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...
AUD/USD is holding steady between familiar technical levels after catching a thin bid on Tuesday. US economic releases will take a breather on Wednesday, giving Aussie traders a chance to catch their breath, at least after the next round of Australian Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data. The latest US Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) inflation figures loom large later this week, pushing investor sentiment into the middle ahead of the key data print. Before then, US data remains fairly limited, and data reactions will likely stay constrained. Australia's monthly CPI...
Gold price attracts some buyers on Tuesday. The precious metal edges higher amid concerns about the US Federal Reserve's independence after the report that US President Donald Trump says he is removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Spot Gold trades near its Friday peak at $3,378.91, consolidating gains yet confined to a tight intraday range at the beginning of the week. The US Dollar (USD) posted a modest intraday advance at the beginning of the day, a corrective advance that followed last week's sell-off. Still, the American currency had little scope for a steady advance following the United...
The U.S. dollar traded largely unchanged Tuesday in volatile trading, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he had fired Fed Governor Lisa Cook, in his latest assault on the U.S. central bank's independence. At 04:35 ET (08:35 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded basically flat at 98.320, recovering after falling as much as 0.4% after Trump;'s announcement. This followed the U.S. currency registering its biggest daily gain of the month on Monday. Fed independence in questionTrump said in the letter to Cook he was firing...
Oil prices fell 2% on Tuesday, erasing gains from the previous session, as investors watched developments around U.S. tariffs, the war in Ukraine and the potential disruption of Russian fuel supplies. Brent crude was down $1.58, or 2.3%, at $67.22 a barrel, a day after hitting its highest price since early August. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost $1.55, or about 2.4%, to $63.25. "Given the huge amount of uncertainties in the oil market caused by the Ukrainian conflict and the tariff war, investors will remain unwilling to commit themselves to either direction on a prolonged basis,"...
Gold prices hit a more than two-week high on Tuesday (August 26) after US President Donald Trump said he would fire Federal Reserve Chair Lisa Cook, a move widely seen as eroding the central bank's independence and undermining confidence in US assets. Spot gold rose 0.4% to $3,378.64 an ounce at 11:43 GMT, after hitting its highest since August 11 at $3,386.27 earlier in the session. US gold futures for December delivery rose 0.3% to $3,426. On Monday, Trump took the unprecedented action of firing Cook over claims of mortgage loan abuse. Some investors viewed Trump's move as an attempt to...