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...
Silver prices have hit a new record after surpassing $57 per ounce, fueled by tightening global supply and expectations of a US interest rate cut this month. Market participants are now almost entirely expecting the Fed to cut interest rates by 0.25 points, amid the weakening US labor market and dovish comments from central bank officials. Meanwhile, supply concerns are becoming more apparent. Although silver flows to London have reached record levels, easing pressure somewhat, the cost of borrowing silver for one-month terms remains high. The situation is further exacerbated by low silver...
Crude oil futures fell slightly on Friday (November 28th) as investors weighed the geopolitical risk premium on oil amid protracted Russia-Ukraine peace talks, while keeping an eye on Sunday's OPEC+ meeting for clues on potential production changes. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures resumed trading after being frozen due to a system outage at exchange operator CME Group, caused by a cooling issue at its CyrusOne data center. Brent is traded on the Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE. Brent crude futures for January, which expire on Friday, closed down 14 cents, or 0.22%, at $63.20 per...
Gold surged past $4,220 an ounce on Friday (November 28th) to a one-month high and is on track for a fourth straight monthly gain as markets price in a higher probability of a Fed rate cut in December. Dovish statements from several Fed officials and the release of delayed economic data showing weakness have reinforced expectations of easing. Furthermore, Kevin Hassett, seen as a leading candidate to replace Jerome Powell, has also signaled support for lower interest rates, increasing the odds of a 25 basis point rate cut to over 80% and prompting traders to expect around three additional...
Brent crude oil futures were flat on Friday (November 28th), while U.S. crude prices edged higher as protracted Russia-Ukraine peace talks kept geopolitical risks high, and traders continued to monitor Sunday's OPEC+ meeting for clues on potential production changes. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices resumed trading after being frozen due to a system outage at exchange operator CME Group, caused by a cooling issue at its CyrusOne data center. Brent oil is traded on the Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE. Front-month Brent crude oil futures for January, which expire on Friday,...
Spot gold prices rose 1% to a two-week high on Friday (November 28th), as expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month boosted demand for the non-yielding asset, while silver hit a new record high. Spot gold prices rose 0.9% to $4,192.78 an ounce at 10:09 a.m. ET (1510 GMT), the highest since November 14th, and are expected to post a weekly gain of 2.9%. Bullion prices, which are expected to gain 4.6% this month, are on track for their fourth consecutive monthly gain. Silver rose to a new record high of $55.33 an ounce, up 3.5% for the session and 13% for the...