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...
Oil rose 1% on Monday as signs of strong demand outweighed the impact of a bigger-than-expected OPEC+ output increase in August, as well as concerns about the potential impact of U.S. tariffs. Brent crude futures rose 91 cents, or 1.3%, to $69.20 by 12:20 p.m. ET (1620 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $67.57, up 57 cents, or 0.8%. The benchmarks had dropped to $67.22 and $65.40, respectively, earlier in the session. "The supply picture is clearly improving, however, stronger demand remains above expectations as well," Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK...
Gold fell as the dollar strengthened at the start of a potentially volatile week that will see U.S. trading partners scramble to finalize deals with the Trump administration ahead of a July 9 tariff deadline. Bullion fell as much as 1.2% an ounce before paring losses, while the dollar gauge rose 0.4%. President Donald Trump is expected to announce a trade deal and issue a tariff warning later Monday, as countries negotiated through the weekend to avoid the highest-ever levies on their U.S. exports before Wednesday's deadline. Trump had previously signaled that an additional 10% levy would...
The US dollar (USD) started the week on a stronger footing against its major peers, supported by safe-haven demand and diminishing odds of a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut anytime soon. Risk sentiment soured as markets braced for the July 9 deadline, when the United States (US) is expected to formally notify trading partners of new tariffs potentially as high as 70%, targeting over 100 countries. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, moved higher during the early American trading hours. At the time of writing, the index was trading...
Gold (XAU/USD) is currently under pressure as markets await more news of trade deals ahead of Wednesday's tariff deadline. In the European session, Gold is trading around $3,300 at the time of writing. Liquidity and trade volumes are increasing on Monday as the US returns to financial markets following Friday's Independence Day holiday. US yields have also firmed after Thursday's Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report revealed a resilient labour market. This reduced the prospects that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would lower interest rates in July. The positive economic data has eased fears of a...
The US Dollar and the Swiss Franc are the best performers among major currencies on Monday, as investors rush for safety, anxious that Trump's tariffs will cause a significant disruption in global trade. Between them, however, the Dollar is showing a mild advantage. The USD/CHF advances to levels right above 0.7970, yet still below the 0.8000 psychological level and less than 100 pips above the 14-year low, at 0.7875, hit last week. The US president announced over the weekend that he will send letters to some countries specifying the tariffs that will be applied to their products, but did...