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...
Silver prices are rising again and are now very close to their record high. The precious metal is trading around $58.50 per ounce, just over a dollar off its high reached the previous day. This increase occurred alongside massive inflows into silver-backed ETFs, which surged by nearly 590 tons in a week—signaling strong investor confidence that the silver rally will continue. Expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this week also boosted silver prices. Low interest rates typically benefit non-yielding precious metals, potentially increasing demand. The silver market is...
Oil prices edged up nearly 1% to a two-week high on Friday (December 5th) amid growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week, which could boost economic growth and energy demand, as well as geopolitical uncertainty that could limit supply from Russia and Venezuela. Brent crude futures rose 49 cents, or 0.8%, to $63.75 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $60.08. This was the highest close for both crude benchmarks since November 18th. For the week, Brent rose about 1% and WTI rose about 3%, marking the...
Gold closed around $4,210 an ounce on Friday, near its highest level since late October, paring an earlier rally as a series of US data strengthened the case for an imminent Fed rate cut. Delayed September PCE rose 0.3% month-on-month and 2.8% year-on-year, while core PCE fell to 2.8% from 2.9%, a combination of sticky goods prices and declining services inflation suggesting weaker underlying pressures. The Michigan preliminary survey improved slightly to 53.3 as one-year inflation expectations fell to 4.1% and the five-year outlook fell to 3.2%, reinforcing the view that near-term price...
Gold (XAU/USD) strengthened slightly on Friday (December 5th) as the latest US economic data reinforced expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week. Steady PCE inflation and easing consumer inflation expectations kept the policy outlook dovish. At the time of writing, XAU/USD was trading near $4,245, keeping the precious metal on track for a modest weekly gain. The pending US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report for September offered no surprises. Core PCE, the Fed's preferred gauge, rose 0.2% month-on-month, in line with expectations, while the annual rate fell...
Oil prices rose as U.S. stocks continued their rally, extending a two-day rally, while investors assessed the prospects for a ceasefire in Ukraine and signs of a widening global surplus. West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices traded above $60 per barrel, signaling that a risk premium remains in place as a peace deal remains elusive. Ukrainian negotiators headed for a new round of talks in Florida, with Russia objecting to several points in the U.S.-backed plan. The Kremlin said it was awaiting analysis of the U.S.-Ukraine discussions, Interfax reported on Friday. The market is watching...