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...
WTI crude fell to around $78.1 a barrel on Tuesday after a three-day rally. On Monday, crude hit a five-month high as tighter U.S. sanctions on Russia's energy industry threatened global supplies. The restrictions have targeted major producers and hundreds of ships and tankers, forcing major buyers such as India and China to look for alternative sources. Early signs of disruption are already visible, with a senior Indian official saying sanctioned ships would be barred from unloading, and China securing oil supplies from the UAE and Oman. In a related move, six European countries asked the...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) continued its gains against the US Dollar (USD) for the second straight day on Tuesday, rising from 0.6131, its lowest level since April 2020. The AUD/USD pair strengthened as the AUD benefited from strong commodity prices. US President-elect Donald Trump's economic team believes that gradually increasing import tariffs is boosting investor confidence, supporting risk-sensitive currencies such as the AUD and contributing to the appreciation of the AUD/JPY pair. Source: FXStreet
Gold (XAU/USD) prices maintained their positive bias through the early European session on Tuesday, albeit lacked bullish conviction and remained below one-month highs touched the previous day. Reports that US President-elect Donald Trump's top economic adviser is considering a gradual tariff hike to prevent a sudden spike in inflation triggered a modest pullback in the US Treasury bond yields. This, in turn, kept the US Dollar (USD) pressured below two-year highs touched on Monday and provided some support to the commodity. Meanwhile, easing concerns about disruptive trade tariffs under...
Oil prices slipped at market open on Tuesday (14/1) but remained near four-month highs as Chinese and Indian buyers sought new suppliers in the wake of the Biden administration's toughest sanctions yet on Russian oil. Brent futures slipped 22 cents, or 0.27%, to $80.79 a barrel by 0122 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 16 cents, or 0.2% to $78.66 a barrel. That followed roughly 2% gains in Monday trading, after the U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas as well as 183 vessels that trade oil as part of Russia's...
The dollar index held steady around 109.6 on Tuesday, near a more than two-year high hit in the previous session. Signs of continued resilience in the U.S. economy prompted traders to scale back expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut this year. Investors are also bracing for key inflation data this week, which could further influence the outlook for interest rates. Markets are now pricing in just 29 basis points of easing this year, a sharp drop from the 50 basis points forecast earlier this month. A quarter-point rate cut that was expected is now likely to be delayed until...