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 rose above the key $4,000 per oz level on Thursday (November 6th) as a weaker dollar and a prolonged US government shutdown raised concerns about the economic outlook. Spot gold prices rose 0.7% to $4,011.79 per oz at 09:14 GMT. US gold futures for December delivery rose 0.7% to $4,021.20 per oz. "The Supreme Court's skepticism about tariffs and a slightly weaker dollar are likely supporting gold prices," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. "Although near-term prices are likely to continue consolidating, we expect a further Federal Reserve rate cut to lift gold prices to $4,200/oz by...
The Australian dollar held steady around $0.651 on Thursday, holding onto recent gains after the September trade surplus widened sharply to AUD 3.94 billion (vs. August's revised AUD 1.11 billion), beating estimates of AUD 3.85 billion. The main boost came from exports rising 7.9%, led by a surge in bullion shipments as prices strengthened; while imports rose 1.1% to a new record due to an increase in capital goods. On the policy front, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held interest rates at 3.6% in November and reiterated its cautious stance. Policymakers highlighted persistent...
GBP/USD remained just above 1.3000 on Wednesday after a brief dead-cat bounce following days of selling pressure. Heading into Thursday, the pair was struggling around 1.3050, down more than 3% from its mid-October peak near 1.3470. The lack of official US data due to the shutdown has led the market to rely more on releases from private sources, potentially increasing volatility. The market's primary focus is now on the Bank of England (BoE) decision. This week is relatively quiet on UK data, and the market expects the MPC to hold interest rates by a 6-3 vote. Any additional vote for a cut...
Oil prices weakened on Thursday (November 6th) as the market digested rising US inventory data and lingering concerns about oversupply. WTI traded below $60 and Brent below $64, continuing its two-day decline amidst relatively flat trading since last week. Sentiment was weighed down by the prospect of a future supply surplus. The official EIA report showed that US crude oil stocks rose by 5.2 million barrels in the week ending October 31st, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell, indicating still-resilient product demand. The API had previously forecast a larger stock increase of...
Gold prices weakened early in the Asian session, down 0.2% to $3,971.75/oz. Pressure came after better-than-expected ADP employment data and the ISM services index in the US came out, dampening interest in non-yielding assets like gold. The solid data lowered the odds of a Fed rate cut in December to 68% from 70% before the ADP release. The prospect of persistently high interest rates tends to strengthen the dollar and bond yields—a combination that typically pressures gold prices. However, demand for safe havens is still supported by geopolitical uncertainty. Bas Kooijman of DHF Capital...