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 on Wednesday extended its decline from an all-time high, dropping more than 3%, as risk appetite increased after President Donald Trump said he had no plans to fire the U.S. Fed chief and also signaled progress with China on tariffs. Spot gold fell 3% to $3,281.6 an ounce by 1:43 p.m. ET (1743 GMT), after hitting a record high of $3,500.05 in the previous session. U.S. gold futures fell 3.7% to $3,294.10. "The market is starting to move past the tariffs. You're going to see a broad rotation out of some of the safe havens back into some of the names like Apple, Tesla," said Phillip...
Gold on Wednesday extended its retreat from an all-time high, as appetite for riskier assets improved after President Donald Trump said he has no plans to fire the U.S. central bank chief and also signalled progress with China on the tariff front. Spot gold slipped 2.2% at $3,305.79 an ounce by 09:23 a.m. ET (1323 GMT), after hitting a record high of $3,500.05 in the previous session. U.S. gold futures dropped 2.9% to $3,320.40. "The market is starting to move past the tariff crash. You're going to see a broad rotation out of some of the safe haven assets back chasing some of the specific...
Oil turned lower after Kazakhstan said it will prioritize national interests over those of the OPEC+ alliance, a move that risks fueling further tensions within the cartel. Brent futures were earlier up 1.8% before erasing that gain. Kazakhstan's newly appointed energy minister said the country is not able to reduce production at its three largest projects as they are controlled by international oil majors, Reuters reported. Earlier this month the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies unexpectedly announced plans to hike output at three...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, trades broadly flat near 99.20 at the time of writing on Wednesday after an earlier attempt to test the 100.00 big figure in early Asian trading. The pop in the DXY came on the back of comments from United States (US) President Donald Trump late Tuesday, saying that he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell, despite being frustrated with the high interest rates. The President also said he would be ‘nice' to China if they come to the negotiating table,...
Oil prices climbed more than 1% on Wednesday, extending the prior day's gains, as investors weighed a fresh round of U.S. sanctions on Iran, a drop in U.S. crude stocks and a softer tone from President Donald Trump towards the Federal Reserve. Brent crude futures climbed $1, or 1.5%, to $68.44 a barrel at 0640 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 99 cents, or 1.6%, at $64.66 a barrel. The U.S. issued new sanctions targeting Iranian liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil shipping magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh and his corporate network on Tuesday. Emamjomeh's network is...