Author: Steven Sahiounie

Short-term natural gas prices in some parts of the EU could briefly dip below zero this summer if subdued demand doesn’t keep up with a growing supply glut, according to traders cited by Bloomberg. A situation when “producers effectively pay someone to take their gas” is looking ever more possible as prices plummet to pre-crisis levels, the traders claimed. “Individual regional gas markets in Europe could go negative when you have hours and days with renewable production,” Peder Bjorland, vice president for gas trading and optimization at oil major Equinor ASA, told the outlet at the annual E-World energy fair in Essen, Germany. “There…

The drop may be the result of a change in the government’s approach to spending oil revenues Saudi Arabia’s foreign exchange reserves plunged last month to their lowest level in 13 years, a report published by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) on Sunday shows. According to the figures, the kingdom’s net foreign assets dropped to 1.538 trillion riyals ($410 billion) in April, down by $8.8 billion from March. This represents the fifth consecutive month of declines and the longest streak of drops since early 2019. Reserves are currently down more than 44% since hitting an all-time high at around $737 billion in…

Turkey’s lira hit fresh record lows against the US dollar on Monday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured victory in Sunday’s presidential election, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. The lira weakened to 20.065 to the dollar in early European trade, breaking through the previous record low touched on Friday. The lira has slumped around 7% since the start of the year, and lost more than 90% of its value over the past decade, with the economy in the grip of boom-and-bust cycles and rampant bouts of inflation. Since a 2021 currency crisis, Turkish authorities have taken…

European stocks and oil prices gave up early gains Monday, but US stock futures stayed positive following weekend news of an agreement that could avert a catastrophic US debt default. Germany’s DAX (DAX) closed 0.2% lower, with France’s CAC 40 (CAC40) falling by a similar margin after both posted gains earlier in the day. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 (N225) closed at a 33-year high, boosted by optimism over the debt ceiling deal and a weaker yen, which lifted exporters. The index has rallied nearly 20% this year. US and UK markets are closed Monday for a holiday, affecting trading…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a third term as President of Turkey which will extend his time in power to a quarter of a century. The authoritarian leader has won another five years at the helm of a ship struggling in a sea of economic woes, that has seen inflation rise to an annual 44%, and the Turkish lira devalued. Economic experts point the blame squarely at Erdogan who has refused to follow economic policy and raise interest rates. Erdogan won just over 52% of the vote against Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the opposition candidate chosen…

A report by the Financial Times says that Saudi Arabia is pushing to become the ninth member of the New Development Bank as the financial institutions look for alternative financing options. Saudi Arabia seeks to become the ninth member of the New Development Bank (NDB) which is also known as the “BRICS bank”, a report by the Financial Times states. The Bank which was formed as an alternative to Western financial institutions for emerging economies is looking to add other funding sources as one of its founding members Russia faces severe economic sanctions. “In the Middle East, we attach great importance to the…

The Bitcoin price has risen by 2.5% in the past 24 hours, with its move to $27,896 helping the cryptocurrency market overall to gain by 2% in the same space of time. BTC is now up by 4% in a week but down by 5% in the last 30 days, although its gain today means it has risen above its 21 weekly EMA (exponential moving average), suggesting that more increases are in store. Its rise also signals potential rallies for lower cap altcoins and meme tokens, given that such cryptocurrencies tend to follow Bitcoin’s lead. And with Republican lawmakers agreeing a…

A wallet dating back to the Ethereum (ETH) initial coin offering (ICO) in 2015 has caught the attention of the crypto community after it suddenly moved a significant amount of funds. The wallet, which has been completely inactive since the ICO, on Saturday transferred all of its 8,000 ETH to another newly created address, on-chain data from Etherscan shows. The fund movement was made in two transactions, with one test transaction worth just 1 ETH first, followed by another transfer of the remaining 7,999 ETH. In total, the transfers are worth some $15.2 million by today’s exchange rate, representing a massive increase…

When Kevin McCarthy was struggling early this year to get enough votes from his own Republicans to become Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democratic President Joe Biden called the prolonged saga a national embarrassment, then had a little fun. “I’ve got good news for you,” Biden said, pointing playfully at a reporter after a speech in Kentucky. “They just elected you speaker.” During months of tense exchanges over the U.S. debt ceiling, McCarthy has also taken some swipes at Biden. Arguing that Biden should meet him to discuss his demands for lifting the debt ceiling in March, McCarthy made…

The Turkish lira sank to a fresh record low Monday as incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured his victory in the 2023 presidential election, extending his rule into a third decade in power. The currency briefly touched 20.0608 against the greenback at around 11 a.m. Monday morning local time, surpassing a low seen last week. It was at 20.0913 against the dollar near 12:45 London time. “We have a pretty pessimistic outlook on the Turkish Lira as a result of Erdogan retaining office after the election,” Wells Fargo’s Emerging Markets Economist and FX Strategist Brendan McKenna told CNBC. McKenna forecasts that…