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 futures slump on profit-taking and reduced safe-haven demand. Futures are down 1.8% at $3,287.20 a troy ounce. The precious metal is on track to finish the week nearly 3% lower on the sudden de-escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict, StoneX's Fawad Razaqzada says in a note. Investors have rotated funds out of safe-haven assets and instead into the racier tech sector, Razaqzada writes. Still, a pullback in gold prices might not be a bad thing. Gold's slide will allow technical overbought conditions on higher time frames to cool off, allowing the metal to shine again once macroeconomic...
Oil prices moved higher for a third day on Friday with traders seeing solid summer demand amid falling U.S. inventories even as supply is on the rise. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for August delivery was last seen up US$0.55 to US$65.79 per barrel, while August Brent crude was up US$0.52 to US$68.25. The rise comes as the market calms after the end of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran collapsed a risk premium for the commodity, sending prices down 14% from a five-month high and returning oil to the narrow range it has stuck to for most of the past two months. However Wednesday's...
Silver price slides over 2% to near $35.85 during European trading hours on Friday. The white metal faces a sharp selling pressure due to improvement in trade relations between the United States (US) and China and no signs of Israel-Iran truce violation. During the European trading session, a spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce confirmed that Beijing has agreed to expedite exports to rare earths to the US, while Washington will revoke non-tariff barriers. On Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also confirmed that China is going to "deliver rare earths to us" and...
Gold fell more than 1% to its lowest level in nearly a month on Friday due to easing geopolitical and trade tensions and as investors awaited U.S. inflation data for clues on the future trajectory of interest rates. Spot gold lost 1.3% to $3,283.56 per ounce by 0839 GMT, its lowest since late May. Prices have fallen by over 2% this week and more than $200 from a record high scaled in April. U.S. gold futures fell 1.6% to $3,295.70. The Iran-Israel ceasefire, brokered earlier this week by U.S. President Donald Trump, is holding for now. A White House official said on Thursday that the...
The U.S. dollar edged marginally higher Friday ahead of the release of key inflation data, but remained close to multi-year lows, on course for hefty weekly losses on expectations of lower interest rates and reduced geopolitical and trade tensions. At 04:45 ET (08:45 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, rose marginally to 96.770, remaining close to its lowest level since March 2022, on track for a 1.5% decline in June, its sixth straight month in the red. Dollar has further downside Signs of stabilization in the Middle East, with the...