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 was steady as traders eyed further clues on OPEC+'s output plans after postponing a key meeting for four days. West Texas Intermediate crude futures held below $69 a barrel, while Brent crude settled above $73. The producer group is set to discuss whether to press ahead with a supply restart at a delayed online meeting on Dec. 5, or extend curbs into 2025 to avoid global markets becoming oversupplied Crude has traded in a tight range since mid-October, alternating between weekly gains and losses. Prices have been shaken by volatile geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, waning...
Oil held steady as trading thinned during the US Thanksgiving holiday, with the market looking ahead to an upcoming OPEC+ meeting that has been delayed until Dec. 5. West Texas Intermediate was little changed below $69 a barrel in a choppy session, while global benchmark Brent traded above $73. OPEC+ is widely expected to once again delay restoring production when it next meets, to offset concerns about an anticipated glut next year. The meeting, originally scheduled for Sunday, has been pushed back by four days. The group had started talks earlier in the week on delaying an increase to...
Crude Oil falling flat, and is returning less than 0.50% profit on this Thursday after headlines that Israel has already broken the ceasefire deal between in the Gaza region, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) have confirmed they will postpone its upcoming Output Policy Meeting decision from Sunday to December 5. The conglomerate of Oil producers and exporters is again facing an existential crisis, with a slowdown in global demand with more non-OPEC supply to be released to markets taking place. The US Dollar Index...
Gold futures rise, finding some support after a volatile month. Futures are up 0.3% at $2,646.60 a troy ounce. The precious metal has gained as the U.S. Federal Reserve appears likely to continue interest-rate cuts at its December meeting, ING analysts write. The CME's Fed watch tool shows the market is currently pricing in a 68% chance of a 25-basis-point cut, up from around 56% a week ago. Lower interest rates typically boost the appeal of non-interest bearing bullion. On the other hand, Wednesday's inflation numbers were on the higher side, which could weaken the case for further rate...
The dollar edged up from a two-week low against its major peers in holiday-thinned trading on Thursday, though the yen headed for its strongest week in nearly three months on growing bets that Japan will hike rates in December. The yen slipped half a percent to 151.93 per dollar ,but with its 1.9% gain this week the currency has recovered losses suffered since the U.S. election. Markets see about a 65% chance the Bank of Japan will hike rates next month. The dollar index was marginally higher at 106.30 after suffering its steepest fall in four months that pushed it as low as 105.85 in the...