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 prices plummet as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell takes a stance after the US central bank decided to cut rates. Projections suggest the Fed shifted less dovish. The XAU/USD trades around the $2,600-$2,610 range, about to fall beneath the former.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank may adopt a more cautious approach to future policy adjustments, noting that current measures are less restrictive. He emphasized that inflation risks and uncertainties remain tilted to the upside, partly explaining the dot plot changes. Powell also projected that it could...
Gold prices dropped after the Federal Reserve decided to lower borrowing costs as expected and upward revised the fed funds rate to 3.87%, for 2025. At the time of writing, the XAU/USD trades volatile at around $2,610-$2,630.The Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points to the 4.25%-4.50% range, yet the decision was not unanimous, as Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack opted to keep rates unchanged. When comparing the statement to the past meeting, there was little change, though traders were focused on the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP). According to the SEP, the dot plot...
Crude oil prices traded higher on Wednesday with overnight crude inventory figures from the American Petroleum Institute leading to a decline for now. Some support for crude prices came after a big drop in crude inventories from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday. With a drop of 4.7 million barrels, larger than the 1.85 million barrel drop expected, crude prices gained slightly. However, some bearish news for oil came out of Kazakhstan. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said on Tuesday that he has ordered the Energy Ministry to intensify efforts to increase Natural Gas and Oil...
The pound weakened against the US dollar on Wednesday despite higher UK inflation data for November than the previous month. This and expansionary fiscal policy could prevent the Bank of England from cutting interest rates, even though the economy has shown some signs of weakness. GBP/USD is trading at 1.2695, failing to break through the 1.2700 barrier convincingly. Source: FXStreet
Markets expect a quarter-point interest rate cut at today's Fed meeting. Bullion is on track for its biggest annual increase since 2010 Gold traded in a narrow range ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming interest rate decision, with traders looking for clues on the path of monetary policy next year. Bullion traded near $2,645 an ounce, having fallen 0.2% in the previous session, as traders awaited the U.S. central bank's last policy meeting of the year later on Wednesday. While markets widely expect another quarter-point cut, the number and pace of subsequent cuts in 2025 are unclear,...