By Thando Hlophe STILFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) – Desperate family members of illegal miners believed to number in the hundreds waited outside a disused mine shaft in South Africa on Friday in the hope of their loved ones emerging from the hole in the ground. The miners are in a standoff with police, who have blocked their supplies of food and water and are trying to force them out to

Investing.com– Most Asian currencies weakened on Thursday, while the dollar rose to a one-year high on data showing continued stickiness in U.S. inflation, with focus now turning to an upcoming address by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Sentiment towards regional markets remained weak after recent stimulus measures from China disappointed, while the prospect of more U.S. protectionism under a Donald Trump Presidency also kept traders biased towards the dollar.  Most

Alibaba Offices In Beijing Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba on Friday beat profit expectations in its September quarter, but sales fell short as sluggishness in the world’s second-largest economy hit consumer spending. Alibaba said net income rose 58% year-on-year to 43.9 billion Chinese yuan ($6.07 billion) in the company’s quarter ending Sept. 30, on the back of the performance of its equity investments. This compared

Investing.com – Crude prices have traded lower Friday, on course for a negative week, as demand concerns and a stronger US dollar weighed on investor sentiment. But UBS cuts its 2025 Brent forecast, but sees room to recover from current levels. By 07:20 ET (11:20 GMT), the futures (WTI) dropped 1% to $68.03 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.9% to $71.88 a barrel. Both contracts are on course for

By John Biju and Sameer Manekar (Reuters) – Investors sharply ramped up their short bets on Asian currencies and turned bearish on the Singapore dollar for the first time since early July on rising concerns that the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies would erode the attractiveness of risk-sensitive emerging market assets. Short bets emerged on the Singapore dollar for the first time in four months and were at their highest

Investing.com — Gold prices drifted lower Thursday, falling near to a two-month low, as the dollar strengthened after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell signaled that the Fed could take a careful approach to further rate cuts.  At 12:00 ET (17:00 GMT), fell 0.2% to $2,564.66 an ounce, while expiring in December slid 0.6% to $2,570.60 an ounce. Spot gold was nursing an over 8% slide from a record high hit

LONDON (Reuters) -The euro has fallen to one-year lows, reviving talk the currency could hit the $1 mark. Donald Trump’s U.S. election win raises the prospect of a hike in tariffs that could deal a fresh blow to the euro zone economy. At around $1.05, the euro has slumped 6% from more than one-year highs in September when a weakening economic outlook stopped it in its tracks. Euro/dollar is the

By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – Any move by the Trump administration to change U.S. climate policy could benefit Australia’s ambitions to attract greater investment to its critical minerals and green energy industry, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday. Australia has rich deposits of , vanadium, cobalt and lithium used in electric vehicle batteries. It is competing for global investment to build its clean energy sector, including critical minerals

Investing.com – The U.S. dollar pushed further higher Thursday, climbing to a one-year peak after consumer inflation data raised doubts over the extent of Fed interest rate cuts, while Donald Trump started filling the key positions in his new administration.  At 04:35 ET (09:35 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.4% higher to 106.807, its highest since early November 2023.

Investing.com– Oil prices fell slightly in Asian trade on Friday after data showed a bigger-than-expected build in U.S. inventories, with prices set for a weekly loss amid growing concerns over weak demand.  Prices were rattled by a cut in the OPEC’s demand outlook this week, while stimulus measures from top importer China largely underwhelmed. A strong dollar also weighed on oil prices. expiring in January fell 0.4% to $72.30 a