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...
"I am very pleased with the 50% tariff allocation on the European Union, especially since they have been slow (to put it mildly!), in our negotiations with them," US President Donald Trump said in a post published on Truth Social on Tuesday. "I was just informed that the EU has asked for an immediate date for a meeting. This is a positive event, and I hope that they will finally, as I have asked China, open up European Countries to Trade with the United States," Trump added. The comments failed to spark a noticeable reaction in the US Dollar (USD). At the time of writing, the USD Index was...
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic are set to hold another round of talks in early June on the sidelines of a WTO meeting in Paris, according to the Global Times. "The two sides will conduct in-depth exchanges on the important topic of China-EU economic and trade cooperation," a source said, adding the talks will help prepare for future high-level exchanges. This meeting marks the third between the two in 2025, reflecting a notable increase in China-EU engagement amid global trade uncertainty. Recent initiatives include the China-EU Working Group...
Tencent and Baidu, two of China's largest technology companies, revealed how they're keeping in the global artificial intelligence race even as the U.S. tightens some curbs on key semiconductors. The business' methods include stockpiling chips, making AI models more efficient and even using homegrown semiconductors. While the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump scrapped one controversial Biden-era chip rule, it still tightened exports of some semiconductors from companies including Nvidia and AMD in April. Big names in the sector addressed the issue during their latest earnings...
President Donald Trump threatened Monday to divert billions of dollars in endowment funds from Harvard University and give them to vocational schools across the U.S., escalating his feud with the elite institution. "I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Endowment Funds from the highly anti-Semitic Harvard, and giving them to STRUGGLE SCHOOLS across our country," Trump said in a social media post. "What a great investment that would be for the U.S., and much needed!!!" Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration has moved to freeze...
Iran would be able to survive if negotiations with the U.S. over its nuclear programme fail to secure a deal, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday, after President Donald Trump described weekend talks with Tehran as "very good". The negotiations aim to resolve a decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions, and Trump has threatened Iran with crippling economic sanctions and bombing if no new nuclear agreement is reached. "It's not like we will die of hunger if they refuse to negotiate with us or impose sanctions," Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state media about the talks...