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 prices fell on Monday as expectations that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will ease restrictions on Russia's energy sector in return for a deal to end the Ukraine war offset concerns about supply disruptions from tougher sanctions. Brent crude futures fell 28 cents, or 0.35%, to $80.51 a barrel by 0739 GMT after closing down 0.62% in the previous session. The more active U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery fell 21 cents to $77.18 a barrel. The front-month contract, which expires on Tuesday, was unchanged at $77.88 a barrel after closing down 1.02% on...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices struggled to capitalize on their intraday uptick and flat-lined above the $2,700 mark during the first half of the European session on Monday (January 20). The risk-on environment as depicted by a generally positive tone around equity markets turned out to be a key factor that acted as a headwind for the safe-haven precious metal. Traders also seemed reluctant to place any aggressive bets and preferred to wait for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration speech later today. Meanwhile, signs of easing inflation in the US fuelled speculations that the Federal...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) halted its two-day losing streak against the US Dollar (USD) on Monday (1/20), receiving support from rising metal prices. However, the upside in the AUD/USD pair may remain limited as the US Dollar (USD) could strengthen amid market caution ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration later in the day. US markets will remain closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced on Monday that it will keep the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) unchanged. The one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) remains at 3.10%, while the...
The USD/CHF pair moved lower near 0.9130 during the Asian trading hours on Monday (1/20), pressured by a weaker US Dollar (USD). Cautious market sentiment ahead of the inauguration of President Donald Trump provided some support to the safe-haven flows, which benefited the Swiss Franc (CHF). Technically, USD/CHF maintains the current bullish sentiment as the price is well supported above the 100-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) on the daily chart. Moreover, the upside momentum is supported by the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI), which is located above the midline near 60.50,...
Gold (XAU/USD) attracted some dip buyers near the $2,689 region during the Asian session on Monday (20/1) and for now, seems to have stalled its retracement slide from one-month tops touched last week. The US dollar (USD) started the new week on a weaker note and eroded part of Friday's positive move amid bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates twice this year amid signs of easing inflation in the US. This, coupled with uncertainty over US President-elect Donald Trump's tariff plans, lifted the safe-haven precious metal back above the $2,700 mark in the last...