The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to reduce risk in large cap stocks. Among the index's contributors, Tencent was a major drag, with its shares falling by around 2.3%, putting pressure on the technology sector, which has recently been a driving force behind market gains. Weakness in large cap companies like this typically quickly impacts sentiment due to their significant weighting in...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for a meeting with Donald Trump to hammer out the most sensitive issues in a future peace deal with Russia, such as control of territory, following the latest round of U.S.-Ukrainian talks. In remarks to reporters released by his office on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian and U.S. delegations had inched closer to finalising a 20-point plan at the talks over the weekend in Miami. "This is a document referred to as a framework a foundational document on ending the war, a political document between us, America, Europe, and the Russians,"...
U.S. firms are preparing to raise prices again in 2026 as they continue to recover the impact of higher tariffs, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Michael Gapen stated in a note this week that the latest GDP data shows companies have already taken "a significant step towards recovering the costs of tariffs by pushing output prices higher," helping restore profitability and easing recession risks. The analyst noted that "tariffs pushed nonlabor costs sharply higher over the past two quarters," with firms initially responding by hiring less and seeing a hit to profits. However, in the...
In November 2025, housing starts in Japan declined by 8.5% year-on-year, significantly worse than market expectations of just 0.4%. This decline also reversed the 3.2% increase recorded the previous month. This marked the seventh consecutive decline this year, with declines spread across various housing categories, including owned homes, rental units, built-for-sale homes, and prefabricated housing. The sharpest decline was seen in built-for-sale homes, which fell by 11.3%, while owned homes also experienced a significant decline of 9.5%. While various factors were at play, this decline...
Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week, highlighting the seasonal swings in the data at this time of year. Initial claims decreased by 10,000 to 214,000 in the week ended Dec. 20, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 224,000 applications. Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.92 million in the previous week. New applications have been volatile in recent weeks, as is typical around holidays. Source : Bloomberg.com
As quarter-end and especially year-end approaches, financial markets often experience a phenomenon known as window dressing—where investment managers and large funds reorganize their portfolios to enhance the performance results they report to clients or shareholders. This strategy can have a significant impact on various asset classes, not just stocks but also gold and the dollar. What Is Window Dressing? Simply put, window dressing occurs when fund managers engage in specific buying and selling activities at the end of a period (quarter or year) to improve the portfolio's appearance....