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...
EUR/USD surrendered intraday gains and returned below the psychological 1.0500 level in the European session on Monday as a large number of European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers, including President Christine Lagarde, have supported further policy easing and a gradual move towards the neutral interest rate, which they expect to be around 2%. "Will cut interest rates further if incoming data confirm that disinflation is on track," Lagarde said at the Annual Economic Conference in the European session on Monday. Lagarde's dovish remarks on the policy outlook were supported by the...
Gold edged higher ahead of the Federal Reserve's final interest rate decision of the year, with traders also weighing the outlook for 2025 policy. The bullion's gains followed a 2.6% decline in the previous two sessions on the back of mixed U.S. data last week — including rising wholesale inflation and higher-than-expected jobless claims. The Fed is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points at its meeting on Wednesday, and swaps traders are pricing in a total of three quarter-point cuts over the next 12 months. Lower interest rates are usually positive for gold, since it doesn't pay...
The dollar hovered close to a three-week peak versus major peers on Monday, ahead of a week of central bank meetings in which markets expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates but signal a measured pace of easing for 2025 Bitcoin soared above $105,000 for the first time, buoyed by signs President-elect Donald Trump will go ahead with a potential strategic bitcoin reserve. The euro was up 0.13% on the day at $1.0517, after dipping to $1.0453 at the end of last week, its weakest since Nov. 26, hampered by ratings agency Moody's (NYSE:MCO) unexpectedly downgrading France on...
Oil futures eased from multi-week highs as traders took profits while awaiting the Federal Reserve meeting later this week for clues on further interest rate cuts. However, the declines were capped by concerns about supply disruptions if further U.S. sanctions on key suppliers Russia and Iran are imposed. Brent crude futures were down 29 cents, or 0.4%, at $74.20 a barrel by 0746 GMT after hitting their highest since Nov. 22 on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 36 cents, or 0.5%, at $70.93 a barrel after hitting their highest close since Nov. 7 in the previous...
Gold (XAU/USD) prices staged a modest recovery from one-week troughs touched on Monday (16/12), albeit lacked any follow-through buying and currently trades around the $2,655 region. A modest pullback in the US Treasury bond yields kept the US Dollar (USD) investors on the defensive and offered some support to the commodity. Additionally, persistent geopolitical risks and concerns about US President-elect Donald Trump's policies kept the safe-haven precious metal underpinned. That said, growing acceptance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will slow the pace of its interest rate-cutting cycle,...