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...
Japanese shares rose, rebounding from a four-day losing streak, as AI-related stocks climbed following an upbeat earnings forecast from US chip titan Nvidia Corp. The blue-chip Nikkei 225 gained as much as 3.7%, the most since Oct. 6, to 50343.25 while the broader Topix index rose as much as 2.3% to 3319.54 in early Tokyo trading. Tech names led the rise, with SoftBank Group Corp. jumping as much as 9.1% and chip gear makers Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Ibiden Co Ltd. advancing over 7%. The gains in Japan come after Nvidia's shares rose over 4% post-market following the company's...
US stocks finished higher on a volatile Wednesday session, reversing some of the sharp selling from the prior four sessions as markets digested a divisive Fed minutes release and awaited Nvidia's earnings after the close. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.6% while the Dow added 0.1%. Nvidia was up 2.9% as analysts expect solid, though moderating, revenue growth and will focus on its outlook for AI services and data centre compute capacity. Retail results were mixed with Target down 2.8% and Lowe's and TJX higher. The FOMC minutes showed disagreement among officials over...
European stocks inched higher on Wednesday to halt the selloff from the four prior sessions as markets continued to assess the outlook of the Fed's monetary policy and gauge fair values for the highly-speculative tech sector. The Eurozone's STOXX 50 rose 0.3% to 5,552 and the pan-European STOXX 600 inched above the flatline to 563. Investor sentiment, however, remained subdued as concerns over overvaluation in AI and tech stocks persisted, with Nvidia set to report quarterly results after the North American closing bell. Companies with exposure to AI were mixed ahead of the major event,...
US stocks attempted a rebound on Wednesday, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq adding nearly 0.2% while the Dow Jones gained 45 points, halting the sharp selloff seen in the previous sessions. The communication services sector was the top performer while energy lagged amid a drop in oil prices. Nvidia rose 1.7% as investors await its earnings report after the closing bell, viewed as a key test for big tech. Lowe's jumped more than 4% after beating earnings expectations and TJX Companies was up 1% as its earnings and revenues topped estimates. On the other hand, Meta fell 1.4%...
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 were flat on Wednesday (November 19), trading near lows not seen since late September, but attempting to stabilize after four consecutive sessions of losses. However, investor sentiment remained low as concerns over overvaluation of AI and technology stocks persist, with Nvidia scheduled to report quarterly results today. UniCredit was among the worst-performing stocks (-1.2%) following reports that it may be considering smaller Italian rival BPER as a potential acquisition target. Engie (-1.3%), RWE (-0.8%), and Iberdrola (-0.8%) also traded in the red,...
The Hang Seng Index fell 99 points, or 0.4%, to close at 25,831 on Wednesday (November 19), extending its decline for a fourth session and holding at its lowest level in two weeks. Sentiment remained weak after Wall Street's prolonged decline on Tuesday ahead of the release of Nvidia's earnings report, the latest FOMC meeting minutes, and key US employment data. Concerns also grew that President Trump's lower approval rating could spur more fiscal spending and increase inflation risks. Diplomatic tensions between China and Japan persisted, further weighing on risk appetite. Locally, markets...
The Nikkei 225 closed down 0.34% to 48,538 on Wednesday, while the broader Topix index fell 0.17% to 3,246. This marked the fourth consecutive day of declines for Japanese stocks. The main pressure came from the technology sector, which is still being punished by the market due to concerns about overvaluation. Investors also chose to be cautious ahead of Nvidia's highly anticipated earnings release, given that many Japanese technology companies are connected to the global AI supply chain. Several major technology stocks weighed on the index, including Advantest (-0.6%), Lasertec (-2.2%),...
The Hong Kong stock exchange opened Wednesday with limited gains. The Hang Seng Index edged up around 24 points to 25,954, indicating the market hasn't fully lifted its cautious stance. Early in the session, technology and financial stocks were the main focus due to their inconsistent movements. In the technology sector, the Hang Seng Technology Index rose around 0.37% to 5,666, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index also gained around 0.19% to 9,192. Several major names, such as Tencent and Alibaba, moved positively, rising around 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively. Meituan and JD.com only...
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....