The Hang Seng rose 169 points or 0.7% to close at 24,902 on Tuesday, reversing early losses and marking its second consecutive session of gains. Sentiment improved after a private survey showed China's services activity grew at the fastest pace in 14 months in July, supported by rises in new orders, foreign sales, and employment. A rally on Wall Street also lifted mood, as weaker U.S. jobs data fueled bets on a Fed rate cut in September. Gains were broad-based, led by financials, tech, and consumers, as investors looked past weather-related disruptions in Hong Kong, including heavy rain...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) struggles to capitalize on the previous day's modest gains and oscillates in a narrow range against its American counterpart during the Asian session on Friday. The near-term bias, meanwhile, seems tilted in favor of the JPY bulls in the wake of the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) more hawkish stance. In fact, the BoJ remains on track for more interest rate hikes, while other major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve (Fed), are seen lowering borrowing costs further. Apart from this, a slight deterioration in the global risk sentiment, persistent geopolitical...
The dollar index held below 106 on Friday, following a decline in the previous session, as investors braced for a key jobs report that could influence the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates in December. The November nonfarm payrolls report is expected to show a gain of 200,000 jobs, with a weaker-than-expected number potentially fueling speculation of a rate cut. Meanwhile, data released on Thursday showed that initial jobless claims rose more than anticipated, hitting 224,000, signaling a potential cooling in the labor market. Markets are now pricing in a 71% chance of a 25...
The Australian dollar (AUD) weakened on Friday. Disappointing economic growth could prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to adopt a more dovish stance at its monetary policy meeting next week, potentially setting up an interest rate cut in February. This, in turn, exerts selling pressure on the Aussie. Traders will be closely watching the November US jobs report, including Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), Unemployment Rate, and Average Hourly Earnings. The US economy is expected to add 200,000 jobs in November after rising 12,000 in October. A weaker-than-expected reading could drag the...
EUR/USD strengthened on Thursday, rising seven-tenths of a percent and re-approaching the 1.0600 level. European Retail Sales beat market median estimates in October, but were still down from the previous month. The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point next week, and market sentiment is tilted toward risk ahead of Friday's US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data. Source: FXStreet
Oil prices fell on Thursday as investors weighed an ample supply outlook for next year against OPEC+ delaying its planned output increase by three months to April 2025. Brent crude settled down 22 cents, or 0.3%, at $72.09 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled down 24 cents, or 0.35%, at $68.30 a barrel. OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus allies including Russia, had been planning to start unwinding cuts from October 2024, but slowing global demand and booming production outside of the group forced it to postpone the plans on several...