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 Nikkei 225 index fell 0.7% to around 39,100 while the broader Topix index fell 0.3% to 2,733 on Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street overnight as markets took a breather from a post-election rally. Domestically, data showed that Japanese producer prices rose at the fastest pace in 14 months in October, highlighting ongoing inflationary pressures. Investors also continued to assess the impact of Japan's 10 trillion yen stimulus plan for AI chipmakers aimed at strengthening critical supply chains amid ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions. Technology stocks led the declines, with...
Asia-Pacific stock markets opened lower on Wednesday, tracking declines on Wall Street as the post-election rally in the U.S. stalled overnight. Asian traders were assessing corporate goods data from Japan, which showed year-on-year growth in producer prices, or wholesale inflation, in October hit its highest since July last year at 3.4%. That was higher than the 3% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters, and a 2.8% increase in September. Japan's Nikkei 225 was trading down 0.5% at the open, while the Topix was down 0.3%. South Korea's Kospi was down 1.1%, while the Kosdaq...
U.S. stocks finished lower on Tuesday as Wall Street took a breather from a postelection rally that propelled the major stock indexes to all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.9%, ending near 43,910, according to preliminary data from FactSet. It was the worst day for the blue-chip index since Oct. 31, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 was off 0.3%, to finish around 5,984. The large-cap benchmark index snapped a five-session winning streak. The Nasdaq Composite dropped less than 0.1%, leaving it nearly flat at 19,281. Stocks viewed as beneficiaries of...
European markets fell sharply on Tuesday, with the Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 dropping over 2%, marking the biggest decline since August. Investors are concerned about how US President-elect Donald Trump's return to office might impact Europe's economy. Most sectors were in the red, with mining stocks leading the losses, down by 4% due to lower metal prices like gold and copper. Technology stocks were the only sector to see slight gains. Investors are also focusing on economic data, with the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany declining more than expected. Also, German inflation...
A rally that drove stocks to a series of all-time highs ran out of steam, with Wall Street traders awaiting key inflation data and more clues on Donald Trump's transition to presidency. Equities fell after the S&P 500's biggest five-day run in a year. Following sizable post-election gains, small caps and banks lost ground. Nvidia Corp. led megacaps higher, while Tesla Inc. dropped 3% after soaring 44% in five days. Bitcoin fell after a sizzling advance that took the digital asset close to $90,000....
The Hang Seng Index fell for the third day, dropping 2.8%, or 580.05 to 19,846.88 in Hong Kong. The move was the biggest since falling 3.7% on Oct. 15. Meituan contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.3%. Zhongsheng Group Holdings Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 9.6%. Today, 76 of 82 shares fell, while 6 rose; all sectors were lower, led by commerce and industry stocks. Source : Bloomberg
The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5% to above 39,700 while the broader Topix index gained 0.9% to 2,765 on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session and taking cues from a strong lead on Wall Street as a post-election rally sent major U.S. indexes to all-time highs. The rally was fueled by optimism surrounding a Trump victory and a possible Republican landslide in Congress, raising expectations for deregulation and tax cuts. In Japan, investors were focused on the Bank of Japan's monetary policy outlook after the latest minutes of its opinion revealed a split among policymakers over the...
The Japanese yen held steady around 153.5 per dollar on Tuesday after falling in the previous session, weighed down by a stronger dollar amid expectations that strong U.S. economic growth and aggressive trade policies under Trump will push inflation higher. At home, minutes from the Bank of Japan's October policy meeting revealed a split among policymakers over the timing of future interest rate hikes. Several members expressed concerns about global economic uncertainty and rising market volatility, particularly the ongoing yen depreciation. However, the central bank maintained its forecast...
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....