Gold (XAU/USD) holds firm on Wednesday, with price action contained inside the recent consolidation zone as markets brace for the Federal Reserve's (Fed) interest rate decision. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is hovering near $4,204, down from the intraday high of $4,218. The Fed will announce its policy decision at 19:00 GMT, with markets leaning toward another 25 basis point cut that would lower the Federal Funds Rate to the 3.50%-3.75% range. Expectations for reduced borrowing costs keep Bullion broadly supported, as lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding...
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street gains buoyed by a Tesla rally, and as investors wait to watch key Chinese financial policymakers speak at an investment summit in Hong Kong. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.53% higher in its first hour of trade. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.68%, while the Topix rose 0.65%. South Korea's Kospi and Kosdaq traded around the flatline. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were at 19,766, higher than the HSI's last close of 19,576.61. The Reserve Bank of Australia will publish the minutes from its monetary policy meeting...
European markets were lower on Monday, with investors turning their attention to regional inflation data and to Nvidia earnings due this week. The pan European Stoxx 600 was down 0.38% at 2:40 p.m. London time, with major regional bourses and sectors mostly pulling back. Retail stocks led losses, down 1.17%, while oil and gas stocks added 0.36%.Markets had closed lower on Friday, with the Stoxx 600 recording its fourth consecutive weekly decline. This week, investors will be looking to several key regional data points, including the latest inflation data out of the U.K. on Wednesday. The...
The Nasdaq Composite rallied Monday as Tesla shares surged and Wall Street braced for major market-moving earnings reports. The Nasdaq advanced 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1%. Tesla spearheaded the tech-heavy index's rally, popping 8% amid a Bloomberg News report, citing sources, that President-elect Donald Trump's team is working on ways to ease regulation on self-driving vehicles. Elsewhere, Apple and Netflix rose about 2%, while Advanced Micro Devices surged nearly 4%. Wednesday's report from the AI chip darling...
The Hang Seng rose 150 points or 0.8% to close at 19,577 on Monday, breaking a six-session of losses after China urged listed companies to lift share prices through mergers and acquisitions, employee stock schemes, cash dividends, and share buybacks. However, the index trimmed early rises following Morgan Stanley's downgrade of Hong Kong shares to "underweight" from "market weight". Most sectors advanced, notably financials, consumers, and tech. Geely Auto jumped 4.4% after Jefferies kept a "buy" rating, citing restructuring efforts to improve efficiencies. Some traders were cautious ahead...
European equity markets were set to open higher on Monday, as investors looked ahead to key inflation data from the Eurozone and the UK later this week, which could offer insights into the region's monetary policy direction. Markets were also awaiting remarks from key central bank officials for further clues on future policy moves. Moreover, European futures tracked US futures higher as investors prepared for Nvidia's earnings report this week, with traders watching for guidance about the demand for its Blackwell AI chips. In premarket trade, Euro Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 futures were both up...
The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.7% to below 38,400, while the broader Topix Index fell 0.6% to 2,696 on Monday, mirroring losses on Wall Street as the post-election rally continued to lose momentum and concerns over a slower pace of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve weighed on sentiment. Japanese stocks also faced pressure from a sharp rebound in the yen on Friday. On the economic front, investors reacted to data showing a surprising decline in Japan's machinery orders in September. Looking ahead, markets are focused on key economic releases later this week, including Japanese...
Stocks in Hong Kong jumped 272 points or 1.4% to 19,702 in early trade on Monday after retreating in the prior six sessions, helped by robust gains in most sectors. Financial stocks led the advance, climbing around 2% after a Chinese regulator urged companies with share prices lower than book values to improve performance. Tech and consumer sectors also saw strong gains, despite Goldman Sachs' recommendation to underweight Hong Kong stocks due to limited economic and earnings growth. Capping the upturn was fresh data showing foreign direct investment in China tumbled 29.8% yoy in the first...
Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly lower Monday as markets kickstarted what ING calls a "quiet" week for economic data from the region. Key data this week from Asia will include China's loan prime rate, set to be released Wednesday. ING said no change is expected in China's LPR, with the one-year rate currently at 3.1% and the five-year LPR at 3.6%. Japan will release trade data on Tuesday and October headline inflation numbers on Friday, while Australia's central bank on Tuesday will release minutes of its meeting earlier this month. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1.16% in early trade,...
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....