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...
Deutsche Bank forecasts the U.S. dollar will weaken approximately 6% on a trade-weighted basis by the end of 2026, according to a new report released by the bank's foreign exchange strategists. The bank's analysis indicates that the "Trump shock" to the dollar has concluded, but several fundamental factors still point to dollar weakness ahead. These include current valuations, balance-of-payments dynamics, and monetary-policy cycles, which collectively support a bearish outlook for the greenback. Deutsche Bank specifically highlights the widening U.S. current account deficit as a key...
Initial jobless claims in the US fell by 6,000 from the previous week to 216,000 on the period ending November 22nd, a third consecutive drop to tie the lowest level since February, and below market expectations of an increase to 225,000. In the meantime, continuing claims tose by 7,000 from the downwardly revised value in the first week of November. The results continued to reflect a low magnitude of new unemployment claims in the US economy, although elevated levels of outstanding insurance suggest a slowdown in hiring. Initial claims filed by former employees of the Federal government...
The US government posted a higher deficit of $284 billion for October in a report delayed by the recent federal government shutdown, reflecting record tariff revenue offset by the shift of some November benefit payments to last month's data, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. Budget results for the first month of fiscal 2026 were delayed by the 43-day shutdown of many federal agencies, which caused delays in some payments, such as government employee salaries, a Treasury official said. Last month's deficit rose $27 billion, or 10%, from the $257 billion deficit recorded in October 2024,...
Retail Sales in the US rose by 0.2% on a monthly basis in September to $733.3 billion, the US Census Bureau reported on Tuesday. This print followed the 0.6% increase recorded in August and came in weaker than the market expectation of 0.4%. "Total sales for the July 2025 through September 2025 period were up 4.5 percent (±0.4 percent) from the same period a year ago," the press release read. "The July 2025 to August 2025 percent change was unrevised from up 0.6 percent (±0.2 percent). Retail trade sales were up 0.1 percent (±0.5 percent)* from August 2025, and up 3.9 percent (±0.5...
US Producer Prices rose 2.7% in September from a year earlier, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS). That was broadly in line with expectations, though slightly above August's 2.6% uptick. Stripping out food and energy, core Producer Prices were up 2.9% over the year, above the 2.7% forecast and up from the previous 2.8% increase. Source: Fxstreet