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 prices rose Tuesday as traders digested the latest monthly IEA report while ongoing tensions in the Middle East provided support. At 06:15 ET (10:15 GMT), Brent oil futures for August rose 1.7% to $74.48 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 1.7% to $71.44 a barrel. Both contracts have seen volatile trading Tuesday, rising more than 2% earlier in the trading session but also notching declines. Global oil demand will keep growing until around the end of this decade despite peaking in top importer China in 2027, as cheaper gasoline and slower electric vehicle...
Gold prices were steady on Tuesday as investors assessed the conflict between Israel and Iran and looked ahead to this week's U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting. Spot gold was steady at $3,383.01 an ounce, as of 0851 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.5% to $3,401.30. Israel and Iran exchanged attacks for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump urged an evacuation of Iran's capital Tehran and cut short his trip to the G7 summit in Canada. A separate report said he had asked for his administration's National Security Council to be prepared in the situation...
The EUR/USD pair is trading practically flat, halfway through the 1.1500 range on Tuesday. Waning hopes of a truce in the Middle East have dampened risk appetite, but market volatility remains contained so far as investors await a slew of monetary policy decisions, including the Federal Reserve's (Fed) later this week. Israel and Iran have continued exchanging fire for the fifth day, and US President Donald Trump has urged citizens to evacuate Tehran, before leaving the G7 summit one day earlier to meet with the National Security Council. Concerns that the US might get involved in the...
The USD/CHF pair weakened to around 0.8135 during the early European session on Tuesday (6/17). Persistent geopolitical risks in the Middle East provided some support to the Swiss Franc (CHF) against the US Dollar (USD). Traders are gearing up for the US Retail Sales data for May, due later on Tuesday. The conflict between Israel and Iran has entered its fifth day despite global calls for negotiations and de-escalation. Late on Monday, US President Donald Trump called for the evacuation of the Iranian capital, Tehran, hours after urging the country's leaders to accept a deal to curb its...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) recovered its daily losses against the US Dollar (USD) on Tuesday (6/17). However, the AUD/USD pair faced challenges as traders remained cautious amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. However, the risk-sensitive AUD/USD pair gained on optimism after Iran reportedly asked multiple countries, including Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, to urge US President Donald Trump to use his influence with Israel for an immediate ceasefire, according to Reuters. Additionally, risk sentiment improved as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed with Trump that their countries...