Silver climbed above $61 per ounce, extending a record rally as markets digested the Fed's 25 basis point cut and parsed Chair Powell's remarks which markets read as relatively dovish even as committee guidance remained cautious. The cut itself was largely priced in, but Powell's comments and a softer dollar lowered the opportunity cost of holding metal. At the same time the physical market has tightened materially which amplifies the policy impulse. ETF inflows and spot buying have surged this year and funds added large tonnes last week, while official and retail demand in Asia and India...
The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.9% to below 39,300 while the broader Topix INdex lost 0.6% to 2,720 on Friday, with both benchmarks sliding for the third straight session and heading toward their second straight weekly drop. Investor sentiment turned cautious ahead of the US jobs report, which could influence the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook for the year. Global stocks also faced pressure on Thursday after the release of the latest Fed minutes, which pointed to a potential slowdown in the pace of policy easing due to ongoing concerns over inflation. Domestically, Japan's real...
Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Friday, with investors assessing November pay and household spending out from Japan. Real household spending in Japan fell 0.4% year on year in November, a softer fall compared to the 0.6% decline expected by a Reuters poll of economists. The fall was also less than the 1.3% decline seen in October. The average real income per household stood at 514,409 yen ($3,252.98) in November, up 0.7% from the previous yearJapan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.41% on its open, with the broad based Topix seeing a smaller loss of 0.27%.South Korea's Kospi was the only outlier,...
European stocks edged higher, with the STOXX 50 rising 0.2% and the STOXX 600 up 0.4%, recovering from earlier declines. Mining stocks led gains, rising 1.5%, while retail stocks trimmed losses to end 0.8% lower. Bavarian Nordic shares jumped 4.8% after announcing a DKK 150 million ($20.7 million) share buyback. Meanwhile, Danish shipping giant Moller-Maersk dropped 5.8% following a tentative US dockworkers' labor deal that eased strike fears, triggering a sell-off in shipping stocks. Stabilizing US Treasury yields and European borrowing costs brought some relief to markets, but concerns...
The Hang Seng fell 39 points, or 0.2%, to 19,241 on Thursday (1/9) after trading slightly higher in the morning, with losses in the financial and property sectors. The market ended lower for a fourth straight session after fresh data showed China's annual inflation rate hit a nine-month low of 0.1% in December while deflation in manufacturers continued for a 27th month. Cautious traders also digested details about Beijing's expanded consumer trade-in scheme amid drag from the property sector. Meanwhile, U.S. futures plunged, on growing concerns that there may be fewer interest rate cuts...
Japanese stocks fell after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Insurance, Financial Services and Mining sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.87%. The best performers on the Nikkei 225 were Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TYO:4519), which rose 3.53% or 237.00 points to trade at 6,954.00 at the close. Meanwhile, DIC Corp. (TYO:4631) gained 2.77% or 95.00 points to close at 3,520.00 and Nintendo Co Ltd. (TYO:7974) gained 2.43% or 216.00 points to 9,119.00 in late trade. The worst performers on the session were Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (TYO:9107),...
The Hang Seng dipped 168 points or 0.9% to close at 19,280 on Wednesday, falling for the third straight session and touching a six-week low as losses spread across sectors. Risk-averse sentiment prevailed as traders grappled with uncertainty over US interest rates and policies under incoming President Trump. Caution also persisted ahead of the March National People's Congress in China, with investors expecting limited policy action in the interim. Meanwhile, Chinese officials criticized Washington's decision this week to blacklist some tech firms from China over alleged military ties....
Asia-Pacific markets tumbled Thursday following a choppy session on Wall Street as the Federal Reserve meeting minutes signaled interest rates could stay higher for longer due to sticky inflation. Investors in Asia also await China's inflation data for December. Economists polled by Reuters expect growth in consumer prices to have remained near zero, while producer prices are estimated to have continued to slide.Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.14% and the Topix fell 0.29%.Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.63%.South Korea's Kospi index fell 0.1%, while the small-cap Kosdaq slid...
U.S. stocks ended Wednesday little changed, as major indexes failed to stray frar from the unchanged mark, with investors digesting the impact of two conflicting sets of jobs data and a report that said President-elect Donald Trump was mulling a national economic emergency declaration on inflation. The minutes of the Federal Reserve's Dec. 17-18 meeting showed on Wednesday that officials saw a rising risk that price pressures may remain sticky as policymakers began wrestling with the impact of policies expected from the incoming Trump administration. Market sentiment was fragile after a...
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....