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 rose on Thursday following a sell-off triggered by the U.S. presidential election, as risks to oil supply from a Trump presidency and a hurricane building in the Gulf Coast outweighed a stronger U.S. dollar and higher inventories. Brent crude oil futures were up 65 cents, or 0.87%, at $75.57 per barrel by 0400 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 54 cents or 0.75% to $72.23. Concerns around a Trump presidency squeezing oil supply from Iran and Venezuela as well as an approaching storm "more than offset the post-election impact of a stronger U.S. dollar and ......
The Australian dollar strengthened above $0.66 on Thursday, nearly recovering all of the previous session's losses, supported by a hawkish outlook from the Reserve Bank of Australia and optimism over potential stimulus measures in China. On Wednesday, the Aussie had fallen as much as 1.9%, pressured by a sharp rally in the US dollar following Donald Trump's decisive victory in the US presidential election. The RBA noted that the impact of Trump's win on the Australian economy remains highly uncertain, with the central bank awaiting China's response to potential policy shifts. This week,...
Gold remained around $2,650 per ounce on Thursday, after falling over 3% to hit a three-week low in the previous session, pressured by a stronger dollar following Donald Trump's US presidential victory. Trump's presidency has also led traders to unwind safe-haven gold positions, as markets anticipate higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve, diminishing gold's appeal. This came as the newly elected US president previously campaigned policies focused on immigration, raising tariffs, lowering taxes, and deregulation that fueled expectations of larger deficits and inflation. Meanwhile,...
The dollar index remained above 105 on Thursday, trading near four-month highs as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision. The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points later today, with traders also seeking guidance on whether further rate cuts will follow in December. On Wednesday, the dollar soared nearly 2% after Republican Donald Trump's decisive victory in the US presidential election. The Republicans also regained control of the Senate, which could pave the way for significant legislative changes, although control of the House of...
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $71.45 on Thursday. The WTI price edges lower amid the rise in the US Dollar (USD) after Republican candidate Donald Trump won the US presidential election. Trump's victory has boosted the Greenback and dragged the USD-denominated WTI price lower. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), an index of the value of the USD relative to a basket of foreign currencies, climbed to the highest level since July near 105.44 before retreating to 105.20. Nonetheless, Trump's reelection could also mean the renewal of sanctions on...