The Hang Seng climbed 226 points or 0.9% to end at 24,733 on Monday, snapping a four-session dip as all sectors gained. Traders looked ahead to developments on the U.S.-China trade truce, set to expire on August 12. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said Washington is optimistic about reaching a deal with China, following recent trade talks in Stockholm. Separately, China's top leaders pledged to support the economy and rein in "disorderly competition" during last week's Politburo meeting. Beijing also confirmed its fourth plenum will be held in October, likely focusing on the next...
The Japanese yen (JPY) pared some of its strong intraday gains against its US counterpart, lifting the USD/JPY pair back above the 156.00 level heading into the European session on Thursday (16/1). Expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could cut interest rates twice this year, coupled with easing concerns about disruptive trade tariffs from US President-elect Donald Trump, remained supportive of the risk sentiment. This turned out to be a key factor undermining the safe-haven JPY and helped the pair find decent support ahead of the 155.00 psychological mark. Additionally, the...
GBP/USD moved lower after two days of gains, trading around 1.2220 during Asian trading hours on Thursday (16/1). The pound (GBP) came under downward pressure following weaker-than-expected inflation data from the United Kingdom (UK) released on Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year UK bond fell to 4.73%, retreating from a multi-decade high, after official data showed an unexpected drop in UK headline inflation, raising expectations of a rate cut by the Bank of England (BoE). The UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.5% year-on-year in December, down from 2.6% in November and...
Silver price (XAG/USD) remains stable at around $30.70 per troy ounce during the Asian session on Thursday. The price of the non-yielding metal gained support as December's lower-than-expected underlying inflation in the US sparked speculation that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) might implement two interest rate cuts this year. Meanwhile, 2-year and 10-year US Treasury bond yields stand at 4.27% and 4.66%, respectively, at the time of writing. Both yields dropped by over 2% on Wednesday. Additionally, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges the US Dollar's (USD) performance against six major...
The dollar index held around the 109 level on Thursday (16/1) after declining for three straight sessions, as signs of easing U.S. inflation strengthened expectations for further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year. U.S. core inflation rose 3.2% year-on-year in December, slowing from 3.3% in November, which was also the consensus forecast. On a monthly basis, the core reading fell to 0.2% from 0.3%, in line with expectations. The inflation data led to a sharp drop in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, which fell about 14 basis points to around 4.65%. Market participants also expect...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) remains stable on Thursday following three consecutive days of gains against the US Dollar (USD). The AUD/USD pair saw modest support as the AUD posted slight gains in response to the Australian Employment report. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), employment increased by 56.3K in December, up from 28.2K in November (revised from 35.6K) and significantly exceeding the market forecast of 15.0K. Meanwhile, the Unemployment Rate rose to 4.0% in December, compared to 3.9% in November, aligning with market expectations.Bjorn Jarvis, head of labor...