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...
The Hang Seng surged 573 points or 2.8% to close at its highest in nearly two months of 20,790 on Tuesday, as traders shrugged off news of reciprocal tariffs between China and the US. As Washington's new tariffs took effect, Beijing moved with levies of 15% on US coal and LNG and 10% on crude oil, farm equipment, and certain autos, set to begin on Feb. 10, China's finance ministry said. In addition, Chinese regulators launched a probe into Google over alleged anti-monopoly practices. Sentiment was further lifted by the resumption of mainland trading Wednesday after a week-long Lunar...
European stocks are heading for a higher open Tuesday as global markets breathe a sigh of relief after U.S. President Donald Trump paused planned tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico. Global markets slumped on Monday as investors reacted to Trump's decision to impose trade tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and threatened to introduce levies on goods from the European Union and U.K. The pan-European Stoxx 600 traded lower throughout Monday's session with all sectors firmly in negative territory. Carmakers, tech and industrial stocks were the worst performers. Market sentiment was...
Japanese stocks rose after the close on Tuesday (2/4), as gains in the Communications, Transportation and Marine Transport sectors boosted shares. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.61%. The best performers on the Nikkei 225 were Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (TYO:4506), which rose 9.72% or 69.00 points to trade at 779.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (TYO:5802) rose 8.04% or 224.00 points to close at 3,009.00 and Kyocera Corp. (TYO:6971) gained 7.44% or 117.50 points to 1,696.00 at the close. The worst performers on the session were Mitsubishi...
Hong Kong's stocks surged 460 points or 2.3% to a near 8-week high of 20,674 during the Tuesday morning session, following a muted close the prior day. The surge was boosted by a rise in US futures after President Trump and leaders of Canada and Mexico reached a deal to put tariffs on hold for a month. Meanwhile, China is preparing to complain to the World Trade Organization to avoid tariff hikes and tech curbs imposed by the Trump administration. Locally, the city's economy grew by 2.4% yoy in Q4 2024, accelerating from a 1.9% rise in Q3 and slightly surpassing forecasts of 2.3%. Gains...
The Nikkei 225 Index surged 1.6% to around 39,150, while the broader Topix Index rose 1.4% to 2,757 on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses from the previous session. This bounce followed U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pause tariffs on Mexico and Canada after discussions with their respective leaders. However, the U.S. is still expected to implement the proposed 10% levy on imports from China, continuing the trade policies seen during Trump's first term. In Japan, investors are focusing on Wednesday's release of the latest wage figures, which could influence the outlook for the...
Asia-Pacific markets rose Tuesday after Donald Trump paused tariffs on Mexico for a month, while Canada also said the U.S. president had put on hold proposed tariffs on its exports. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 started the day 1.64% higher, while the broader Topix index advanced 1.37%. South Korea's Kospi rose 1.26% while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.86%. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.65%. Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 20,495 also pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI's close of 20,217.26. Source: CNBC
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday staged a major comeback, recovering steep losses from earlier in the session after President Donald Trump said tariffs against Mexico would be paused for one month. The 30-stock average ended the day down 122.75 points, or 0.28%, to close at 44,421.91. At its lows of the day, the Dow was down 665.6 points, or 1.5%. The S&P 500 slid 0.76% to 5,994.57, and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 1.2% to 19,391.96. The iShares MSCI Mexico ETF (EWW) which tracks Mexican stocks, rebounded to close more than 2% higher.Stocks initially dropped Monday after...
Russia's Vladimir Putin warned Europe will quickly "stand at the feet of the master" after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, provoking a global markets meltdown and alarm among European allies. Following Trump's decision at the weekend to impose trade duties on America's closest trading partners, Russian President Putin said Sunday that Trump's second administration would "restore order" in Europe. "I assure you: Trump, with his character, with his persistence, he will restore order there quite quickly. And all of them, you will see — it will happen...
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....