The Hang Seng fell 94 points or 0.4% to end at 25,519 on Thursday, snapping the three-day winning streak after reversing early gains. Sentiment weakened ahead of China's July activity data due Friday, with investors wary of the impact from U.S. tariffs, soft demand, and recent adverse weather. Industrial output and retail sales in the mainland are expected to slow, while the jobless rate may edge higher. Meantime, fresh data showed new yuan loans logged their first monthly drop since 2005, as banks typically ease lending in July. Most sectors declined, led by tech, consumer, and...
Silver prices declined to below $33 per ounce on Wednesday, reversing gains from the previous session as easing global trade tensions reduced demand for safe-haven assets. The pullback followed productive US-China trade talks over the weekend in Switzerland, where both sides agreed to temporarily lower tariffs to 30% and 10%, respectively, for a 90-day period—a notable step toward de-escalation. While this has eased market fears of a prolonged trade war, uncertainty remains over what will happen once the agreement expires, with further negotiations expected in the coming weeks. Reduced...
The U.S. dollar slips lower Wednesday adding to the previous session's sharp losses, as a cooler-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation release bolstered the case for further interest rate cuts. At 04:00 ET (08:00 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, fell 0.3% to 100.560, following a 0.8% slide on Tuesday. Dollar steadies after hefty drop U.S. consumer price index inflation was weaker than expected last month, according to data released Tuesday, alleviating some fears about the impact of the Trump trade tariffs. This hit the dollar...
Oil prices fell on Wednesday as traders eyed a potential surge in U.S. crude inventories, although prices held near two-week highs amid optimism after the United States and China agreed to temporarily lower their tit-for-tat tariffs. Brent crude futures fell 39 cents, or 0.6%, to $66.24 a barrel by 0400 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 36 cents, or 0.6%, to $63.31. Both benchmarks had risen more than 2.5% in the previous session. The world's two largest economies agreed on Monday to pause their trade war for at least 90 days, with the United States cutting tariffs...
Gold fell on Wednesday as a de-escalation in US-China trade tensions dampened safe-haven demand, while markets eyed another batch of inflation data to gauge the Federal Reserve's policy path. Spot gold was down 0.7% at $3,226.11 an ounce, as of 0430 GMT. US gold futures were down 0.6% at $3,229.50. "The positive developments in US trade policy (are) dampening the appeal of gold in the short term," said Kyle Rodda, financial markets analyst at Capital.com. "I think if we see continued progress in trade negotiations and deals being done between the US and its trading partners, gold could...
Silver (XAG/USD) extended its previous day's retracement slide from the $33.20-$33.25 resistance zone and triggered some follow-through selling during the Asian session on Wednesday (5/14). The white metal dropped to a fresh intraday low, around the $31.60 area in the last hour, although the mixed technical setup warrants caution before positioning for deeper losses. Against the backdrop of a decent recovery from the $28.45 area, or the YTD trough touched in April, the recent price action along a three-week-old descending channel constitutes the formation of a bullish flag pattern. However,...