Gold prices rise above $4,200/oz.
Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Thursday, extending recent gains as traders remained uncertain over the U.S. economy even as lawmakers voted to end the country’s longest ever government shutdown.
The yellow metal steadily rose over the past week as a swathe of weak private readings on the U.S. labor market spurred bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December.
But gold’s pace of gains slowed in recent sessions as markets sharply pared bets on a December cut.
Sustained central bank buying of gold, especially in China, also aided bullion prices. Recent data showed the People’s Bank purchased gold for the 12th straight month in September.
Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,210.63 an ounce, while gold futures for December steadied at $4,214.60/oz by 00:06 ET (05:06 GMT).
Gold buoyed by economic uncertainty as US govt reopens
Gold rose this week amid growing uncertainty over the U.S. economy, even as lawmakers voted to end a nearly 43-day government shutdown.
Oil prices edge down on US inventory build.
Oil prices edged down on Thursday, extending losses from the previous session, as a report showing rising crude inventories in the U.S. reinforced concerns that the global supply is more than sufficient to meet current fuel demand.
Brent crude futures were unchanged at $62.71 a barrel at 0645 GMT after dropping 3.8% a day earlier. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3 cents, or 0.1%, to $58.46 a barrel, extending a 4.2% decline on Wednesday.
Market sources, citing American Petroleum Institute figures, on Wednesday said U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 1.3 million barrels in the week that ended November 7. Gasoline and distillate stockpiles dropped, the sources said, citing the API data.
Prices fell more than $2 a barrel on Wednesday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said global oil supplies will slightly exceed demand in 2026, marking a further shift from the group’s earlier projections of a deficit.
Asia stocks retreat amid rotation out of tech.
Most Asian stocks fell on Thursday as investors pivoted out of heavyweight technology stocks amid growing questions over steep valuations, with focus turning to a host of key earnings from Hong Kong.
Regional markets took middling cues from a mixed overnight session on Wall Street, where a rotation out of tech pressured the Nasdaq and pushed the Dow to a record high.
S&P 500 Futures rose slightly in Asian trade after U.S. lawmakers passed a bill to end the longest ever government shutdown.
Tech-heavy bourses squeezed by broader rotation
Tech-heavy bourses including South Korea’s KOSPI and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated on Thursday, as investors pivoted out of the sector and into more economically sensitive spaces.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 also traded flat on this trend, while the TOPIX, which has a greater weightage of non-tech stocks, rose 0.6%.
Japanese producer inflation read slightly higher than expected for October, keeping markets on edge over hawkish signals for the Bank of Japan.
The rotation out of tech was driven chiefly by emerging concerns over lofty valuations in the sector, fueled by hype over artificial intelligence.
Mainland Chinese indexes, which also have relatively lower tech weightages, advanced on Thursday, with the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 adding 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%.
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