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 was little changed on Monday before Tuesday's deadline for Washington and Beijing to strike a tariff deal and a key U.S. inflation report that could help determine whether the Federal Reserve lowers borrowing costs next month. The dollar index was down less than 0.1% to 98.164 after last week's 0.4% fall. Against the yen, the U.S. currency traded at 147.39, down 0.2%. Japanese markets were closed on Monday for the Mountain Day holiday. The euro was up less than 0.1% at $1.1652, while sterling was flat at $1.3462. The dollar remains on the back foot as investors recently...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) seesaws between tepid gains/minor losses against its American counterpart through the early European session on Monday amid mixed fundamental cues. The prevalent risk-on environment, along with the uncertainty over the likely timing of the next interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BoJ), is seen undermining the safe-haven JPY. However, the divergent BoJ-Federal Reserve (Fed) policy expectations hold back the JPY bears from placing aggressive bets. Investors seem convinced that the BoJ will raise interest rates by the end of this year. In contrast, the US central...
Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Monday, extending declines of more than 4% last week as investors awaited the outcome of talks between the U.S. and Russia later this week on the war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell 62 cents, or 0.93%, to $65.97 a barrel by 0631 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 69 cents, or 1.08%, to $63.19. Expectations have risen for a potential end to sanctions that have limited the supply of Russian oil to international markets, after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on...
Gold prices slipped on Monday as market participants focussed on U.S.-Russia talks on the war in Ukraine, and July inflation data that could offer more insight into the Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook. Spot gold was down 0.6% at $3,378.49 per ounce, as of 0521 GMT, after hitting its highest since July 23 on Friday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery dropped 1.4% to $3,441.20. "Cooling geopolitical tensions surrounding the war in Ukraine saw gold fall further, following Friday's announcement that President Donald Trump will meet with Vladimir Putin on the U.S. soil," City...
USD/CHF weakened after two days of gains, trading around 0.8060 during the Asian session on Monday (August 11th). The currency pair weakened amid increasing likelihood that the Fed will deliver multiple interest rate cuts later this year. US consumer inflation data due Tuesday, followed by preliminary UK Q2 GDP data and the US Producer Price Index (PPI) due Thursday, will be in focus to provide further impetus for the US economy. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the US dollar (USD) against six major currencies, retraced its recent gains and was trading around 98.00 at...