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 prices extended their stellar run on Monday, topping $3,100 per ounce to hit another record high, as uncertainty around tariffs that would stoke inflation and hinder economic growth lifted safe-haven demand and kept bullion on course for its strongest quarter since 1986. Spot gold rose 1% to $3,116.94 per ounce by 01:44 p.m. ET (1744 GMT), having hit a record of $3,128.06 earlier. U.S. gold futures rose 1.2% to settle at $3,150.30. "The ongoing uncertainty regarding tariffs has affected equity markets and brought another round of safe-haven buying into the gold market," said David...
Gold started the week with a fresh record high, ahead of President Donald Trump's expected latest tariff barrage that's heightened concerns of a global trade war. Bullion gained as much as 1.4% to $3,127.92 an ounce, beating the previous peak from Friday when it recorded a fourth weekly gain, with prices supported by growing haven demand amid a risk-off mood for markets. Trump last week signed a proclamation to slap a 25% tariff on auto imports, while traders also bracing for the White House's so-called reciprocal tariffs due Wednesday. Gold is up almost 19% this year...
Oil edged higher after Donald Trump suggested that the US could impose "secondary tariffs" on Russia, a top-three producer nation and major exporter to the world. On Sunday, NBC News reported Trump as saying he was "very angry" at Vladimir Putin and would consider "secondary tariffs" on Russia's oil exports. He later told told reporters on Air Force One that he didn't think the Russian president would "go back on his word," which appeared to take some of the edge off his earlier criticism. The price reaction to Trump's remarks may have been somewhat blunted by...
Gold prices surged above $3,100 per ounce on Monday to a record high, as worries about potential inflation due to U.S. tariffs set the safe-haven asset up for its strongest quarter since 1986. Bullion continued its remarkable rally that has already seen the metal gain around 18% so far this year. Spot gold jumped 1.1% to $3,117.43 per ounce by 0935 GMT, having hit a record $3,128.06 earlier. U.S. gold futures were up 1.1% to $3,149.60. Bullion rose more than 27% last year as several bullish factors, including a favourable monetary policy backdrop and robust central bank buying, combined...
Oil fluctuated as the market weighed Donald Trump's mixed remarks about the threat of fresh penalties on Russian crude if his counterpart Vladimir Putin refuses a ceasefire with Ukraine. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he doesn't think Putin will "go back on his word," which appeared to take some of the edge off his criticism earlier Sunday, when NBC News reported him as saying he was "very angry" at the Russian president and would consider "secondary tariffs." Brent's June contract was little changed below $73 a barrel after a marginal gain at the open, while...