 109.85 yen per U.S. dollar; the U.S. dollar appreciated by 0.0031 U.S. dollars against the Swiss franc to 0.8999 Swiss francs per dollar.

The euro appreciated by 0.02 yen against the yen to 133.93 yen per euro; the euro appreciated by 0.00341 Swiss francs against the Swiss franc to 1.09711 Swiss francs against the euro.

The pound depreciated by 0.0019 US dollars against the U.S. dollar and reported 1 pound to 1.4188 US dollars; the Canadian dollar depreciated by 0.0010 Canadian dollars against the U.S. dollar, reported 1.2076 Canadian dollars to 1 U.S. dollar.

Since March, as other major economies began to catch up with the United States' vaccination rate, the dollar has fallen by 3%. At the same time, it seems that the central banks of some other countries may withdraw from loose monetary policy sooner than the Federal Reserve, and allow interest rates to rise.

Bitcoin is traded at $34,000

Bitcoin fell below the $34,000 mark on Sunday morning, a 24-hour drop of nearly 7%. Bitcoin has fallen by more than 40% so far this month, and Bitcoin is likely to hit its worst monthly performance since November 2018.

As of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $34,000 and Ethereum is trading at $2,300.