The Hang Seng index slumped 206 points, or 0.8%, to close at 25,952 on Tuesday, losing early gains as sentiment soured amid a broad sectoral decline. The technology index fell 1.8% after US President Trump said Nvidia would be banned from selling its most advanced AI chips to China, although it would allow some sales to Beijing. Traders largely shrugged off reports that China was raising subsidies, cutting energy bills for major data centers. Consumer and property stocks also weakened, following declines in mainland China as US index futures plunged on uncertainty over the Fed's interest...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) strengthened against the US Dollar (USD) on Monday (August 4), extending its gains for the second consecutive trading day. The AUD/USD pair strengthened following the release of Australian inflation gauge data. The TD-MI Inflation Gauge rose 0.9% month-on-month in July, following a modest 0.1% increase in June and marking the sharpest increase since December 2023. Meanwhile, the annual inflation gauge remained consistent at 2.4%. This monthly increase adds to the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) concerns amid ongoing uncertainty in supply chains and consumer...
The EUR/USD currency pair fell near 1.1550 in early trading on Monday, despite market reactions to the prospect of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. This decline occurred after the euro had strengthened by around 1.5% in the previous session. The strengthening of the US dollar was the main driver of the euro's weakness, following the currency's recovery from losses suffered following the release of disappointing US employment data. US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data in July showed an increase of only 73,000 jobs, well below the 110,000 expected. The previous month's figure was also...
Gold edged lower early in the Asian session on a technical correction after gold futures closed nearly 1.7% higher last Friday. However, gold's decline may have been limited by rising expectations of a Fed rate cut, which has strengthened the appeal of the non-yielding precious metal. Friday's employment data "was clearly a warning," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, in an email. "The Fed's dual mandate includes employment, and this data shows weakness. Fed pessimists are circling," the analyst added. Spot gold fell 0.1% to $3,356.81/oz. (alg) Source: Dow...
Oil prices slumped in early Asian trading on Monday (August 4th), after OPEC+ agreed to another large production increase in September. Brent crude fell 43 cents, or 0.62%, to $69.24 a barrel at 22:18 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $66.94 a barrel, down 39 cents, or 0.58%, after both contracts closed about $2 a barrel lower on Friday. OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to increase oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, the latest in a series of accelerated production increases to regain market share amid growing concerns over potential supply disruptions linked...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) remains under pressure against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, giving back most of its earlier gains despite broad weakness in the Greenback following a disappointing Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data. The AUD/USD initially surged nearly 70 pips after US jobs data surprised to the downside, but the momentum quickly faded as markets shifted focus to rising expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at its upcoming meeting on August 12. The dovish outlook is keeping the Aussie pinned near multi-week lows. At the time of writing, the...