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...
A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar rose along with short-term Treasury yields, while swaps traders pared bets on a December Federal Reserve interest-rate reduction after Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank does not need to hurry rate cuts. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is up 0.3%. "The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates," Powell said in prepared remarks. "The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully". Earlier, US producer...
Oil edged higher for a third day, settling below $69 a barrel, as traders weighed bullish gasoline draws in the US with a dour long-term outlook. A US government report showing gasoline stockpiles slid to a 10-year seasonal low supported prices, with gasoline futures outpacing crude's gain. But the market remained capped by the International Energy Agency warning of a looming supply glut. The agency forecast a 1 million barrel-a-day surplus next year, which could swell further if OPEC+ decides to reverse its production cuts. Barring disruptions to...
Gold traded at a two-month low mid-afternoon on Thursday, falling for a fifth-straight session as the dollar continued its post-election rally and rose to the highest in more than two years while another U.S. inflation measure rose last month. Gold for December delivery was last seen down US$11.40 to US$2.575.10 per ounce, the lowest since Sept.11. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the October Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 0.2% from September, up from a revised 0.1% pace a month earlier, but met the consensus forecast, according to Marketwatch. Core PPI, excluding one-time...
Oil rose after US data showed a drop for national gasoline inventories, but gains were capped by the International Energy Agency's forecast of a large crude glut next year. West Texas Intermediate climbed near $69 a barrel. A US government report showed that gasoline stockpiles slid to the lowest in two years. Data also showed that inventories at the key Cushing, Okla., storage hub fell by the most in about two months, though the nation's total crude inventories posted a build. The IEA on Thursday warned that the oil market faces a surplus of more than 1 million barrels a...
Oil prices were mostly steady on Thursday, with traders holding back after a drop earlier this week on a stronger U.S. dollar and concerns about rising supply amid slowing demand growth. Brent crude futures were down 3 cents at $72.25 a barrel by 0937 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 7 cents at $68.36. "The main driver of oil prices, both in the short term and going forward, is the direction of the U.S. dollar," said Danish Lim, investment analyst at Phillip Nova. The dollar's recent rise has been the main downward pressure, said Lim, who expects the oil market to...