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 gained for a second session on Thursday, supported by worries over potential supply disruptions amid U.S. sanctions on Russia, a larger-than-forecast fall in U.S. crude oil stocks, and an improving global demand outlook. Brent crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $82.26 per barrel by 0731 GMT, after rising 2.6% in the previous session to their highest since July 26 last year. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $80.32 a barrel, after gaining 3.3% on Wednesday to their highest since July 19. U.S. crude oil stocks fell last week to their...
Silver prices (XAG/USD) rose on Thursday, according to FXStreet data. Silver trades at $30.90 per troy ounce, up 0.61% from the $30.71 it cost on Wednesday. Silver prices have increased by 6.94% since the beginning of the year. Source: Fxstreet
Gold price (XAU/USD) seesaws between tepid gains/minor losses through the early European session and consolidates its recent gains to over a one-month peak touched this Thursday. Growing acceptance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will pause its rate-cutting cycle late this month assists the US Dollar (USD) to move away from a one-week low touched on Wednesday. This, along with the prevalent risk-on mood, turns out to be a key factors acting as a headwind for the safe-haven precious metal. That said, signs of abating inflationary pressures in the US suggest that the Fed may not necessarily...
The Japanese yen (JPY) pared some of its strong intraday gains against its US counterpart, lifting the USD/JPY pair back above the 156.00 level heading into the European session on Thursday (16/1). Expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could cut interest rates twice this year, coupled with easing concerns about disruptive trade tariffs from US President-elect Donald Trump, remained supportive of the risk sentiment. This turned out to be a key factor undermining the safe-haven JPY and helped the pair find decent support ahead of the 155.00 psychological mark. Additionally, the...
GBP/USD moved lower after two days of gains, trading around 1.2220 during Asian trading hours on Thursday (16/1). The pound (GBP) came under downward pressure following weaker-than-expected inflation data from the United Kingdom (UK) released on Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year UK bond fell to 4.73%, retreating from a multi-decade high, after official data showed an unexpected drop in UK headline inflation, raising expectations of a rate cut by the Bank of England (BoE). The UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.5% year-on-year in December, down from 2.6% in November and...