The Hang Seng rose 169 points or 0.7% to close at 24,902 on Tuesday, reversing early losses and marking its second consecutive session of gains. Sentiment improved after a private survey showed China's services activity grew at the fastest pace in 14 months in July, supported by rises in new orders, foreign sales, and employment. A rally on Wall Street also lifted mood, as weaker U.S. jobs data fueled bets on a Fed rate cut in September. Gains were broad-based, led by financials, tech, and consumers, as investors looked past weather-related disruptions in Hong Kong, including heavy rain...
Oil fell, deepening a weekly loss, on mixed economic and consumption data from China, the lingering impact from a stronger US dollar and concerns that the market will flip to a supply glut next year. Global benchmark Brent dropped below $72 a barrel in London and was down by around 3% this week. The International Energy Agency said on Thursday it expects a surplus next year as demand growth in China slows, while global output swells. The glut will be even bigger if OPEC+ presses on with plans to revive halted production. In China, while figures on Friday showed...
Gold prices (XAU/USD) struggled to gain ground around $2,570 on Friday (11/15) after rebounding from a two-month low in the previous session. The precious metal remained under selling pressure amid a stronger US Dollar (USD) and growing uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's (Fed) move to cut interest rates. Expectations of higher inflation next year due to Donald Trump's policies have led to fewer expected rate cuts, weighing on the yellow metal as higher rates make non-yielding assets such as bullion less attractive. However, rising tensions in the Middle East and the ongoing conflict...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) held near a three-month low against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday. The recent downtrend in the AUD/USD pair was largely driven by key economic data from Australia released on Thursday. Moreover, the AUD remained unaffected by mixed economic data from its close trading partner, China. China's Retail Sales rose 4.8% year-on-year in October, beating the 3.8% forecast and the 3.2% increase seen in September. Meanwhile, the country's Industrial Production grew by 5.3% YoY, slightly below the 5.6% forecast but higher than the 5.4% growth recorded in the previous...
Oil is headed for a weekly decline, weighed down by the impact of a stronger dollar and concerns that the global market will shift into a supply glut next year. West Texas Intermediate was steady near $69 a barrel, and more than 2% lower this week, while Brent closed above $72. The International Energy Agency said on Thursday it expects a surplus next year as demand growth in China slows while production increases. The supply glut would be even greater if OPEC+ goes ahead with a plan to revive stalled output, it said. Commodities including crude have struggled this week as the dollar gauge...
Gold recovered on Thursday but remained below its opening price for the fifth straight day, undermined by the Greenback's rise for the fifth straight day. A tepid US inflation report and solid jobs data sponsored the XAU/USD's decline towards the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). At the time of writing, gold was trading at $2,568. The market mood shifted negative but failed to boost Gold prices and support the US Dollar. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose in October, beating estimates and the September reading. This suggests that the...