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 climbed about 1% to a two-week high on Friday as the intensifying war in Ukraine this week boosted the market's geopolitical risk premium. Brent futures rose 94 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $75.17 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.14, or 1.6%, to settle at $71.24. Both crude benchmarks were up about 6% for the week, their highest settlements since Nov. 7 as Moscow stepped up its Ukraine offensive after Britain and the U.S. allowed Kyiv to strike deeper into Russia with their missiles. "The Russia-Ukraine escalation has raised geopolitical tensions...
Gold was higher for a fifth-straight session mid-afternoon on Friday, continuing a recovery from post-election losses even as the dollar rose to the highest level in two years. Gold for February delivery was last seen up US$39.20 to US$2,738.50 per ounce. The rise comes on safe-haven demand after Ukraine made its first attack on Russia using foreign missiles and Russia retaliated by firing a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro amid further nuclear threats from the country. The threats prompted safe-haven buying of the precious metal as it recovers from a...
Gold futures rise, on track for one of its strongest weekly gains in years. Futures are up 1.1% at $2,704.20 a troy ounce, and are up 5.2% on-week. The precious metal has recovered more than half its losses since a fresh record at the end of October was swiftly followed by a sharp sell-off. Given the threat of an escalation in the war in Ukraine, its gains reflect safe-haven demand, Commerzbank analysts say in a note. This has been demonstrated by significant inflows into gold ETFs in recent days, they say. According to the latest Swiss gold exports for October, demand for the precious...
The euro headed for its seventh weekly decline in eight as PMI data out of the euro area's two largest economies increased the chances of a big interest-rate cut by the European Central Bank next month. EUR/USD dives by 1.3% to 1.0335, lowest since Nov. 2022, before paring losses; huge stop entries went through on the breaks of 1.0440, 1.0400 and 1.0350 as digital options exposure kicks in, Europe-based traders say. Euro heads for its worst three-day decline since Sept. 2022; there's no strong technical support until Fibonacci level of $1.0201. Euro-area business...
Gold is headed for its biggest weekly gain since October last year as the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict boosts its safe-haven appeal, with traders also weighing the prospect of further easing by the Federal Reserve. Bullion rose 1.4% to $2,706.73 an ounce at 9:43 a.m. in London after Ukraine said Russia launched a "new" type of ballistic missile toward the city of Dnipro in a worrying signal to Kyiv's Western backers. Rising geopolitical tensions tend to drive investors into safe-haven assets, such as bullion. "The counter-escalation between Russia and Ukraine has raised the...