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 rose for a second day after China, the world's biggest importer, said it would take steps to revive consumption by boosting incomes. Brent crude climbed above $71 a barrel after advancing 1% on Friday, with West Texas Intermediate near $68. Beijing will also give details on policies to stabilize stock and real estate markets, lift wages and boost the nation's birth rate, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. Crude has fallen more than 10% from this year's high in January, as US President Donald Trump's escalating trade war, an OPEC+ decision to increase supply...
The Pound Sterling (GBP) registers back-to-back bearish days, dropping some 0.14% on Friday against the Greenback after economic data from the United Kingdom (UK) revealed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted. Despite this, GBP/USD is trading above the 1.2900 figure, poised to finish the day near this level.GBP/USD pressured after UK GDP miss while rising US inflation expectations complicate Fed's next moveRecently, data from the University of Michigan (UoM) showed that Consumer Sentiment in March deteriorated, from 64.7 to 57.9, below forecast of 63.1. Notably, inflation...
Oil prices rebounded by 1% on Friday to end the week nearly unchanged as investors weighed the diminishing prospects of a quick end to the Ukraine war that could bring back more Russian energy supplies to Western markets. Brent crude futures settled 70 cents, or 1%, higher at $70.58 a barrel, after falling 1.5% in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) (CLc1) closed at $67.18 a barrel, up 63 cents, or 1%, after losing 1.7% on Thursday. Both benchmarks ended the week little changed from last Friday, when Brent settled at $70.36 and WTI at $67.04. "Brent oil has...
Gold broke through the key $3,000 barrier on Friday for the first time as investors piled on to a historic rally in the safe-haven asset to seek cover from economic uncertainty sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war. Spot gold hit an all-time high of $3,004.86 earlier in the session, before easing 0.1% to $2,986.26 as of 02:01 p.m. ET (1801 GMT) on profit taking. U.S. gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $3,001.10. Gold's surge past the $3,000 milestone was driven by "beleaguered investors seeking the ultimate safe-haven asset given Trump's tumult on stock markets," said Tai...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices had earlier hit an all-time high of $3,004, before falling back below $3,000, still posting a weekly gain of over 2.5% for now at the time of writing on Friday (3/14). The inflow and additional demand for Bullion came after US President Donald Trump retaliated against European tariffs, saying he would impose a 200% tariff on wine and champagne from the region. This has spooked market participants into believing that all bets are off and that US President Trump will not back down or ease his stance on tariffs, raising more concerns about growth and demand for riskier...