The Hong Kong stock market opened brightly on Monday, driven by gains in major technology stocks like Tencent, Alibaba, and Xiaomi. The positive performance of these tech companies led to a significant rise in the main Hang Seng Index, indicating recovering investor confidence. The technology sector index also surged, indicating that this sector is once again a mainstay in market movements. Gold mining stocks also showed sharp gains, following the rise in global gold prices. Companies like Zijin and Shandong Gold recorded strong gains, while jewelry retail stocks also rose. The financial...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) loses ground against its American counterpart for the second consecutive day on Tuesday and lifts the USD/JPY pair to over a one-week high, above mid-151.00s during the Asian session on Tuesday. The uncertainty over how soon the Bank of Japan (BoJ) could raise interest rates again keeps the JPY bulls on the defensive. Furthermore, the overnight bounce in the US Treasury bond yields from October lows undermines the lower-yielding JPY. Apart from this, the post-NFP US Dollar (USD) recovery from a nearly one-month trough, bolstered by expectations for a less dovish...
Gold steadied after a rally as traders shifted focus to a key US inflation report due later this week that could shape expectations ahead of the Federal Reserve's final interest rate decision of the year. Bullion prices held near $2,660 an ounce — near a two-week high — after China's central bank added the precious metal to its reserves for the first time in seven months. Geopolitical concerns also fueled demand for safe-haven assets amid fears of a power vacuum in Syria after Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power over the weekend. Data on Wednesday and Thursday will give Fed officials a...
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. crude benchmark, was trading around $67.90 on Tuesday. WTI prices recovered amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Over the weekend, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family fled to Moscow and were granted political asylum, ending 50 years of brutal dictatorship. The fall of the Syrian leader's regime could lead to a conflict involving regional countries, boosting WTI prices. Mitsubishi UFJ Research's Tomochi Akuta noted that these geopolitical risks are driving crude...
The key issue is whether Governor Michele Bullock heeds market assessments that last week's unexpectedly weak third-quarter GDP is a game-changer for the economic and inflation outlook The data showed Australia's economy grew at its slowest pace since 1991 — excluding the exogenous shock of the Covid pandemic. And it confirmed that GDP growth is slowing much more than the 2012-13 slump — which came just after the RBA last started an easing cycle. The RBA is widely expected to leave policy unchanged on Tuesday. However, the GDP figures prompted OIS traders to view February as a coin toss...
Oil prices climbed more than 1.5% on Monday on higher geopolitical risk after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and as top importer China flagged its first move towards a loosened monetary policy stance since 2010. Brent crude futures were up $1.17, or 1.7%, to $72.30 per barrel at 12:50 p.m. ET (1451 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $1.34, or 2%, to $68.55. China's slowdown was a factor behind the decision of oil producers' group OPEC+ last week to postpone its plans for higher output until April. Weighing on prices, leading exporter Saudi Aramco...