Hong Kong stocks rallied in Wednesday morning trading, with the benchmark index rising 357 points, or 1.4%, to 25,324. This increase extended the rally into a second session and brought the market to a two-week high, with broad-based gains across most sectors. Positive sentiment came from Wall Street, which posted solid gains overnight after weaker US inflation data. The data reinforced speculation that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in September to support the improving labor market. In mainland China, markets also rallied to a three-year high. The main boost came from the...
USD/CHF remained depressed near the 0.8360 level on Thursday, extending its consolidation in this week's range. The pair struggled to gain traction amid mixed US economic data and a resilient Swiss economy. In the United States, retail sales in April rose by 0.1% to $724.1 billion, slightly above market expectations for an unchanged reading, while the previous month's reading was revised up to 1.5% from 1.4%. However, the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand rose only 2.4% year-on-year, falling below the 2.5% forecast and down from 2.7% in March. This marked a significant slowdown in...
Silver (XAG/USD) eased from its recent gains seen in the previous session, holding around $32.50 during Asian trading hours on Friday (5/16). The metal came under pressure, possibly due to a Financial Times report suggesting that the Trump administration is planning to add several Chinese semiconductor firms to its export blacklist, known as the "entity list." Silver's growing association with the chipmaking industry—due to its critical role in the production of electronics and semiconductors—has heightened market sensitivity to the development. Meanwhile, safe-haven demand for precious...
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...