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...
Oil prices fell on Tuesday after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed to a truce with Russia covering the Black Sea and energy infrastructure, though crude losses were limited by the prospect of global supply tightening due to threatened U.S. tariffs on countries buying Venezuelan production. Brent crude futures were down 15 cents, or 0.21%, at $72.85 a barrel by 1:14 pm ET (1714 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 25 cents, or 0.36%, to $68.86. Zelenskiy said the truce was effective immediately on Tuesday but added that he would seek more weapons from U.S. President...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, is trading softer after markets digest headlines from the United States (US) President Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance. The index trades slightly above 104.00 at the time of writing os Tuesday, while markets assess two main stories. The first market driver comes from United States (US) President Donald Trump, who issued "secondary tariffs" of 25% on all goods from countries that still buy Oil from Venezuela. Trump eased off on the size and broadness of reciprocal...
Gold's price (XAU/USD) stabilises near $3,025 at the time of writing on Tuesday while markets are mulling tariff headlines from United States (US) President Donald Trump. The president issued an executive order on Monday to impose "secondary tariffs" of 25% on all imports from those countries buying Oil from Venezuela, which would mean a sharp rise in levies on goods from China and India. On Monday, Trump said reciprocal tariffs will be eased off for countries meeting US requests on reshoring their businesses and factories. He went further and said tariffs on cars, aluminum and...
Oil prices rose on Tuesday for a fifth day on expectations that global supply may tighten after the U.S. announced tariffs on countries that buy Venezuelan crude, although OPEC+ plans to go ahead with an output hike in May limited gains. Brent crude futures were up 46 cents, or 0.6%, at $73.46 a barrel by 1023 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 41 cents, also 0.6%, to $69.52. Both benchmarks rose more than 1% on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on countries importing oil and gas from Venezuela. Oil is Venezuela's main export and China, which is...
The Pound Sterling (GBP) trades with caution against its major peers on Tuesday. The British currency struggles as United Kingdom (UK) Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is prepared to unveil the Spring Statement on Wednesday. It would be interesting to watch how Reeves will promote economic prosperity, given his pledge of no more taxes and the maintenance of fiscal rules. After the Autumn Budget, Chancellor Reeves told at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in November that public services have to survive on their own means. Reeves clarified that the government...