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...
European stocks continued to strengthen on Monday, October 27, 2025, as markets grew more confident after the US and China announced they had a preliminary framework for a trade agreement. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose around 0.2%, Germany's DAX index moved up around 0.1%, and the UK's FTSE 100 gained around 0.7%. Investors saw signs that trade tensions between the world's two largest economies were beginning to ease, making the risk of a global recession feel slightly less looming. This gain comes after an already very strong week. The FTSE 100 just hit a record close above 9,600...
Japanese stocks closed at a new record high after market sentiment grew more optimistic. Investors now believe the US Fed will continue to cut interest rates after US inflation (CPI) data appeared more benign. This has led global markets to believe that high interest rate pressures will soon ease. Domestically, strong public support for the new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, also helped boost risk appetite. The result: the Topix rose 1.7% to 3,325.05, and the Nikkei jumped 2.5% to 50,512.32—breaking through the psychological 50,000 level for the first time. These gains were nearly uniform....
The Hang Seng Index rose as Hong Kong markets expressed relief following the initial agreement between China and the United States in Kuala Lumpur. Investors began to believe that trade relations between the world's two largest economies would be more stable, leading to a return to risk appetite. On Monday morning, the Hang Seng rose around 0.7% to 26,342, while the Hang Seng Tech Index also rallied. Major technology and industrial stocks led the gains: WuXi AppTec surged more than 7%, Chinese chipmaker SMIC rose almost 4%, Baidu rose almost 3%, and Alibaba also rose above 3%. This means...
That the US and China were nearing a trade deal triggered a cross-asset rally, lifting stocks, oil and copper along with China-exposed currencies such as the Australian dollar. Treasuries and gold dropped. Asian shares rose 0.8% with stocks in Japan and South Korea jumping by around 2%. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 advanced after both underlying indexes closed at a record high last week. Futures for US copper — a bellwether for global growth — surged, as did oil, with the potential US-China deal bolstering the outlook for global demand. The...
Japanese stocks are expected to continue strengthening due to a combination of two factors favored by the market: a weakening yen and expectations of economic stimulus from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government. Nikkei futures traded on the SGX were recorded as rising around 1.5%, while USD/JPY was trading around 153 per US dollar, weakening from its previous closing level. A weak yen is usually good news for Japanese exporters because their dollar sales appear larger when converted into yen. On the political front, market participants are closely monitoring the economic measures being...
Three major US indexes closed at new record highs after a lower-than-expected inflation report raised the possibility of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this year and prompted investors to shift to riskier assets. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Nasdaq rose 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 470 points. Technology stocks led the rally, with AMD and IBM surging 7.5% and 8.77%, respectively, after IBM said it had successfully implemented a key quantum error correction algorithm on AMD chips, boosting sentiment across the sector. Intel rose 1.6% after returning to...
European stocks closed slightly higher on Friday amid a mix of corporate earnings reports, while markets assessed the outlook for European growth and interest rates. The STOXX 50 edged up to 5,674, and the STOXX 600 gained 0.2% to close at a record 575. Sanofi rose 3% on better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, and Saab jumped 6% after raising its full-year organic sales forecast. NatWest also jumped 5% on higher third-quarter earnings and an improved performance target. ENI also jumped nearly 2% after releasing its earnings results. Meanwhile, Safran fell 1.4% despite beating analysts'...
European stocks edged lower Friday afternoon after briefly hitting record intraday highs, as investors digested corporate earnings and economic data amid hopes that US–China trade tensions may ease when Presidents Trump and Xi meet next week. The STOXX 50 fell 0.3% to 5,660, while the STOXX 600 hovered near 574. For the week, the STOXX 50 added 1% and the STOXX 600 gained 1.5%. Among corporate movers, Sanofi rose 2.7% on a Q3 profit beat, Saab surged 7% after raising its full-year organic sales forecast, and NatWest gained 3.3% on higher Q3 profits and an upgraded performance target. Vinci...
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....