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 EUR/USD pair reverses an Asian session dip to the 1.0880 aera and for now, seems to have stalled its retracement slide from the vicinity of mid-1.1100s, or the highest level since September touched last week. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.0960 region, nearly unchanged for the day amid mixed cues. The US Dollar (USD) struggles to capitalize on Friday's recovery from a six-month low and kicks off the new week on a weaker note amid bets that the US economy could enter a recession and force the Federal Reserve (Fed) to resume its rate-cutting cycle. In fact, the markets are now...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) kicks off the new week on a positive note as US President Donald Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariffs raise the risk of a global economic slowdown and continue to underpin traditional safe-haven assets. Meanwhile, concerns that harsher US reciprocal tariffs could negatively impact Japan's economy forced investors to scale back their bets that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) would raise the policy rate at a faster pace. This, in turn, acts as a headwind for the JPY and assists the USD/JPY pair to reverse an Asian session dip back closer to a six-month low – levels below the...
Oil prices fell sharply in Asian trade on Monday, extending recent declines after U.S. President Donald Trump largely doubled-down on his recent trade tariffs, ramping up concerns over slowing economic growth and weakening demand. China- the world's biggest oil importer- retaliated against Trump's tariffs over the weekend, while other majors such as the European Union outlined plans for retaliation, driving up concerns over a global trade war. This notion had battered oil prices through the last week, as traders feared worsening economic growth, which could in turn dent global oil...
Gold steadied around $3,030 per ounce on Monday after an earlier drop of more than 1% that sent prices to their lowest levels in over three weeks. The initial drop sparked speculation that some investors were liquidating positions to lock in profits, possibly to cover losses or margin calls from sharp declines in other assets, triggered by fears that an intensifying global trade war could push the economy into a recession. Adding to investor concerns, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that tariffs raised the risks of higher inflation and slower economic growth, underscoring the...
Gold dropped more than 1% to below $3000 in the early Monday session in Asia as investors offloaded bullion to offset losses from a broader market downturn triggered by escalating trade tensions and growing fears of a global recession. Nasdaq futures sank more than 5% and Dow lost more than 1300 points while Nikkei was down more than 8% at the open, extending the market rout to a third consecutive session as the White House continued to push for aggressive tariffs on major trading partners. Source: Trading economi