S&P 500 futures: Falling as China to sanction Senators Rubio, Cruz, others in response to Hong Kong,

Yohay Elam FXStreet

Bloomberg is reporting that China is set to sanction US officials in response to Washington's move against Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam. S&P 500 futures have turned down in response to the news.

The Chinese foreign ministry named Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in its sanctions list, alongside other figures such as Michael Abramowitz and Kenneth Roth.

Earlier, authorities in the city-state arrested Jimmy Lai – a pro-democracy media mogul – under the Beijing-imposed security law.

A Chinese fighter jet has briefly crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, raising concerns in the island nation. The move is seemingly in response to the visit of US Health Secretary Alex Azar to Taipei.

The Chinese foreign ministry said it is prepared for obstacles and setbacks in relations with the US and reiterated it is firmly opposed to the recent US-Taiwan exchanges.

S&P 500 futures have turned negative, changing hands at around 3,354 at the time of writing. Investors are also eyeing fiscal talks in Washington and digesting Friday's Non-Farm Payrolls.

Author

Yohay Elam

FXStreet

Yohay is in Forex since 2008 when he founded Forex Crunch, a blog crafted in his free time that turned into a fully-fledged currency website later sold to Finixio.

EUR/USD weakens toward 1.1600 as firm US data revives the US Dollar

The EUR/USD edged lower on Thursday, down some 0.21% as market sentiment remains risk averse due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. This and solid US economic data pushed the pair lower towards the 1.1600 figure ahead of Friday’s session.

GBP/USD drifts lower heading into NFP range

GBP/USD edged lower by 0.2% on Thursday, settling close to 1.3350 in a strained trading session that kept the pair pinned near three-month lows. Price briefly recovered earlier in the day on reports that Iran had indirectly signaled openness to talks with the CIA, but the bounce faded as Israeli officials reportedly advised Washington to disregard the overture.

Gold: further weakness could challenge $5,000

Gold comes under fresh selling pressure on Thursday, slipping back below the $5,100 mark per troy ounce. Persistent strength in the US Dollar (USD) is preventing the yellow metal from building a meaningful recovery, even as markets remain risk-averse amid the deepening conflict in the Middle East.

NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange partners with OKX, invests at a $25B valuation

OKX announced an investment from Intercontinental Exchange, raising its valuation to $25 billion, alongside a partnership to expand regulated crypto futures and tokenized equity offerings globally.

Two PMIs, two Chinas

China’s economic data are often treated with a degree of caution by global investors. The challenge is not necessarily that the numbers are incorrect, but that they can describe very different parts of a vast and complex economy. Nowhere is that more evident than in China’s PMIs.

Ripple tests recovery strength amid steady ETF inflows, growing retail interest

Ripple (XRP) continues to demonstrate notable resilience as the cryptocurrency market navigates the persistent war in the Middle East after the United States (US) and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday.