The Hang Seng Index plunged 376 points, or 1.4%, to close at 25,907 on Friday, marking its third consecutive session of decline amid widespread declines across sectors. Market sentiment weakened after China's official PMI showed manufacturing activity contracted at its fastest pace in six months in October, while service sector growth remained weak. Meanwhile, the temporary US-China trade truce failed to boost confidence, with investors viewing it as a short-term respite rather than a meaningful breakthrough. Further pressure came after US Federal Reserve Chairman Powell signaled that a...
Gold gains as traders react to President Trump's threat of new reciprocal tariffs, enhancing its safe-haven status.US Nonfarm Payrolls fall short of expectations, yet a declining Unemployment Rate suggests a resilient labor market.PBoC's increased Gold reserves and cautious comments from Fed officials contribute to the metal's price dynamics.Gold resumed its uptrend on Friday amid the escalation of the trade war between the US and China and a mixed US employment report. The XAU/USD trades at $2,862, up 0.24%. US President Donald Trump's plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries...
WTI crude oil surges as US labor market data fuels demand optimism.Nonfarm payrolls miss expectations, but wage growth remains strong.Labor force participation rate edges higher, supporting energy demand outlook.The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices climbed on Friday to around $70.80, buoyed by renewed optimism over energy demand following the latest US labor market report. While Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data revealed a weaker-than-expected 143K job additions in January, the overall labor market resilience and steady wage growth helped drive crude prices higher. Despite the soft...
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar against six major currencies, is trading at 107.83 after the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report. Once again, the rule of thumb proves that buying the rumor and selling the fact pays off. With market expectations too high, betting on a weaker result, a knee-jerk reaction occurred and prevented the DXY from falling below 107.35. The actual Nonfarm Payrolls data came in at 143,000, below the consensus of 170,000, compared to 256,000 in December. The range of estimates was between 105,000 at the low end and 240,000 at the...
The Pound (GBP) surrendered all its intraday gains against the US Dollar (USD) and fell back near 1.2400 in the North American session on Friday (7/2) after the release of the US (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for January. The US NFP report showed that the economy added 143K workers in January, much lower than the 170K estimate and the previous reading of 307K, revised up from 256K. The Unemployment Rate slowed to 4% from the estimate and the previous reading of 4.1%. The Average Hourly Earnings data, a key measure of wage growth that drives consumer spending, surprisingly came in higher...
Oil futures rose on Friday from 2025 lows, but were on track for a third straight weekly decline amid rising U.S. inventories and concerns that higher U.S. tariffs on China would hurt growth and demand for crude. Price movement West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CL00 CL.1 CLH25 rose 52 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $71.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but was headed for a weekly decline of 1.9%. --Brent crude for April delivery BRN00 BRNJ25, the global benchmark, rose 55 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $74.84 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, on track for a weekly...