Silver prices weakened slightly and are now hovering around US$39–39.40 per ounce, still near their highest levels since 2011. Strengthening bond yields and the US dollar have somewhat curbed the upward trend, but the white metal still posted a year-over-year surge of more than 36%—leading gold's rise of around 31%. The global silver market has recorded a deficit for five consecutive years, and by 2025, a shortfall of approximately 149 million ounces is expected. Mine production has increased slightly, but not enough to offset surging demand. Despite pressure from a strengthening US dollar...
The Hang Seng fell 143 points, or 0.6%, to close at 23,892 on Friday, extending losses for a second session as Wall Street futures slumped and global markets turned red following Israel's military strikes on Iran the previous day. Rising tensions in the Middle East added a new layer of uncertainty to already fragile global markets, which are still under pressure from President Trump's aggressive and unpredictable trade policies. The index moved away from a nearly three-month high, as most sectors declined. The technology index fell 1.7%, led by sharp declines in Horizon Robotics (-4.3%),...
Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Transport and Communication sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.92%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nexon Co Ltd (TYO:3659), which rose 8.37% or 220.00 points to trade at 2,850.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Bandai Namco Holdings Inc (TYO:7832) added 4.34% or 201.00 points to end at 4,829.00 and Aeon Co., Ltd. (TYO:8267) was up 3.85% or 165.00 points to 4,449.00 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were LY Corp (TYO:4689), which...
(Hong Kong) The escalating tensions in the Middle East have impacted the financial markets, with the Hang Seng Index opening lower by 75 points or 0.31%, standing at 23,959 points. Concurrently, the H-share index dropped by 41 points or 0.47%, reaching 8,688 points, while the technology index also experienced a decline of 50 points or 0.95%, settling at 5,280 points. In the tech sector, there was a general softening trend, with Tencent showing a minor increase of 0.1%, while Alibaba witnessed a decrease of 1.5%. Similarly, Meituan fell by 1.2%, Xiaomi Group dropped by 0.5%, and Kuaishou...
Japanese equities slipped on Friday despite Wall Street's gains, driven by cooling US inflation and anticipation of Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Nikkei 225 opened 42.84 points lower at 38,324.93. Investors are awaiting Japan's revised industrial production report for April; the preliminary reading showed a 0.70% increase year-over-year. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba believes there's a significant gap in trade talks with the US, and he has no immediate timeline for an agreement, according to Bloomberg News on Thursday. This comes ahead of his anticipated meeting with...
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Friday, tracking gains on Wall Street following a batch of economic data that pointed toward a solid U.S. economy. Futures for Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 in Chicago were at 38,220 while their counterpart in Osaka last traded at 38,170 compared with the index's Thursday close of 38,173.09 Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index last traded at 24,178, compared with the HSI's last close of 24,035.38. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was also set to start the day higher, with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,605, compared to the index's close of...