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...
US stocks pulled back on Friday as the latest economic data continued to reflect stubborn inflationary pressures in the US economy, clouding the Fed's rate outlook. The S&P 500 and the Dow dropped 0.2% from record highs yesterday, while pressure for the heavyweight tech sector drove the Nasdaq down by 0.5%. Personal income and spending accelerated from the previous month to reflect a robust economy at the turn of the quarter, when President Trump toned down tariff threats. In the meantime, core PCE prices, the Fed's preferred gauge for underlying inflation, accelerated to 2.9%...
The Hang Seng Index rose 79 points, or 0.3%, to close at 25,078 on Friday (August 29th), snapping a three-day decline driven by gains in consumer and technology stocks. The index gained 1.2% in August, its fourth consecutive monthly gain, driven by momentum in Chinese stocks, which are nearing a decade-high thanks to strong institutional inflows, attractive valuations, and pro-growth policies, particularly around AI innovation and technological self-sufficiency. The market pared earlier gains as US index futures fell sharply ahead of the PCE inflation data, the Fed's preferred benchmark,...
European stock markets are heading for a mixed open on Friday as attention turns to inflation prints from some of the region's biggest economies, along with the U.S. Price rise data is due from France, Spain, Italy and Germany, ahead of the flash August reading for the euro area next Tuesday. Stateside, investors will be monitoring the personal consumption expenditures price index, a key metric for the Federal Reserve. It comes after Fed Chair Jerome Powell stoked expectations for an interest rate cut in September with a speech last week widely interpreted as dovish-tilting. Interest rate...
Japanese stocks plunged on profit-taking ahead of the release of US personal consumption expenditures data.The Topix index fell 0.5% to 3,075.18 as of 3:30 p.m. Tokyo time.The Nikkei fell 0.3% to 42,718.47."Investors are cautiously monitoring US economic indicators ahead of a possible US interest rate cut in September," said Naoki Fujiwara, senior investment manager at Shinkin Asset Management.The sell-off spread across sectors, hitting exporters such as electronics and automakers, as well as banks and insurance companies. Toyota Motor contributed the most to the Topix decline, falling 1.6%....
Hong Kong stocks rose 191 points or 0.8% to 25,183 on Friday morning trade, rising for the first session in four after Wall Street's S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed at record highs overnight on stronger-than-expected U.S. Q2 GDP growth. Gains were broad-based, led by consumer, financial, and property shares. Trip.com climbed 3.8% after logging stronger revenues, while Ping An Insurance jumped 2.7% on plans to buy more equities, following increased allocations to high-dividend Hong Kong-listed banks earlier this year. Pharma stocks also outperformed, with Wuxi Biologics up 5.2%, followed...
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday, breaking ranks from Wall Street gains as investors also assess a slate of economic data in the region. Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.31%, while the Topix lost 0.39% after core consumer prices in Tokyo rose at a slower pace in August. The Tokyo core CPI, which strips out fresh food but includes energy, climbed 2.5% from a year earlier, matching Reuters' economists' forecasts, and easing from July's 2.9% increase. The figure however remained above the Bank of Japan's 2% target. Japan's unemployment rate also eased to 2.3% in July, down from 2.5% the...
Japanese stocks may trade rangebound as uncertainty over the U.S. tariff impact on earnings continues. Nikkei futures are flat at 42920 on the SGX. USD/JPY is at 146.87, compared with 147.17 as of Thursday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on Japanese economic data, including industrial production due later, as well as domestic politics. Consumer prices, excluding volatile fresh food, rose 2.5% from a year earlier for August in Tokyo, matching a 2.5% rise expected, government data showed earlier Friday. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7% to 42828.79 on Thursday....
The S&P 500 notched a record high close on Thursday after Nvidia's quarterly report fell short of investors' high expectations but confirmed that spending related to artificial intelligence infrastructure remains strong. Shares of Nvidia dipped as much as 2.9% after Sino-U.S. trade uncertainties prompted the leading AI chip designer to exclude potential China sales from its quarterly forecast late on Wednesday. Investors viewed Nvidia's report, including a 56% surge in quarterly revenue, as confirmation that demand related to AI technology remains strong, supporting a rally in...
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....