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Investing.com-- Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Monday, reversing course after a sharp rally in the prior week as markets awaited any more developments in the Israel-Hamas war, as well as a string of Asian economic cues this week.  

By Yuka Obayashi and Emily Chow

Forex traders said falling domestic inflation, rise in industrial production figures and improvement in trade deficit aided the local unit. However, geopolitical tensions, particularly the Israel-Hamas conflict, dented investor sentiments. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.25 against the dollar and then touched an early high of 83.24, registering a gain of 6 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee fell 6 paise to settle at 83.30 against the US dollar. «For now, a mild risk-off stance supports USD demand, but positive economic data and RBI intervention maintain the rupee's range between 83.05 and 83.30. The situation remains delicate, with the potential for rapid shifts in response to geopolitical developments,» CR Forex Advisors MD-Amit Pabari said. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.10 per cent down at 106.53. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.11 per cent to USD 90.99 per barrel. In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 161.12 points or 0.24 per cent lower at 66,121.62.

Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a «big mistake,» US President Joe Biden said in an interview released on Sunday, as Israeli troops prepared for a ground invasion. Israel, seeking vengeance for an attack by Hamas on October 7, has declared war on the militant group, launching a relentless bombing campaign and warning more than a million people in northern Gaza to move south ahead of the operation. Asked by CBS news program 60 Minutes if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: «I think it'd be a big mistake.» Hamas «don't represent all the Palestinian people,» he continued. But invading and «taking out the extremists» is a «necessary requirement,» he added. The Hamas attack saw fighters shoot, stab and burn to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

fertiliser to more than double over the past year, but he is bitterly aware of the consequences. At his farm in northeastern Nigeria, he can no longer afford enough fertiliser, so his corn is stunted and pale, the scraggly plants bending toward the powdery earth. Inside his mud house, he has grown accustomed to explaining to his two young children and pregnant wife why they must make do with two meals a day — and sometimes only one — even as hunger gnaws. As he and his neighbours commiserate over the calamity unfolding across much of Africa, they exchange theories on one source of trouble: Russia's war on Ukraine, which disrupted shipments of key ingredients for fertiliser. «We are in two different worlds, separated by airplanes and oceans,» Chubado said.

Japan's former top currency diplomat, recalls how Chinese policymakers eagerly studied ways to avert a Japan-style burst of an asset bubble that led to prolonged deflation and economic stagnation — until around 2015. «Then they stopped. In the past seven to eight years, they seem to be ignoring everything they learned,» said Watanabe, who retains close ties with incumbent policymakers.

BEIJING — An ambassador of an African country to China has criticized the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for restrictive lending policies.

Also read: Israel-Hamas war: Shocking video of Israelis urinating on dead Palestinians surfaces on internet 2. More than one million people have fled their homes in Gaza as Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and continued in preparation for a full-blown ground invasion. 3.

financial markets, as investors wait to see if the conflict draws in other countries with the potential to drive up oil prices further and deal a fresh blow to the world economy. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to «demolish Hamas» as his military prepared ground operations in Gaza to root out the militant group, whose deadly rampage through Israeli border towns stunned the nation. S&P 500 E-Mini futures edged up after they opened on Sunday, last up 0.2%, while oil prices were virtually unchanged. Trading had been choppy in the last week as Wall Street worried about whether other countries such as Iran would get involved, but investors were directing most of their attention to interest rates and issues related to the U.S. economy. «As long as the war remains relatively localized, U.S.

Gaza Strip since Israel began its bombardment against Hamas, the UN said on Sunday, warning of dire conditions on the ground. Israel declared war on the Islamist group last Sunday, a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The relentless bombing since against those who masterminded the attack have flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians.

Hamas. Israel's shekel sank to a nearly eight-year low, after the country's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed to «demolish Hamas» in retaliation for the rampage on Oct. 7 that killed 1,300 people in the worst attack on civilians in Israel's history. U.S.

Daniel Noboa is Ecuador's next president, declaring victory on Sunday as the country's national electoral council said results pointed to an «irreversible» outcome and his rival conceded. Noboa was tallying more than 52% of the vote, while his leftist adversary Luisa Gonzalez had about 48%, with more than 90% of ballot boxes counted. Thirty five-year-old Noboa, a surprise qualifier for the run-off in the early election, has pledged to improve the economy and create jobs for young people, as well as to house dangerous criminals on prison ships. «Tomorrow we start work for this new Ecuador, we start working to rebuild a country seriously battered by violence, by corruption and by hate,» Noboa told supporters in the seaside town of Olon after clinching victory in a campaign marred by the murder of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio. «From tomorrow Daniel Noboa starts work as your new president,» he added. His victory fulfills a long-held family ambition — he grew up accompanying his banana baron father Alvaro during the latter's multiple failed attempts to become president. Gonzalez congratulated Noboa on his victory. «Daniel Noboa, our profound congratulations, because this is democracy,» Gonzalez told supporters in Quito, calling on Noboa to fulfill his promises to students and the elderly. Noboa will face the significant challenge of righting an economy — which has struggled since the coronavirus pandemic and motivated many thousands of Ecuadoreans to migrate — and sharply rising crime, including increases in murders, robberies and prison riots. Noboa will have just 14 months to govern, serving a truncated term from December this year until May 2025. Re-election is generally not allowed in

