Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more "noise" than signals of a short-term surplus. As of 3:50 PM WIB, Brent was at $69.60/barrel (+0.29%) and WTI was at $64.83/barrel (+0.31%). The gains were moderate, but enough to keep prices near the psychological $70 level for Brent. From a geopolitical perspective, market focus is on the potential for escalation in the Middle East. Recent reports...
Hong Kong stocks rose around 272 points, or 1.1%, to 25,806 at the start of trading on Friday, after a slight correction in the previous session. This increase occurred across nearly all sectors, indicating improved buying sentiment among market participants. Market sentiment improved after President Xi Jinping stated at the Central Economic Work Conference that 2025 would be a "truly extraordinary year" and that key economic targets would be achieved. The Chinese government also reiterated its commitment to implementing more proactive and coordinated macroeconomic policies to stimulate...
Japanese stock indexes rose in recent trading, following Wall Street's recent record highs. This rise was supported by expectations that the Fed will maintain its loose monetary policy in the near term. The technology, metals, and electronics sectors led the gains, with SoftBank Group shares surging 4.9%, Sumitomo Metal Mining up 4.7%, and Hitachi Ltd. gaining 3.2%. In the foreign exchange market, USD/JPY traded around 155.58, slightly weakening from 156.09 at the close of trading in Tokyo on Thursday, reflecting slightly more positive sentiment towards the yen. Investors are also starting...
Asian stocks opened higher on Friday (December 12) morning after Wall Street and global equity indexes set new records. The MSCI Asia Stock Index rose about 0.5% early in the session, with the Japanese and Australian benchmarks gaining about 1%. Positive sentiment stemmed from the Fed's third consecutive interest rate cut, which encouraged investors to venture into riskier assets. Among leading stocks, SoftBank Group surged more than 5% after news that the company was considering potential acquisitions, including data center operator Switch Inc. In the US, the S&P 500 closed up 0.2% on...
The Dow jumped more than 600 points to a fresh record and the S&P 500 reversed early session losses to trade marginally higher, while the Nasdaq pared losses to roughly 0.5% on Thursday afternoon as investors rotated out of richly valued tech names and into cyclicals and beaten down value stocks after the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points to 3.50% to 3.75% and signalled a conditional easing path. Visa rose over 5% on an upgrade by Bank of America, while Mastercard and American Express added more than 4% and 1.5% respectively. Major names including JPMorgan (+2.2%), UnitedHealth (+3.1%),...
European shares closed higher on Thursday after a series of lukewarm sessions, as investors welcomed the U.S. Federal Reserve's overnight interest rate cut and assessed a policy decision from the Swiss National Bank. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended 0.5% higher at 581.17 points, after a muted start to the session amid renewed worries about lofty tech valuations following cloud computing giant Oracle's hefty AI spending plans. Major regional bourses were broadly higher, with France's CAC 40 up 0.8% and London's FTSE 100 up 0.5%. In the STOXX 600, at least 19 sectors were in the green, with...
Both the STOXX 50 and the STOXX 600 slipped 0.2% on Thursday, marking a third straight session of losses for the former. Weak sales and profit forecasts from Oracle weighed on the tech sector, overshadowing relief from the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate cut and its signal that one more reduction is expected in 2026. Tech shares were broadly lower, with ASML Holding down 1.2%, SAP off 2.8%, Infineon Technologies slipping 0.6%, and Dassault Systèmes easing 0.4%. Ocado Group dropped more than 4.5%, pulling back after strong gains in the previous session, while Sartorius declined 2%....
The Hang Seng edged down to finish at 25,530 on Thursday, reversing early gains amid declines in tech and consumer stocks. Sentiment weakened as Chinese markets fell for a third consecutive session after Mexico approved a new tariff package, many from China, with rates of up to 50% starting January 1, 2026. The levies target hundreds of products such as metals, vehicles, clothing, and appliances. At the same time, concerns grew that Beijing might delay stronger property stimulus after the December Politburo meeting made no mention of urbanization, with analysts expecting any major steps...
The Nikkei 225 index closed down around 0.9% at 50,150 on Thursday, down nearly 450 points from the previous day. The main pressure came from the technology sector and stocks related to the AI/chip theme, with shares of giants like SoftBank plunging sharply after global sentiment toward AI spending wavered following Oracle's disappointing financial report. Regionally, Asian markets also tended to be mixed to weaker despite earlier gains on Wall Street, limiting room for upside in the Nikkei. From a fundamental perspective, the Japanese market is being squeezed in two directions: on the one...
Gold rises in the early Asian trade. There's a broad commodities uptrend, driven by macro uncertainty, a weaker dollar, and persistent demand for "hard" assets, says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst...
Oil extended declines after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook.
Brent...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakened against its US counterpart and reversed part of Friday's recovery from the lowest level since July 23 following Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks....