Hong Kong shares added 53 points or 0.2% to 25,659 in Thursday's morning session, rising for the fourth day to a three-week high. Sentiment was lifted by record closes for Wall Street's S&P 500 and Nasdaq for the second day overnight, as traders increased bets on a US Fed rate cut next month. Meantime, Treasury Secretary Bessent called for a series of cuts, starting with a 50bps move in September. In China, Beijing pledged interest subsidies for businesses in eight consumer service sectors to boost spending. Further strength, however, was capped by growing caution ahead of July activity...
Oil prices held near two-week highs on Tuesday as investors assessed the latest developments in U.S. tariffs and a bigger-than-expected increase in OPEC+ output for August. Brent crude futures rose 29 cents, or 0.4%, to $69.87 a barrel by 11:07 a.m. EDT (1507 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $68.04. That put both benchmarks on track for their highest closes since June 23 for a second straight day. Major Asian economies Japan and South Korea said on Tuesday they would try to negotiate with the U.S. to soften the impact of much higher tariffs...
Gold fell as investors analyzed President Donald Trump's decision to delay the start of increased tariffs on some trading partners, while insisting that the new deadline is final. The precious metal fell as much as 1.5%, with investors awaiting more details on the president's approach to negotiations, following this week's move to delay the imposition of all tariffs from April 2 to August 1, effectively giving each affected country an extra three weeks to reach a deal. "Tariffs will start being paid on august 1, 2025. There has been no change to this date, and there will be none," Trump...
The US dollar strengthened again on Tuesday (08/07) after falling earlier in the day, as market sentiment stabilized following US President Donald Trump's executive order extending the tariff deadline to August 1 from July 9. US President Trump posted a trade warning letter on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Monday night, addressed to 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea. The letter warned of the possibility of new "reciprocal" tariffs taking effect on August 1. The news had boosted demand for the US dollar as investors turned to safe-haven assets. However, with the...
Sterling falls to a two-week low against the dollar as the U.S. currency recovers and U.K. fiscal concerns mount. The dollar rises on hopes for trade deals as the President Trump confirmed a three-week extension to the deadline for trade negotiations until August 1. In the U.K., the Labour government recently made major concessions to its welfare reforms following a backlash from party MPs. Efforts to rein in special educational needs spending face a similar fate, Monex Europe analysts say in a note. That sets up another political fight in the coming weeks that could weigh further on...
Oil prices steadied Tuesday as investors assessed the impact of President Donald Trump's tariff hikes on key trade partners as well as lingering oversupply concerns from rising OPEC+ output. At 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT), Brent Oil Futures expiring in September rose 0.1% to $69.66 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 0.1% to $67.90 per barrel. Trump starts sending tariff letters; S. Korea, Japan face 25% levyU.S. President Donald Trump on Monday escalated his global trade campaign by notifying 14 countries that sharply higher tariffs will take effect on August 1....