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 Japanese yen strengthened past 144 per dollar on Wednesday, marking its seventh consecutive session of gains, as investors digested Japan's trade data while awaiting developments from the G7 meeting. Tokyo's trade deficit narrowed sharply in April 2025, though it defied market expectations for a surplus. Exports rose for the seventh consecutive month, but at the slowest pace in the current sequence amid concerns over looming US tariffs. Meanwhile, imports declined for the second month this year, though the drop was smaller than forecasted. Japan's chief trade negotiator, Ryosei...
EUR/USD caught a bounce for a second day in a row on Tuesday, bolstering the pair back toward the 1.1300 handle. Despite a near-term rise in bullish momentum bolstering the Fiber, EUR/USD remains well back from recent multi-year highs near 1.1575. The pair has found a firm technical floor from key moving averages, and overall market sentiment remains hopeful that traders will be able to keep finding reasons to hit the buy button. Tariffs dominate market perception, but US data looms aheadEuropean policymakers are currently wrapped up in G7 meetings, minimizing the trickle of noteworthy...
GBP/USD edged higher on Tuesday (5/20), edging closer to (but still not quite reaching) the 1.3400 level. Cable is heading into a series of key inflation and business outlook data releases, with UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation due on Wednesday, with UK and US Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) surveys due on Thursday. Trade headlines remain the main driver of global markets this week. Investors remain hopeful that a deal will be reached with the US that would prompt the Trump administration to move the tariff weapon away from its own economy, but the steady march into the unknown is...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) continued to strengthen against the US Dollar (USD) on Tuesday (5/20), marking a second straight day of gains amid broad USD weakness, although the USD/JPY pair traded flat near 144.75 during American hours. The pair dipped to an intraday low of 144.09 during early Asian trading hours before bouncing back during the European session. In contrast, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the USD against a basket of six major currencies, remained subdued for the second day as sentiment weakened following Moody's downgrade of the US credit rating from Aaa to...
Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday (215) on uncertainty in U.S.-Iran negotiations and Russia-Ukraine peace talks, while new government data provided a cautious outlook for the economy of China, a major crude importer. Brent crude futures fell 16 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $65.38 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 13 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $62.56. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said U.S. demands that Tehran halt uranium enrichment were "excessive and outrageous," casting doubt on whether talks on a new nuclear deal would...