The Hang Seng closed almost flat at 24,911 on Wednesday after dipping slightly in morning deals. Traders digested comments from President Trump, who said the U.S. was close to a trade deal with China and that he would meet President Xi before year-end if an agreement is reached. Investors also looked ahead to key Chinese economic data, including trade figures on Thursday and inflation on Saturday, amid concerns over rising trade barriers and persistent deflation risks. At the same time, markets braced for a possible new U.S. tariff announcement targeting semiconductors and chips, expected...
Oil steadied after two days of losses as a potential nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran risked worsening forecasts of a supply glut for later this year. West Texas Intermediate was trading near $62 a barrel after dropping 2.4% on Thursday in its biggest daily drop this month, while Brent closed below $65. President Donald Trump signaled the U.S. was getting closer to a deal to curb Iran's nuclear activities. The nuclear deal raises the prospect of limited additional supply from Iran, but it would come to a market already set for a surplus. The International Energy Agency reiterated on...
Gold is retracing some of the steep losses it suffered earlier this week, after bond yields plunged on weak U.S. economic data that raised bets on further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Bullion edged up to trade near $3,245 an ounce, following a 2% gain on Thursday boosted by a report showing U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell by the most in five years, while separate data showed retail sales barely rose. Treasury yields fell on signs of waning economic activity and fading inflation, raising expectations for monetary easing. Lower borrowing costs and yields tend to benefit...
EUR/USD whipsawed on Thursday, briefly dipping back below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) and tapping the 1.1000 level for the second time in a week. A late recovery pushed Fiber bids back to where they started the trading day, near the 1.1200 handle. Pan-European Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the first quarter ticked slightly lower on the near end of the curve, dipping to 0.3% QoQ. Annualized GDP still held steady at 1.2% YoY, but a soft patch in the Q1 data is still giving Fiber traders a reason to pause. In the US, the Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation decreased...
AUD/USD came under further downside pressure on Thursday, adding to Wednesday's retracement and briefly dipping below the key support at 0.6400 the figure. The pair's pullback came despite decent losses in the Greenback and firmer Australian labour market report. AUD/USD slipped under renewed selling pressure despite a continued softening in the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday. The Australian Dollar (AUD) continued to fade part of Tuesday's sharp rebound, this time retreating below its critical 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) near 0.6460. Traders appear increasingly focused on the...
Oil prices settled lower on Thursday on expectations for a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions being eased and more barrels released onto the global market. Brent crude futures settled down $1.56, or 2.36%, to $64.53 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled down $1.53, or 2.42%, to $61.62. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the U.S. was getting close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had "sort of" agreed to the terms. An Iranian official told NBC News in an interview published on Wednesday that Iran was willing to agree...