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 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 the post-election rally sent major US indexes to all-time highs. The rally was fueled by optimism around Trump's victory and the possibility of a Republican sweep in Congress, which raised expectations for deregulation and tax cuts. In Japan, investors were focused on the Bank of Japan's monetary policy outlook after the latest summary of opinions revealed a division among policymakers...
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Tuesday, with investors cautious even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average's post-election rally continued to gain momentum to close at a record high. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.33%. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.23% while the Topix gained 0.68%. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.25%, while the Kosdaq Composite dropped 2.04% Hong Kong's Hang Seng futures were at 20,324, lower than the HSI's last close of 20,426.93. Traders in Asia-Pacific will be watching a slew of economic data from the region, including the National Australia Bank's survey on business...
Blue chip stocks lead advancers to start the week with the Dow Industrials climbing above 44000. Consumer discretionary and financial sectors rally on expectations of policies from a new Trump administration. Bond markets were closed for Veterans Day. Tesla gains 9.1%, Trump Media & Technology Group adds 4.7% and bitcoin surges above $84,000. Cigna rises 7.3% after saying it wasn't seeking to buy Humana, while AbbVie slides 13% after its experimental schizophrenia drug failed in trials. DJIA gains 304 points, or 0.7%, to 44293, the S&P 500 gains 0.1% to 6001, while the Nasdaq rises...
European stocks had a strong start to the week, with the Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 both rising over 1% as investors considered the potential market impact of Donald Trump's presidency. The construction and materials sector led gains, climbing 2%, while industrial stocks increased by 1.7%. On the corporate side, Continental's shares surged 10% after posting better-than-expected profits. Defence stocks, including Sweden's SAAB, Italy's Leonardo, and the UK's Rolls-Royce, rose between 3% and 4.4%. MTU Aero Engines gained 1% after an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. The chemicals sector was up 1.3%,...
US stock futures pointed higher on Monday as investors assessed the staying power of a post-election rally and looked ahead to fresh economic data this week. By 03:20 ET (08:20 GMT), the Dow futures contract had added 82 points or 0.2%, S&P 500 futures had jumped by 15 points or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had gained 73 points or 0.4%. The benchmark S&P 500 hit a fresh all-time peak and touched the 6,000 level for the first time on Friday, boosted by hopes that Donald Trump would roll out tax cuts and extensive deregulation during his second four-year term in the White...
The Hang Seng Index fell for the second day, dropping 1.5%, or 301.26 to 20,426.93 in Hong Kong. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Oct. 31. Meituan contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.2%. Longfor Group Holdings Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 5.1%. Today, 62 of 82 shares fell, while 14 rose; 3 of 4 sectors were lower, led by finance stocks. Source : Bloomberg
The Hang Seng Index got off to a rough start on Monday, hitting a new low for November on disappointment over stimulus measures released from China's briefing before the weekend. Hong Kong equities will of course be watching for any China-related headlines that President-elect Trump is likely to deliver. Also, this week will see earnings from the Hang Seng Index's two largest companies — Tencent topping the charts on Wednesday and Alibaba following on Friday. Tencent's previous earnings report comfortably beat estimates, which helped boost the HSI at the time. Although the gauge fell back...
UK homebuilder Vistry plunges 15% European markets closed lower on Friday, as investors digested corporate results and quarter-point interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of England. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the session 0.66% lower, with most sectors and major bourses in closing in the red. Mining stocks led the losses, shedding 4.2%, while travel and leisure stocks ticked up 0.8%. The index ended down 0.19% on the week. The losses in Europe come as market participants continue to assess political upheaval in Germany and President-elect Donald Trump's historic...
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....