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 Pound Sterling (GBP) trades in a tight range around 1.3300 against the US Dollar (USD) during the European trading session on Wednesday. The GBP/USD pair tracks a rangebound US Dollar as investors await the announcement of Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Adriana Kugler's replacement, which should happen sometime this week after she announced her resignation on Friday. At the time of writing, the US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback's value against six major currencies, wobbles around 98.80. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said to reporters that he will announce Fed...
Gold prices slipped slightly Wednesday, consolidating after four days of gains, as investors digested weak U.S. economic data as well as President Donald Trump's potential appointment to the Fed's board. At 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT), Spot Gold ticked down 0.4% to $3,366.50 an ounce and Gold Futures for December also lost 0.4% to $3,420.72/oz. Bullion has risen in the last four consecutive sessions, with marginal gains this week after a 2% jump on Friday. Gold supported by Fed cut hopes Gold prices have been supported of late by the potential of early interest rates cuts by the Federal...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, is remaining steady after two days of slight gains and trading around 98.80 during the European hours on Wednesday. Traders will likely observe the speeches from the Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers later in the day, including Susan Collins, Lisa Cook, and Mary Daly. The Greenback may gain ground as traders adopt caution following US President Donald Trump's announcement on Tuesday that he will appoint the Fed's Chair and Kugler's replacement by the end of the week, and confirmed his...
Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, rebounding from a five-week low in the previous day, on concerns of supply disruptions after U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs on India over its Russian crude purchases. "There's still plenty of uncertainty over the U.S. imposing secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil ... market chatter is growing that China's purchases of Russian oil may come into focus next," ING commodity strategists said on Wednesday. "If India were to stop buying Russian oil amid tariff threats, we believe the market would be able to cope with the loss of this...
USD/CHF weakened after two days of gains, trading around 0.8070 during the Asian session on Wednesday (August 6th). The currency pair depreciated as the US dollar (USD) weakened due to strong dovish sentiment surrounding the Federal Reserve's (Fed) policy outlook. Traders will likely be watching upcoming speeches by Fed policymakers, including Susan Collins, Lisa Cook, and Mary Daly. The US Fed is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points in September, following weak labor market data that has raised concerns about the US economic outlook. The market continues to price in a above...