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...
Gold prices ticked higher on Friday, supported by uncertainty stemming from a slew of U.S. tariffs slapped on trading partners, although a stronger dollar kept bullion on track for a weekly loss. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $3,299.08 per ounce, as of 0553 GMT. Bullion is down 1.2% so far this week. U.S. gold futures edged up 0.1% to $3,351.60. "Gold has been in a $3,250 to $3,450 range for about two months now, and we see it heading towards the bottom end of the range and perhaps breaking it," said Marex analyst Edward Meir, adding that the dollar's strength was driven by the Federal...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, remains stronger for the seventh successive day and is trading around 100.00 during the Asian hours on Friday. The Greenback surged as the US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index report suggested that price pressures would increase in the second half of 2025 and delay the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) interest rate cuts until at least October. Traders await the United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), due later in the North American session, which is expected to hold in...
Gold prices were muted around $3,290 per ounce on Friday and were on track for its worst weekly performance since late June, pressured by a stronger US dollar following President Trump's introduction of higher tariffs on multiple countries. Trump reaffirmed a 10% global base tariff and imposed retaliatory duties of up to 41% on nations without trade agreements with the US. He also announced a 40% levy on goods suspected of being rerouted through third countries to bypass existing tariffs. Meanwhile, US data showed that both core and headline PCE prices exceeded expectations in June,...
The Australian dollar stabilized around $0.643 on Friday, halting a six-day losing streak as Australia avoided the latest US tariff hikes, with most imports remaining subject to the 10% rate. On Thursday, President Trump issued an executive order revising "reciprocal" tariffs on several countries—raising rates 10–41%—while countries not listed will face an automatic 10% duty and transshipped goods an additional 40%, taking effect seven days after the order. However, Australia avoided steeper tariffs, with its rate held at 10% despite earlier threats of a hike to 15–20%. The White House...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) touches a fresh four-month low against its American counterpart during the Asian session on Friday and seems vulnerable to weaken further. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) revised up its inflation forecasts on Thursday and offered a less gloomy outlook on the economy, keeping hopes alive for the resumption of rate hikes later this year. However, BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda struck a dovish tone and signaled patience in policy normalization, to observe the tariff impact after the US-Japan trade deal. Furthermore, domestic political uncertainty, which has been fueling concerns about...