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 Japanese Yen (JPY) drifts lower against a broadly stronger US Dollar (USD) during the Asian session on Friday and remains on track to register weekly losses amid reduced bets for an immediate rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BoJ). US President Donald Trump recently imposed a 25% tariff on all Japanese exports to America starting on August 1 and ruled out any extension of the deadline. This comes at a time when economic growth has been slowing, which, along with declining real wages and signs of cooling inflationary pressures, should allow the BoJ to forgo raising interest rates this...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) is poised to continue its winning streak for the fourth successive session against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, after recovering its daily losses. However, the AUD/USD pair faced challenges following the introduction of new tariff actions by US President Donald Trump. President Trump announced on Thursday a 35% tariff rate for goods imported from Canada, effective August 1. He further stated that the European Union (EU) would receive a letter notifying them of new tariff rates "today or tomorrow." The AUD receives support after the Reserve Bank of Australia...
The US dollar index climbed toward 98 on Friday, on track for a nearly 1% weekly gain, as investors responded to fresh tariff announcements and evolving monetary policy signals. President Trump ramped up trade tensions throughout the week, unveiling a 35% tariff on Canadian imports starting August 1 and signaling 15% to 20% blanket tariffs on most other trading partners. Earlier in the week, the administration also announced 50% duties on copper imports and Brazilian goods, all set to take effect on the same date. On the monetary policy front, Chicago Fed's Goolsbee pushed back against the...
Gold steadied after a two-day climb as traders focused on tariff threats from President Donald Trump and the outlook for US monetary policy. Bullion traded above $3,332 an ounce, after posting modest gains on Wednesday and Thursday that pared a weekly drop. The president proposed a slew of country-specific tariffs this week, including moves against Canada and Brazil, while pushing the overall deadline for implementation to Aug. 1. In addition, he's planning a substantial levy on imports of copper. Elsewhere, investors were considering the outlook for US...
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $65.75 during the early Asian trading hours on Friday. The WTI price tumbles amid concerns about a supply hike for August by OPEC+, a surprise increase in US crude inventories, and intensifying US tariff pressures. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) agreed at a July 6 meeting to hike their collective crude production by 548,000 barrels per day (bpd), as they continue to unwind a set of voluntary supply cuts. The group previously announced hikes of 411,000 bpd for May, June,...