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 Friday (September 26), on track for a weekly gain of more than 4%, as Ukraine's attack on Russian energy infrastructure prompted Moscow to restrict fuel exports. Brent crude futures rose 89 cents, or 1.28%, to $70.31 a barrel at 9:46 a.m. CDT (14:46 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.16, or 1.79%, to $66.14 a barrel. "The market continues to focus on the situation between Russia and Ukraine," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital. "These drone attacks by Ukraine are starting to have an impact." Both benchmark oil prices are expected to post...
The British Pound (GBP) gains traction against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, with GBP/USD snapping a two-day losing streak. At the time of writing, the pair is hovering near 1.3393, staging a modest recovery after dropping to its weakest level in about seven weeks on Thursday. Fresh momentum in Sterling came after the release of the August US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, which broadly met market forecasts and offered no new hawkish cues for the Federal Reserve (Fed). The data kept the Greenback on the defensive, with the US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges the...
Gold (XAU/USD) extends gains on Friday, pushing past the recent $3,760-$3,720 range. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading around $3,780, hovering just below the all-time high of $3,791 set earlier this week, as the US Dollar (USD) corrects lower in the wake of the latest US economic data. The core PCE Price Index, the Federal Reserve's (Fed) preferred gauge of underlying inflation, rose 0.2% MoM, matching forecasts and down from July's originally reported 0.3%, which was revised lower to 0.2%. On an annual basis, the core measure held steady at 2.9%, underscoring that inflation is...
Oil prices were steady on Friday, on track for a more than 4% weekly gain, as Ukraine's attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure prompted Moscow to curb fuel exports. Brent futures lost 3 cents to $69.39 a barrel by 1146 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 6 cents at $64.92 a barrel. "The geopolitical risk premium, which has been steadily building over the last two months as Ukrainian drone strikes intensified, has now materialised into an actual supply shortage, much to the detriment of Europe, which is structurally short of distillates," said PVM analyst Tamas...
The data helped boost USD-supportive spreads and pare expectations around Fed easing risks over the balance of the year. A dose of geo-political worries added some further support to the USD at the margin. The USD has steadied in overnight trade but, at this point, it is looking at a fairly solid gain on the week following last week's rejection of the low 96 area. A new round of hefty tariffs (pharma, heavy trucks, household goods) announced by the White House has failed to move markets materially." "European stocks are mostly firmer and while the pharma sector is underperforming, it is...