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...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices are looking for direction after hitting a new record high on Monday and after China retaliated early Tuesday against US tariffs issued over the weekend. Beijing imposed 15% tariffs on US energy imports worth less than $5 billion, such as Coal and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), and 10% charges on US Oil and farm equipment. Beijing will also investigate Google for alleged antitrust violations. Markets are unclear about what to make of these retaliatory tariffs and have been showing mixed price action on Tuesday. On the economic data front, the calendar is light ahead of...
EUR/USD bounced back from an intraday low of 1.0270 and rebounded near 1.0350 during the European session on Tuesday (February 4). The major currency pair found buying demand as US President Donald Trump's decision to delay tariffs on Canada and Mexico has reduced the safe-haven appeal of the US Dollar (USD). The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, gave up its intraday gains and is trading at 108.44 at the time of writing, right on track to hit Monday's low of 108.40. US President Trump suspended tariffs on his North American partners...
The British pound (GBP) bounced back from an intraday low of 1.2380 against the US dollar (USD) in the European session on Tuesday (February 4). The GBP/USD pair bounced back as the US dollar struggled to gain a firm footing, following US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days. President Trump agreed to the 30-day suspension in exchange for concessions on border enforcement and crime with the two neighboring countries, Reuters reported. The announcement triggered a sharp sell-off in the US dollar (USD). The US Dollar Index...
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices continued to decline for the second straight day, trading near $71.50 per barrel during European trading hours on Tuesday (2/4). The decline came amid subdued market sentiment following China's announcement of new tariffs on US goods in retaliation for US President Donald Trump's trade moves, which has sparked fears of a potential trade war between the world's two largest economies. China's Ministry of Commerce imposed 15% tariffs on US coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, along with additional 10% levies on crude oil, farm equipment...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices seesawed between modest gains/minor losses through the first half of the European session on Tuesday (February 4) as it remained close to its all-time tops touched the previous day. US President Donald Trump's decision to temporarily suspend tariffs on Mexico and Canada, after reaching a border security deal with the two countries, boosted investor confidence. The risk-on flow, along with the Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish pause, provided a modest lift to the US Treasury bond yields and helped the US Dollar (USD) regain some positive traction after the previous day's...