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 was steady in early Asian trade, supported by continuing geopolitical tensions that typically boost the precious metal's appeal as a safe haven. The Israeli military issued two warnings about incoming missiles early Wednesday, local time, saying the launches had been detected as being aimed at Iran and that they were trying to intercept them. "The environment for precious metals remains favorable," Thu Lan Nguyen of Commerzbank Research said in a note. The head of FX and Commodity Research cited factors including continued high geopolitical uncertainty. Spot gold was little changed at...
GBP/USD plummeted over 1.2% on Tuesday, backsliding through near-term congestion and popping out the other side near the 1.3400 handle after global investors were knocked off their pre-seeded hopes that the Israel-Iran altercation would find a quick and peaceful resolution. Donald Trump, posting on social media Tuesday, declared that he wants an "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" from Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and announced that American military assets were moving into the Middle East conflict region. The escalation between Israel and Iran, on top of Trump's decision to further involve...
The US Dollar rallied past 98.86, up 0.74% at four-day highs, despite US Treasury yields plunging. This move came despite the release of worse-than-expected US Retail Sales data in May and a softer reading on Industrial Production. On Wednesday, Initial Jobless Claims for the last week, Housing Starts, Building Permits, and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy decision would set the tone for the Greenback. Consequently, most G8 forex currencies were laggards compared to the US Dollar. The EUR/USD fell below 1.1500 even though German ZEW figures were positive, and ECB's officials...
WTI crude oil futures rallied 4.3% to settle at $74.8 per barrel on Tuesday, as escalating tensions between the US and Iran reignited supply concerns. US President Donald Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" and directly threatened Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling him "an easy target" in a series of social media posts. The gains reversed Monday's losses, which were driven by hopes of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Despite the latest escalation, the oil market has remained relatively stable, supported by strong global supply, including rising OPEC+ output and...
EUR/USD slipped below the key 1.1500 level on Monday, retreating from recent highs as geopolitical risks drove demand for the US Dollar. At the time of writing, EUR/USD is trading near 1.1481, with intraday losses nearing 0.70% The move followed comments from US President Donald Trump, who called for Iran's "unconditional surrender" on Tuesday and warned Tehran to dismantle its nuclear program or face escalating consequences. He praised Israeli airstrikes as "excellent" and "very successful," warning that future operations could be "even more brutal," and urged Tehran to "make a deal now"...