Hong Kong stocks fell 144 points, or 0.6%, to 24,936 in early trading on Friday, ending a four-day winning streak amid widespread weakness. Caution prevails ahead of China's July CPI and PPI data due Saturday, with consumer prices expected to ease slightly and producer deflation likely to persist amid ongoing trade risks. On the domestic front, Hong Kong's foreign exchange reserves fell to a three-month low of USD 425.4 billion in July. Semiconductor Manufacturing shares plunged 4.7% after missing second-quarter profit estimates, while MGM China (-4.3%), Kingdee Intl. Software (-4.2%), SITC...
The US Dollar (USD) kicks off the week on the back foot, slipping against major currencies in Monday trading. Investors are reacting to renewed trade tensions ahead of the August 1 deadline and a generally cautious market sentiment. Despite mostly solid US economic data lately, the Greenback is feeling the heat from ongoing uncertainty surrounding the US President Donald Trump administration's ramped-up tariff threats and increasing political pressure on the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut interest rates. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the Greenback against six major currencies, is...
Gold prices rose slightly in European trade on Monday, taking some support from haven demand fueled by persistent uncertainty over elevated U.S. tariffs set to take effect in the coming weeks. A mild pullback in the dollar, after a two-week ascent, also helped spur some gains in metal markets, although gold remained squarely in a $200 trading range seen since at least April. Spot gold ticked higher by 0.5% to $3,365.49 an ounce, while gold futures for September rose 0.4% to $3,372.88/oz by 06:23 ET (10:23 GMT). Gold gains amid murky tariff outlook Advances in gold came after the Wall...
The Pound Sterling (GBP) starts the week on a slightly positive note. The British currency ticks up as market experts have pared bets supporting a higher number of interest rate cuts by the Bank of England (BoE) for the remainder of the year. According to a report from Reuters, a number of Wall Street brokerage houses have reassessed their BoE rate cut expectations, following the release of the hotter-than-projected United Kingdom (UK) Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for June and lesser-than-expected weakness in the labor market data for the three months ending in May. Analysts at Bank of...
Oil prices dipped slightly on Monday, with the latest European sanctions on Russian oil expected to have minimal impact on supplies while U.S. tariffs ensure demand concerns remain. Brent crude futures dropped 38 cents, or 0.55%, to $68.90 a barrel by 0925 GMT after settling 0.35% down on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 30 cents, or 0.45%, to $67.04 after a 0.3% decline in the previous session. The European Union on Friday approved the 18th package of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, which also targeted India's Nayara Energy, an exporter of oil products...
ECB and PMIs in focus this week,The focus in Europe will be on Thursday's European Central Bank meeting. We doubt ECB President Christine Lagarde will shake things up too much ahead of the central bank's summer break, although there may be some continued concerns over recent euro strength and particularly the direction of tariffs. The mood music on EU tariffs seems poor at the moment, and the kink in the EUR/USD FX options implied volatility curve in the two-week tenor suggests investors are again wary of the new 1 August tariff deadline." "In addition to the ECB this week, we have the...