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...
EUR/USD surged on Wednesday, climbing 1.75% and knocking on the 1.0800 handle as risk sentiment rises following yet another pivot from US President Donald Trump on his own tariff strategy. President Trump is once again pumping the brakes on his own trade strategy of threatening to impose stiff import taxes on his own citizens in order to punish other countries for a litany of Donald Trump's perceived slights. The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to trim interest rates by another 25 bps on Thursday, taking the Main Refinancing Operations Rate down to 2.65% and dropping its Rate on Deposit...
Oil held near the lowest level in six months as President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs opened up trade wars on multiple fronts, raising concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate traded near $66 a barrel after losing more than 5% over the past four sessions. Brent closed below $70 on Wednesday. Trump is delaying some levies on automakers and considering exemptions for certain agriculture products, but still moving forward with reciprocal tariffs on April 2. Oil has tumbled by almost a fifth since mid-January as Trump's trade policies...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) strengthened on Wednesday, with the AUD/USD pair gaining traction after the United States (US) reported mixed ISM Services PMI and softer ADP Employment Change figures. The US Dollar (USD) remains under pressure amid concerns over slowing economic momentum, keeping the Aussie buoyed.Post-ISM, ADP data shape currency flows amid tariff warningsRenewed US tariffs on Chinese imports add more strain to global risk sentiment. The 10% levy from President Donald Trump compounds earlier duties and the potential for Chinese retaliation remains high, particularly concerning...
Oil prices settled down for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday after U.S. crude oil stockpiles posted a larger-than-expected build, adding a further headwind as investors worried about OPEC+ plans to increase output in April and U.S. tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico. Brent futures settled down $1.74, or 2.45% to $69.30 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) settled down $1.95, or 2.86%, to $66.31 a barrel. Prices pared some losses after hitting multi-year lows earlier in the session - Brent sank to $68.33, its lowest since December 2021, and U.S. crude futures...
Gold price remains firm on Wednesday amid speculation that the President of the United States (US), Donald Trump, could roll back some tariffs, at least duties on automobiles linked to the USMCA free trade agreement. Nevertheless, uncertainty remains, and XAU/USD trades at $2,919, virtually unchanged. Bullion prices had been seesawing around the $2,910 mark during the North American session as the news flow continued. The Federal Reserve (Fed) revealed the Beige Book in anticipation of the upcoming monetary policy, stating that overall economic activity rose, yet prices are higher amid...