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 recovered on Thursday but remained below its opening price for the fifth straight day, undermined by the Greenback's rise for the fifth straight day. A tepid US inflation report and solid jobs data sponsored the XAU/USD's decline towards the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). At the time of writing, gold was trading at $2,568. The market mood shifted negative but failed to boost Gold prices and support the US Dollar. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose in October, beating estimates and the September reading. This suggests that the...
A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar rose along with short-term Treasury yields, while swaps traders pared bets on a December Federal Reserve interest-rate reduction after Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank does not need to hurry rate cuts. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is up 0.3%. "The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates," Powell said in prepared remarks. "The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully". Earlier, US producer...
Oil edged higher for a third day, settling below $69 a barrel, as traders weighed bullish gasoline draws in the US with a dour long-term outlook. A US government report showing gasoline stockpiles slid to a 10-year seasonal low supported prices, with gasoline futures outpacing crude's gain. But the market remained capped by the International Energy Agency warning of a looming supply glut. The agency forecast a 1 million barrel-a-day surplus next year, which could swell further if OPEC+ decides to reverse its production cuts. Barring disruptions to...
Gold traded at a two-month low mid-afternoon on Thursday, falling for a fifth-straight session as the dollar continued its post-election rally and rose to the highest in more than two years while another U.S. inflation measure rose last month. Gold for December delivery was last seen down US$11.40 to US$2.575.10 per ounce, the lowest since Sept.11. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the October Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 0.2% from September, up from a revised 0.1% pace a month earlier, but met the consensus forecast, according to Marketwatch. Core PPI, excluding one-time...
Oil rose after US data showed a drop for national gasoline inventories, but gains were capped by the International Energy Agency's forecast of a large crude glut next year. West Texas Intermediate climbed near $69 a barrel. A US government report showed that gasoline stockpiles slid to the lowest in two years. Data also showed that inventories at the key Cushing, Okla., storage hub fell by the most in about two months, though the nation's total crude inventories posted a build. The IEA on Thursday warned that the oil market faces a surplus of more than 1 million barrels a...