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...
Gold (XAU/USD) holds steady on Thursday, moving quietly within the $4,160-$4,260 range as investors adopt a wait-and-see approach ahead of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting next week. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading around $4,200, with the cautious market backdrop keeping the metal in a consolidative phase after it climbed to a six-week high earlier this week. Markets largely expect the Fed to lower interest rates at the December 9-10 meeting. That conviction firmed after Tuesday's US economic data showed a surprise decline in ADP Employment Change,...
The U.S. dollar steadied Thursday, but remains weak after recent lackluster economic data largely cemented the case for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week. The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded largely unchanged at 98.805, near a five-week low and almost 9% lower so far this year. Fed meeting looms largeWeak U.S. economic data has bolstered expectations for a Fed rate cut next week, weighing heavily on the U.S. currency. "After yesterday's 32k drop in ADP payrolls, a Fed cut next week looks even closer to a certainty,"...
Oil prices firmed on Thursday after Ukrainian attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure signalled potential supply constraints, and stalled peace talks tempered expectations of a deal restoring Russian oil flows to global markets, though weak fundamentals kept gains limited. Brent crude rose 41 cents, or 0.65%, to $63.08 at 0659 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 45 cents, or 0.76%, to $59.40. Ukraine hit the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia's central Tambov region, a Ukrainian military intelligence source said on Wednesday, the fifth attack on the pipeline that sends Russian oil to...
Silver prices corrected after hitting a new record high. In Asian trading (Singapore), silver fell as much as 2.4% to around $57.09 per ounce, before settling around $57.43. Despite the correction, the price remains less than $2 from its previous record of $58.97. This correction occurred due to profit-taking by traders following the sharp rally in recent days, as well as a slight strengthening of the US dollar index of around 0.1%, making the precious metal slightly more expensive for non-dollar buyers. In terms of the broader trend, silver is actually still in a very strong upward phase....
Gold prices fell suddenly during the Asian trading session on Thursday (December 4), after previously holding firm above the $4,200 per troy ounce area. This movement reflected a brief correction rather than a major trend change, as gold was still trading within that upper range. Market participants took advantage of the sharp rally in recent days to secure short-term profits. The main selling pressure came from profit-taking after gold approached new highs around $4,240–$4,250 and failed to break through. Amid relatively thin liquidity during the Asian session, this modest selling was...