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...
Hong Kong stocks rose on Monday morning (November 10, 2025) after data showed Chinese consumer prices rose 0.2% year-on-year in October—the highest increase since January. This news fueled hopes that deflationary pressures in the world's second-largest economy are easing. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.5% to 26,375, while the Hang Seng Tech Index edged down 0.2%. The gains were led by Pop Mart, which surged nearly 5%, followed by ZTO Express and New Oriental, which each rose 2.7%. However, some of the gains were offset by declines in Lenovo and SMIC. Analysts believe the surge in inflation was...
Global stock markets rallied at the start of the week amid growing optimism that the US government shutdown will soon end. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%, while the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.8%, after Senate Republican leader John Thune said a deal to end the 40-day shutdown was "taking shape." Several Democratic senators were reportedly ready to support the bill if final details could be agreed upon. Positive sentiment was also evident in Asian markets, with South Korean stocks leading the gains. Meanwhile, US Treasury yields rose to 4.12% as investors shifted to riskier assets, while the...
Japanese stocks are higher thanks to a weaker yen and hopes for domestic earnings growth. Tech and energy stocks are leading gains. NEC is up 2.7% and Inpex is 2.3% higher. Meanwhile, Honda Motor is down 3.8% after it cuts its fiscal-year earnings forecasts. USD/JPY is at 153.90, up from 153.47 as of Friday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are closely watching quarterly corporate results. Sumitomo Metal Mining and automaker Subaru Corp. are set to announce their earnings later in the day. The Nikkei Stock Average is up 0.9% at 50725.80. Source: Bloomberg
US stocks rebounded from early losses to close mostly higher on Friday amid hopes that Congress members were making progress toward ending the government shutdown. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones closed 0.3% higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed near the flatline as AI giants remained under pressure. Senate Republicans rejected Democrats' offer to scale down shutdown demands, but lingering hopes of an incoming agreement improved risk sentiment before the closing bell. The suspension of operations and government data were evidenced by the deteriorating consumer confidence measured by...
European stocks fell on Friday as investors digested more quarterly earnings, but weekly losses were inevitable, with concerns regarding overheated valuations evident. The DAX index in Germany dropped 0.8% and the CAC 40 in France declined 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.6%. Despite the decline, sentiment had earlier been generally been supported by a healthy earnings season, with European firms expected to report growth of 4.3% in third-quarter earnings, on average, data from LSEG showed earlier this week, above the 0.4% increase analysts expected a week ago. There are more...
Hong Kong stocks were back in the red Friday as markets digested news of a softening U.S. job market and an unexpected decline in China's export figures. The Hang Seng Index decreased by around 244.07 points, or roughly 0.9%, to end at 26,241.83. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell around 88.41 points, or 0.9%, to 9,267.56. China's exports in October slipped 1.1% year on year in US dollar terms to $305.4 billion, missing a consensus estimate of a 2.9% increase, according to a Bloomberg survey, the South China Morning Post reported. The contraction could signal a worsening outlook...
European markets opened higher on Friday (November 7th), recovering some of the previous session's losses amid concerns about an AI bubble. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.2% in early trading. France's CAC index rose 0.27%, Italy's FTSE MIB rose 0.4%, and Germany's DAX rose 0.4%. However, the UK's FTSE 100 reversed course and traded 0.2% lower. (alg) Source: CNBC
The Nikkei closed lower on Friday (November 7), down around 1.4% to 50,186.27 as the yen strengthened and global technology stocks continued to be under pressure. Semiconductor-related stocks led the decline: Renesas -3.9%, Advantest -6.1%, while SoftBank Group slumped 7.3%. In the forex market, USD/JPY weakened to around 152.95 from 153.87, weighing on the outlook for Japanese exporters and adding to sentiment. From a fundamental perspective, global risk-off due to concerns about AI valuations and signs of a weakening US job market have kept investors on the defensive. Domestic focus is on...
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....