MARKETS

Asian shares inched higher on Monday following a much-needed bounce on Wall Street, but nerves are stretched ahead of a near-certain rate hike in Europe and another round of corporate earnings reports.

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The wealth management arm of Swiss bank Pictet Group is buying Chinese equities again more than 18 months after it shunned the asset class, joining other foreign investors dipping back in as they bet on improving economic prospects and less regulatory intervention.

Turkey says it has 20 merchant ships waiting in the region that could be quickly loaded and sent to world markets.

The bond market is pricing in a sharp deceleration in inflation over the next year, as aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve to counter the steepest surge in prices in a generation ramps up recession concerns.

Oil prices were unsteady on Monday, with Brent trading higher on supply concerns while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dipped, as traders balanced supply concerns against worries about a recession or China's COVID-19 curbs hitting demand.

A cocktail of global growth fears, Federal Reserve hawkishness and euro weakness has boosted the U.S.

The Hungarian forint is expected to gradually recover and add more than 7% in the next year after plunging to fresh record lows this week, a Reuters poll of central European currencies showed on Thursday.

Gold prices edged up on Thursday as the dollar eased slightly and some investors scooped up bargains after sharp losses in the previous two sessions.

Gold prices eased in a narrow range on Tuesday, as an elevated dollar and impending interest rate hikes overpowered support from underlying concerns over the global economic outlook.

The government insists it has already cut fuel duty once, and is offering other financial support for the public, while blaming Russia for igniting the rapid rise in energy prices.

Oil prices fell in early Asian trade on Monday, paring gains from the previous session as fears of global recession weighed on the market even as supply remains tight amid lower OPEC output, unrest in Libya and sanctions on Russia.

Asian currencies will wallow in the near-term, analysts forecast this week, with any respite from their first-half losses only likely to come in the form of proactive policy normalization by regional central banks combined with a Chinese recovery.

Hedge fund Elliott Associates and Jane Street Global Trading are suing the London Metal Exchange for up to $500 million after the LME cancelled nickel trades on March 8 when prices soared to record highs above $100,000 a tonne in chaotic trade.

The energy-intensive steel sector in Britain, already suffering at the hands of cheap Chinese imports, now faces sky-rocketing production costs as fuel prices surge.

European shares dropped on Thursday after a survey showed euro zone business activity slowed significantly in June, adding to fears of a sharp economic downturn, while sliding oil and metal prices hit commodity-linked stocks.

With mounting uncertainty around the U.S. economic outlook and the resulting slump in financial markets, Wall Street is easing up on hiring after a recruiting frenzy last year.

When the stock market gets volatile, retirement investors are naturally inclined to want to do something about it.

A growing group of countries are likely to see their credit ratings come under pressure as rising global interest rates hit already-stretched finances, one of the world's biggest rating agencies, S&P Global, has warned.

The North Sea's biggest oil and gas producer, Harbour Energy, has told the British government that Britain's planned windfall tax on the energy sector will shrink the company's investment in the country.

Markets were rocked last week by a fierce selloff after the US Federal Reserve's sharp interest rate hike -- the biggest in nearly 30 years -- and a warning of more to come as inflation soars.

Drivers around the world are tolerating record-high prices for road fuels, as mobility wins out for now over other spending in squeezed household budgets, data showed.

As the United Nations tries to broker a path for grain from Ukraine and temper worries about a global food crisis, hundreds of mines laid along the Black Sea present a practical nightmare that will take months to resolve even after any agreement.

Russia is attacking food and agriculture targets in Ukraine in order to scare the world into agreeing a deal to reopen the Black Sea on Moscow's terms, the head of the region where a major agricultural storage facility was struck on Sunday said.

Grain silos in Ukraine's government-controlled territory are about half full in the run-up to this year's harvest, meaning crops could be left in the ground if Russia continues its port blockade, the head of the Ukraine Grain Association said on Wednesday.

European shares fell on Tuesday as investors worried about the squeeze to economic growth from aggressive monetary policy tightening by central banks in a bid to tame rising inflation.

Oil prices were roughly unchanged on Friday, clinging to gains made in the previous session on doubts that producers belonging to OPEC+ can hike their crude output enough to make up for lost supply from Russia.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths is in Moscow on Thursday and Friday to discuss clearing the way for exports of grain and other food from Ukraine's Black Sea ports, a U.N.

Wall Street's three major indexes closed lower on Wednesday as investors bet that the latest economic data would do nothing to push the Federal Reserve off track from its aggressive interest rate hiking cycle aimed at taming run-away inflation.