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...
The U.S. dollar held near a two-week high against a basket of major currencies on Friday (August 22nd) as investors reduced rate cut bets ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. The euro and the pound touched their weakest levels against the dollar since early August, last holding steady at $1.1160 and $1.3413, respectively. The dollar index edged up 0.1% to 98.72, heading for a 0.9% gain this week to end two straight weeks of declines. Although indications of a weakening U.S. labor market have bolstered hopes for a reduction in borrowing...
Oil prices were little changed on Friday (August 22nd) as hopes for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine faded, putting prices on track for their first weekly gain in three weeks. Brent crude futures fell 17 cents, or 0.25%, to $67.50 a barrel at 10:00 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $63.39. Both contracts rose more than 1% in the previous session. Brent has risen 2.8% so far this week, while WTI has gained 1%. "Everyone is waiting for President Trump's next move," said UBS commodities analyst Giovanni Staunovo. "In the coming days, it seems...
Gold weakened on Friday (August 22nd) due to a stronger dollar, with the market awaiting a speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the annual Jackson Hole symposium for further insight into the Fed's monetary policy direction. Spot gold prices fell 0.4% to $3,326.35 per ounce at 08:17 GMT, while US gold futures for December delivery fell 0.4% to $3,368.80. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said the slightly stronger US currency played a significant role in the current decline in gold prices. A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for foreign buyers. The dollar index rose...
The AUD/USD pair traded cautiously near a fresh two-month low around 0.6400 during Friday's European trading session. The AUD/USD pair is expected to remain volatile as investors await Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium (JH) at 14:00 GMT. Investors will be closely watching Fed Chairman Powell's speech for fresh clues on whether the US central bank will cut interest rates at its September policy meeting. Ahead of Powell's speech, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, hit a new 10-day high around...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) continued to weaken against the broadly stronger US Dollar (USD) for the second consecutive day, falling to a three-week low during the Asian session on Friday. Uncertainty over the likely timing of the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) next interest rate hike continued to weaken the JPY, which failed to find any relief from Japanese consumer inflation figures. In fact, Japan's National Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicated that underlying inflation remains strong, supporting the argument for further policy normalization by the BoJ. Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) maintained its...