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 dollar inched lower versus G-10 peers as markets await key inflation and sentiment readings from the US which may add context to mixed jobs data this week. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%. US personal income, personal spending, core PCE, PCE price index and preliminary Michigan consumer sentiment are on due for release later today. USD/JPY fell 0.1% to 154.92 after being sold over the Tokyo fixing. Spot had hit 154.51 and a two-week low in London in response to report that key members of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government wouldn't try to stop the...
Oil prices have held onto gains over the past two days amid market focus on ceasefire talks in Ukraine and concerns about a global oversupply. Brent is trading above $63 per barrel, while WTI is hovering near $60 per barrel. Ukrainian negotiators are preparing for a new round of talks in Florida, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has said several points in the US-backed peace plan are still unacceptable. On the other hand, the market is concerned that supply will become more abundant if sanctions on Russia are eased, increasing its oil exports. This pressure is compounded by Saudi Aramco...
The AUD/USD currency pair is currently in a bullish consolidation phase, a brief pause in its uptrend, and is hovering around the 0.6600 level during the Asian session on Friday (December 5th). This level is just below the nearly two-month high touched the previous day. Fundamentally, the path of best practice for AUD/USD remains upward, but many market participants are choosing to hold off while awaiting the release of key US inflation data before extending long positions formed over the past two weeks. Today's main market focus is the release of the US Core PCE Price Index for October,...
Gold prices were flat at around $4,205 per troy ounce at the start of Friday's Asian session. Rising US government bond yields and still-strong employment data prevented gold from rising further. Many market participants opted for a wait-and-see approach ahead of the release of key US inflation data, the September PCE Price Index, scheduled for release today. This data is considered key to determining the Fed's future policy direction. Higher bond yields and strong employment data typically support a stronger US dollar, which tends to pressure dollar-denominated commodity prices, including...
Oil prices have remained bullish for the past two days. WTI is trading near $60 per barrel, while Brent is above $63 after gaining 1.2% on Thursday. Market sentiment has been largely influenced by developments in ceasefire talks in Ukraine, with Ukrainian negotiators set to attend a new round of discussions in Florida. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that there are several points in the US peace plan that he cannot accept. The market is now focused on whether these talks will lead to the lifting of sanctions on Russia and increased oil exports from the country....