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 in early Asian trade on Monday after Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on Sunday, raising concerns that the escalating fighting could trigger a wider regional conflict and disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose $1.70, or 2.3%, to $75.93 a barrel by 2253 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.62, or 2.2%, to $74.60. Oil prices had jumped more than $4 earlier in the session. Both benchmarks closed 7% higher on Friday, after jumping more than 13% during the session to their highest since January. The latest attacks between...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) is weakening against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, with price action being guided by a combination of factors. The two primary drivers of the recent move have been increasing geopolitical risks and interest rate expectations, which are likely to continue influencing near-term price movements. At the time of writing, AUD/USD is trading below 0.6500, with intraday losses of 0.60%. Market sentiment remains fragile following the escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Reports overnight say that Israel launched targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear and military...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is trading weaker against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, as geopolitical tensions and central bank policy divergence drive market flows. USD/JPY has staged a modest rebound, trading above 144.00 at the time of writing, as demand for the safe-haven US Dollar picks up. Reports of Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities have lifted geopolitical risk, supporting the USD and weighing on the Yen. Meanwhile, expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will leave interest rates unchanged at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday have further limited JPY gains. While BoJ...
GBP/USD is tumbling over 0.40% on Friday as geopolitical tensions triggered a flow towards the US Dollar (USD) haven status after Israel launched an attack on Iran, which escalated the Middle East conflict. The pair traded near 1.3550s after hitting a three-year peak of 1.3632.Israel's attacks targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, missile factories and military commanders, according to Israeli officials. Iran media revealed that explosions were heard in Tehran and Natanz, the latter being crucial for the Iranian nuclear program. Consequently, Iran retaliated against Israel and sent over 100...
Oil prices jumped over 7% on Friday to multi-month highs after Israel launched air strikes against Iran, sparking Iranian retaliation and raising worries about a disruption in Middle East oil supplies. Brent crude futures were up $4.94, or 7.12%, to $74.30 a barrel at 1442 GMT, after hitting an intraday high of $78.50, the strongest level since January 27. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $4.72, or 6.94%, at $72.75, touching its highest since January 21 at $77.62 earlier in the session. Friday's gains were the largest intraday moves for both contracts since 2022, after Russia's...