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 USD/CHF pair traded around 0.8900 during the North American session on Tuesday (4/29), benefiting from a broader US Dollar (USD) strength. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick revealed a White House plan aimed at reducing tariffs on US automakers, supporting a mild recovery in global risk appetite. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY) moved higher towards 99.30, supported by expectations that weaker labor market data and weak consumer confidence could steer the Federal Reserve (Fed) towards a more cautious policy stance. However, uncertainty remains around the US-China trade...
Oil prices fell about 2% to their lowest in two weeks on Tuesday as investors braced for OPEC+ to raise output and worried that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs would hurt the global economy and slow demand for the fuel. Brent crude futures fell $1.61, or 2.4%, to settle at $64.25 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.63, or 2.6%, to settle at $60.42. Both benchmarks posted their lowest closes since April 10. Trump's aggressive tariffs on U.S. imports have made it more likely the global economy will slip into recession this year, according to a majority of...
Gold fell nearly 1% on Tuesday as signs of easing U.S.-China trade tensions dampened some demand for the safe-haven asset, while investors braced for key economic data this week to gauge the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. Spot gold fell 0.8% to $3,315.84 an ounce by 2:22 p.m. ET (1822 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled 0.4% lower at $3,333.6. "There's some optimism that there's going to be a bit of a de-escalation in the trade war between the U.S. and China," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures. President Donald Trump's administration plans to mitigate the...
Gold fell more than 1% on Tuesday as signals of easing U.S.-China trade tensions reduced some safe-haven demand, while investors braced for key economic data this week to gauge the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. Spot gold was down 1.2% at $3,300.57 an ounce as of 9:50 a.m. ET (1350 GMT). U.S. gold futures fell 1.1% to $3,310.20. "There is some optimism that there will be some de-escalation of the trade war between the U.S. and China," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures. "We've seen the equity markets rebound over the course of the last several sessions....
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, is having a knee jerk reaction on the back of comments from United States (US) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. During a Q&A at the White House Leavitt stepped in to take over from Bessent on a question around Amazon, that will publish the tariff impact on prices from goods it is selling on its website. Representative Leavitt said she just got off the phone with President Donald Trump and that this move by Amazon is considered...