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...
Gold prices weakened slightly on Thursday (February 12th), as more solid US employment data reduced market confidence in an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The strong employment data prompted market participants to shift expectations of a "quick rate cut," while a stronger dollar added pressure on the precious metal. Spot gold fell 0.42% to $5,062.94/oz. Other metals also corrected after a sharp rally the previous day. Silver fell 0.99% to $83.481/oz, indicating the market is beginning to cool down from the high volatility that had occurred. Pressure was also seen on precious...
Oil prices rose on Wednesday (February 11th), supported by a combination of geopolitical risk premiums from US-Iran tensions and more solid Asian demand signals particularly from India which helped ease concerns about a market surplus. Market participants considered Middle East headlines to be "outweighing" the negative sentiment from the surge in US oil inventories. At 09:15 GMT, Brent rose 78 cents (+1.13%) to $69.77 per barrel, while WTI gained 75 cents (+1.18%) to $64.52 per barrel. This increase extended the gains of the past two days, as the market reassessed a "risk premium" on...
Gold prices strengthened on Wednesday, supported by a weaker US dollar and falling US bond yields after the latest economic data reinforced the narrative that the Federal Reserve is likely to continue its policy easing. Investors are now adopting a more defensive stance while awaiting the release of US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), which has the potential to trigger further volatility. Based on updated spot prices, spot gold is at around $5,076.10 per ounce, up $34.20 (+0.68%). This data was recorded at 4:43 AM ET (approximately 4:43 PM WIB). In the derivatives market, US gold futures also...
Gold experienced a slight correction in the European session on Tuesday (February 10th), but remained above $5,000/oz as the market held its breath ahead of a series of US data that could alter interest rate expectations. Spot gold fell around 0.2% to $5,047.11/oz. What kept gold resilient wasn't just the data and the weakening dollar, but also the persistent geopolitical risk premium. Most notably, US-Iran tensions have once again brought the Strait of Hormuz into the spotlight. The US recently issued guidelines for US-flagged vessels passing through to stay away from Iranian territorial...