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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman: Friday’s meeting in Switzerland was not intended to sign an agreement, and a decision on whether to hold the meeting is expected in the next few hours.Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman: We believe the text of the agreement should exist in electronic form and be signed by the presidents of both countries.According to Axios: Two U.S. officials said the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to end the war, which is now in effect.On June 18th, according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple (AAPL.O) CEO Tim Cook stated that Apple plans to raise product prices to offset soaring costs of memory and storage chips. "Unfortunately, price increases are inevitable," he said. "We are doing our best to mitigate these enormous price increases that are being passed on to us, and we have been trying to protect our customers from these price hikes, but the current situation has become unsustainable." Cook declined to disclose the timing or magnitude of the planned price increase, or which products would be affected. Cook stated that memory and storage chip prices are issues facing the company, and he paid particular attention to the DRAM market, noting that more and more resources are currently being allocated to so-called high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers. "Consumers need devices, and memory manufacturers are pushing up prices while supply is decreasing," Cook said. "We really need memory prices and supply to return to a level that is reasonable for consumer products. Thats the key." Cook also stated that Apple is prepared to use its cash reserves to increase memory supply. He said, "We are willing to use our balance sheet to address some of the issues. Obviously, more capacity is needed." However, Cook also stated that Apple will not use its cash and silicon technology to build its own memory and storage factories. “We can’t do everything at once, but we know where our strengths lie.”Apple (AAPL.O) shares rose slightly in after-hours trading, currently up 0.7%.

Copper Beats Gold This Week With Fears of A Rate Rise

Haiden Holmes

Feb 17, 2023 11:44

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Gold prices declined on Friday as stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation statistics and hawkish statements from Federal Reserve officials stoked fears of more interest rate rises, while copper prices outpaced commodity markets this week due to confidence towards China.


The U.S. producer price index inflation increased more than anticipated in January, according to statistics released on Thursday. This follows a report on the consumer price index that indicated inflation in the world's largest economy remained sticky.


James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, stated that the central bank might resume raising interest rates at a more rapid pace and raised the possibility of a 50 basis point increase in March.


Meanwhile, Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, stated that interest rates would likely rise over 5% as the Fed fights inflation, and that the central bank should have increased rates by more than 25 basis points at its February meeting.


The dollar and Treasury rates soared in response to their remarks, as investors flocked to the greenback in anticipation of higher and safer returns. This caused a substantial outflow from gold markets.


Spot gold decreased 0.2% to $1,833.67 per ounce, whilst gold futures declined 0.5% to $1,843.75 per ounce. Prices of the yellow metal were projected to fall between 1% to 1.7% this week, marking the third consecutive week of declines.


The likelihood of rising U.S. interest rates is unfavorable for non-yielding assets such as gold, as it increases their opportunity cost. Increasing interest rates also cause investors to select the dollar as a safe-haven asset due to its higher yields.


Other precious metals declined on Friday. Platinum prices dropped 0.6% to $920.30 per ounce, a three-month low, while silver futures sank 1.2% to $21.448 per ounce, a two-and-a-half month low.


Copper prices declined on Friday but were expected to end the week in the black due to optimism on China and probable supply disruptions.


Copper futures slipped 0.2% to $4.1137 a pound and were expected to rise 2.4% this week, their highest weekly performance since the beginning of January.


Copper was also poised to end a streak of three consecutive weekly losses as China, the world's top copper importer, signaled further stimulus measures to bolster economic development. Earlier this year, China loosened the majority of anti-COVID policies, which bolstered hopes for the nation's economic recovery.


A deteriorating conflict between the government of Panama and international copper miners threatens to halt the country's copper exports, so limiting supply and driving up prices.

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