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 fell for the second session, down 46 points or 0.2% to 25,469 on Wednesday morning, after U.S.-China trade talks ended without a meaningful breakthrough. While extending the current tariff truce remains possible, Treasury Secretary Bessent said President Trump will have the final say. Caution also prevailed ahead of the Fed's rate decision later today, with analysts noting most Fed officials prefer to wait and assess the inflationary impact of tariffs before acting, especially with Trump's August 1 tariff deadline looming. Tech shares led the fall, followed by consumers...
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average is flat at 40681.72, as gains in electronics and brokerage shares offset declines in auto and pharmaceutical stocks. NEC Corp. is up 6.4% and Daiwa Securities Group is higher by 2.7%, while Honda Motor is down 1.7% and Chugai Pharmaceutical falls 1.2%. USD/JPY is at 148.27, compared with 148.25 as of Tuesday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on quarterly earnings as well as any domestic political developments. Source: Marketwatch
Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed as U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick affirmed that President Donald Trump's upcoming Friday deadline to impose major tariffs on a slew of trading partners will not be delayed further. However, Lutnick noted that trade negotiations with China are progressing on a separate timeline, he said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was flat at the open, while the Topix inched higher 0.1%. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.48%, and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.42%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.19%. Source: CNBC
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) softened on Tuesday, falling back for a second straight day as bullish-prone equity markets pivot into a defensive stance ahead of the latest interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve (Fed). A raft of key United States (US) economic data is stuffing the chute through the rest of the week, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP), US Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index (PCE) inflation, and the latest Nonfarm Payrolls report. The Dow Jones slipped back below 44,800, shedding around 200 points and backsliding four-tenths of one percent on the...
European stock markets closed higher in Tuesday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.33%, Germany's DAX climbed 1.03%, the FTSE 100 gained 0.60%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.72%, and the Swiss Market Index rose 0.37%. In Spain, GDP rose 0.7% in Q2 compared with 0.6% the previous quarter, according to the Spanish Statistical Office. Analysts expected the rate to remain at 0.6%, according to Bloomberg. In corporate news, Novo Nordisk reported Q2 earnings Tuesday of 5.96 Danish krone ($0.92) per diluted share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 6.04 krone per share. Sales for the quarter...
US stocks maintained modest gains on Tuesday (July 29) as the market digested a series of earnings reports ahead of key economic developments. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 6,400 and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.5% to break through 23,400, both reaching record highs, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline. Union Pacific jumped 2% after agreeing to acquire Norfolk Southern in the largest railroad deal in the US. Meanwhile, tech giants mostly gained ahead of earnings results from the world's largest companies by market capitalization this week, including Microsoft,...
The Hang Seng Index weakened 38 points, or 0.15%, to close at 25,524 on Tuesday (July 29th), reversing gains from the previous session as most sectors declined. Traders are increasingly cautious about the potential negative impact of the US-EU trade deal, including its implications for growth and inflation. Meanwhile, President Trump raised global tariffs by 15% to 20% for non-negotiating partners, a level not seen since the Great Depression. Profit-taking also weighed after benchmark indexes in Hong Kong and China recently hit multi-year highs. However, the benchmark indexes pared earlier...
European stocks traded higher on Tuesday, with the STOXX 50 rising 0.5% and the STOXX 600 up 0.3%, rebounding from losses in the previous session as investor focus shifted to corporate earnings. Philips led the gains, jumping around 10% after raising its full-year guidance. Shares of EssilorLuxottica also climbed over 5% after the company reported a rise in first-half operating profit despite facing tariff-related headwinds. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca added 0.6% following its earnings release, and Barclays posted better-than-expected profits and announced a £1 billion share buyback. However,...
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....