cautious trade as tensions in the Middle East escalated, while investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this week for further clues on the U.S. central bank's rate outlook. The Israeli shekel fell to more than an eight-year low of 3.9900 per dollar in early Asia trade, after the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to «demolish Hamas» as his troops prepared to move into the Gaza Strip in pursuit of Hamas militants. Carry trades funded by the yen could be the biggest casualty of further escalation in the war, analysts said, as global investors who have for months been shorting the yen to invest in higher-yielding currencies buy it back as a safe-haven. The yen was last steady at 149.53 per dollar. The Japanese currency, which is near to potential intervention levels around 150, could also rally if the Fed has to stop hiking rates even as the Bank of Japan feels compelled by domestic inflation to tighten policy.

Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov arrived in Beijing on Monday ahead of an expected visit by President Vladimir Putin to China, for a gathering of representatives of 130 countries that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Gaza war. This will be Putin's first trip to a major global power since the Ukraine invasion. The foreign ministry announced on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that Lavrov was in the Chinese capital as part of a Russian delegation. Beijing is hosting representatives of 130 countries Tuesday to Wednesday to mark a decade of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a key geopolitical project of President Xi Jinping to extend China's global reach. But all eyes will be on Putin, who last month told Beijing's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Saint Petersburg he had «gladly accepted» Xi's invitation to visit China for the BRI talking shop. The Russian leader's strategic dependence on China has only grown since his invasion of neighbouring Ukraine thrust his country into international isolation. Putin last week voiced concern at the «catastrophic increase» in the number of civilian victims in Israel and the Gaza Strip. The Kremlin ambassador to the United Nations has called for a «humanitarian cease-fire» in the Gaza Strip and Israel, while blaming the United States for the ongoing conflict. This year, trade between China and Russia has soared to levels not seen since the beginning of Moscow's war in Ukraine, with Chinese imports of Russian oil offering Moscow a critical lifeline as international sanctions bite. China has refused to condemn the war in an effort to position itself as a neutral party, while at the same time offering Moscow vital diplomatic and financial support. At the heart of the

Gold prices slid on Monday after hitting a near one-month high earlier, as escalating fears of the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas boosted safe-haven bullion more than 3% higher in the last session. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold fell 0.5% to $1,921.69 per ounce by 0102 GMT and U.S. gold futures dropped 0.4% to $1,934.40. * Gold, which is seen as a safe investment during uncertain times, hit its highest since Sept.

Oil prices fell on Monday, partly reversing Friday's rally as investors wait to see if the Israel-Hamas conflict draws in other countries, which could drive up prices and deal a fresh blow to the global economy. Brent futures slid 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $90.55 per barrel and U.S.

Read all the latest updates on Israel-Hamas war at Mint's LIVE blog:United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated that the US has Israel's back."The United States has Israel's back. We will stand with it today, tomorrow, and every day, and we're doing that in word and also in deed," Blinken said.US President Joe Biden said he is "confident" Israel will act under the rules of war in its conflict with Palestine.In an interview with "60 Minutes," Biden said that while he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely, there must be a path for a Palestinian state.Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said that the United States should not accept Palestinian refugees escaping from Gaza.

Nikol Pashinyan skipped the CIS summit in Kyrgyzstan last week, Russia-Armenia ties are striving to remain steady as the partnership serves national interests of both countries. While there are fears that Russia-West conflict might “spread to Armenia '' in the backdrop of exodus from Nagarno-Karabah, Armenia and Ukraine are two different situations despite rising differences of opinion between Moscow and Yerevan. Armenia is a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization and has a bilateral defense agreement with Russia. Armenia and Russia have strategic partnership and Armenia currently hosts around 10,000 Russian troops, 5,000 of which are stationed at Gyumri's 102nd Russian military base.

Brands and ecommerce platform executives said they have seen a better-than-expected start to festive season sales at the end of the first week, with deep discounts, shaking off concerns around an impact from the ‘Shradh’ period, which lasted till October 15.

finance, the delicate balance between interest rates, economic growth, and global currency dynamics often holds the key to stability or turmoil. Lately, an intriguing scenario has been playing out in the United States, with far-reaching implications for the country's financial markets and the global economy. When nominal interest rates, such as those on government bonds, exceed the nominal growth rate of a country's economy, it triggers a cascade of economic consequences. Here are some of the key repercussions:

Businessman Mark Carnegie has painted a lurid picture of the cryptocurrency bull market of the past few years, accusing the sector of making “common cause with criminals and scumbags”.