The Hang Seng Index fell 54 points, or 0.2%, to close at 25,123 on Tuesday (August 19), marking its fourth session of declines and its lowest close in nearly three weeks. Investors remained cautious ahead of the PBoC's monthly benchmark lending rate review due on Wednesday. Weakening US index futures also added to risk-off sentiment ahead of the Jackson Hole meeting later this week. Meanwhile, the latest data showed China's youth unemployment rate jumped to 17.8% in July from 14.5% in June, the highest since August 2024. The broader unemployment rate also rose to a four-month high of...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) reverses an intraday dip against its American counterpart and climbs back closer to the top end of the daily range heading into the European session on Monday. Investors remain worried that US President Donald Trump's tariffs would trigger an all-out global trade war and undermine economic growth around the world. Moreover, persistent geopolitical tensions lead to an extended sell-off in equity markets and offer some support to the safe-haven JPY. Meanwhile, signs of broadening inflation in Japan keep the door open for further interest rate hikes by the Bank of...
The Silver price (XAG/USD) recovers to around $30.05 during the early European trading hours on Monday. The white metal edges higher as the fear of tariff wars and the potential global recession boost the safe-haven demand. Silver price has witnessed heightened volatility since last week in response to the US imposing reciprocal trade tariffs on key trading partners. Mounting fears of recession over the impact of a global trade war triggered by US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs dampen market sentiment and undermine the precious metals. Furthermore, strong industrial demand,...
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $60.30 during the early Asian session on Monday. The WTI price falls to its lowest point since April 2021 amid the fears that US President Donald Trump's global tariffs would push the United States (US) into a recession. Traders worry about an escalating trade war from Trump's global tariffs, which will sharply slow economic growth and raise fears of a slowdown in economic activity both in the US and globally. This, in turn, continues to undermine the WTI price. The tariffs, which are set to take effect this week,...
Gold price (XAU/USD) stages a goodish intraday bounce from a three-week low, around the $2,972-2,971 region, touched during the Asian session on Monday – and spikes to a fresh daily high, around the $3,055 area in the last hour. Data published earlier today showed that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) increased its state Gold reserves for the fifth consecutive month. Adding to this, the prevalent risk-off mood, recession fears, bets that a tariffs-driven US economic slowdown might force the Federal Reserve (Fed) to resume its rate-cutting cycle soon, and geopolitical risks act as a tailwind...
AUD/USD is off the five-year low but remains heavy near 0.6000 in the Asian session on Monday. The pair continues to suffer from a US-China trade war as US President Trump said that he would not do a deal with China until the US trade deficit was sorted out. Analysts at ANZ Bank expect the RBA to cut interest rates in all the next three policy meetings in May, July, and August. Additionally, the bank also sees the possibility of a larger-than-usual interest rate cut of 50 basis points (bps) in May if global growth deteriorates significantly. In addition to bloating RBA dovish bets, fears of...