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 remained steady against the Greenback on Thursday after a solid Nonfarm Payrolls report in the United States (US) cemented the case that the Federal Reserve would hold rates at the July meeting, as the Unemployment Rate ticked lower. At the time of writing, the GBP/USD trades at 1.3634, virtually unchanged. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the US economy added 149,000 people to the workforce, exceeding estimates of 110,000 and May's 144,000 print. The Unemployment Rate came at 4.1% down from 4.2%. The data fortifies the Fed Chair Jerome Powell's...
The dollar index climbed above 97.3 after a stronger-than-expected June jobs report helped ease concerns over the health of the US labor market, despite lingering uncertainty surrounding trade policy. The US economy added 147,000 jobs in June, up from 144,000 in May and well above market forecasts of 110,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate unexpectedly dipped to 4.1%, defying expectations of a rise to 4.3%. Average hourly earnings increased by 0.2%, slightly below the projected 0.3%. Source: Trading Economi
The EUR/USD pair is practically flat on Thursday, trading right below 1.1800 at the time of writing, not far from the multi-year highs reached earlier this week. Investors' appetite for risk is fading as optimism about the US deal with Vietnam gives way to caution heading into the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data release. In the Eurozone, June's services activity was revised higher to 50.5 from the previously estimated 50.0 reading. These figures reveal that the sector grew again in the last month, following a slight contraction in May. The impact of the data in the Euro, however, has been...
Gold price (XAU/USD) holds onto gains near the weekly high around $3,365 during the European trading session on Thursday. The yellow metal trades firmly ahead of the United States (USD) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for June, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. Investors will closely monitor the US NFP data as a few Federal Reserve (Fed) officials have expressed concerns regarding the labor market strength. Also, market experts believe that US business owners are reluctant for fresh hiring amid uncertainty surrounding the tariff policy imposed by President Donald Trump after his return to...
Oil prices fell on Thursday after gaining 3% in the previous session as investors are wary higher U.S. tariffs may be reinstated, which could cause lower fuel demand, and as major producers are expected to announce an output hike. Brent crude futures fell 45 cents, or 0.65%, to $68.66 a barrel by 0645 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 44 cents, or 0.66%, to $67.01 a barrel Both contracts rose to their highest in one week on Wednesday as Iran suspended cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, raising concerns the lingering dispute over the Middle East producer's nuclear...