ASEAN Countries

The dollar suffered losses following the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut. Bonds were also firm. Oracle shares fell more than 11% in Asia trading. S&P futures were down 0.9% and Nasdaq futures 1.3%. AI-related stocks suffered the most in Tokyo as Oracle missed its profit and revenue forecasts, and executives cited higher spending as a sign infrastructure investments aren't turning into profits at the rate investors had expected. Japan's Nikkei Index fell by 1%, with the AI-exposed SoftBank Group contributing 7.5% to the decline. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose only 0.06%. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside...

Investors worried about the direction U.S. interest rates could take next year amid fears about a divided Central Bank. Asian stocks dropped while the dollar remained steady on Tuesday. Investor sentiment was cautious after a shaky start to the week, with key central bank meetings. Markets are looking for clarity on the outlook of global interest rates. Reserve Bank of Australia kept rates unchanged as expected on February 2, ruling out any further policy easing. They warned that the next step could be an increase if inflation pressures remain stubborn. The Australian dollar traded just below a three-month high. Bank...

Japan's Nikkei fell on Friday, wiping away this week's gains despite an otherwise positive Asian performance. Investors are waiting for the U.S. Inflation reading which could influence a deeply divided Federal Reserve. The European stock market was headed for a flat opening, as both EURO STOXX futures and FTSE Futures were little changed. Nasdaq Futures rose by 0.4%, and S&P500 Futures rose by 0.2%. In Asia, Nikkei fell by 1.3% as weaker than expected household spending data highlighted the inflation problem. Bets on a rate increase later in the month also grew. The week was expected to be mostly flat....

The dollar dropped for the tenth consecutive day against a basket, extending its longest losing streak since over 50 years. After an auction, Japanese stocks rose sharply. Government Bonds Investors showed a strong interest in the stock, setting the tone for the entire equity market. STOXX 600 in Europe was up by 0.1%, and is still on track for a modest gain each week. U.S. Stock Futures were flat for the day. This suggests a steady trading start later in the session. Wall Street stocks rallied Wednesday, led by small cap companies. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.9% while the...

Japanese stocks led gains on Asian markets Thursday, as investors bid heavily for government bonds at an auction. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar recovered from its five-week low. The Nikkei rose by 2.2%, led largely by the industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan traded flat due to declines in Korea, New Zealand and Australia. Early European trading saw pan-regional futures up 0.6%. German DAX Futures also rose 0.6%. FTSE Futures increased 0.31%. Tokyo's most recent debt sale attracted the highest demand in over six years. This helped calm investor nerves following a selloff which pushed yields...

The European stock market fell on Monday, and Wall Street futures indicated further losses. However, the Japanese government bond yields and the yen were boosted by comments that suggested the central bank might hike interest rates. The market was a little jittery during November but has strengthened over the last week as traders bet more on the Federal Reserve of the United States cutting rates at their December meeting. At 1249 GMT Europe's STOXX 600 fell 0.6% for the day, as markets were gripped by a new wave of risk-aversion. London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%, while Germany's DAX dropped 1.5%....

Stocks dropped on Monday, after a strong November. A bout of risk-aversion gripped the markets as optimism about U.S. interest rate cuts remained unchanged. The beaten-down Japanese yen strengthened and government bond yields soared to their highest level since 2008. In the currency market, the Japanese yen has gained strength to reach 155.55 US dollars. This is the strongest signal yet from Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda that an interest rate increase could be imminent. Ueda told business leaders in a speech that the central banks would weigh the pros and cons of increasing rates during its next policy...

Stocks fell on Monday, after a strong November. A bout of risk-aversion gripped the markets as optimism about U.S. interest rate cuts remained unchanged. The yen strengthened as investors considered the possibility of a rate increase as early as this month. Investors were looking for clues about the timing of the next rate hike as Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda spoke in Nagoya. Ueda told business leaders in an address that the central banks would weigh the "pros" and "cons" of raising interest rates at their next policy meeting. This was the strongest indication yet as to whether or...

The global stock market entered a volatile final session on Friday as an outage in the exchange operator CME Group disrupted trading of a wide range of futures contracts on currencies, commodities and Treasuries, further reducing liquidity. CME's datacentres were down when U.S. investors returned from Thanksgiving for a short session on Friday. CME's EBS platform had resumed some currency trading by 1305 GMT. The STOXX 600 index in Europe was essentially unchanged for the day. It had gained 0.5% during November, its lowest monthly performance since June. The S&P 500 will experience its first monthly drop since April. It...

Asian shares will end a difficult November on a more stable footing as renewed hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut have helped calm valuation fears and Treasuries are rallying for the fourth consecutive month. The U.S. market, which was closed for Thanksgiving overnight, is due to have a shorter session on Friday. This means that activity will be more muted across all major asset classes than usual. The majority of European stocks were higher while currencies were more calm. In Asia, European stock futures rose by 0.1% while FTSE Futures rose by 0.2%. Wall Street futures, however, were affected...

Asian shares will end a difficult November on a more stable footing as renewed hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut have helped calm valuation fears and Treasuries are rallying for the fourth consecutive month. The U.S. market, which was closed for Thanksgiving overnight, is due to have a shorter session on Friday. This means that activity will be more muted across all major asset classes than usual. The majority of European stocks were higher while currencies were more calm. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan was flat Friday. It is now on track to gain 3% in the...

The growing bets on a rate cut in the U.S. lifted stocks for a 4th straight day, and Europe's stock markets experienced an incredible few hours when Britain's fiscal regulator accidentally published new forecasts that were crucial ahead of a brutal UK budget. The UK budget was released by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves and contained yet another round of tax increases. Early release The Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook has already triggered a response. The sterling and gilt yields both rose as OBR figures showed a better than expected picture of the UK's fiscal room, but then...

The Vietnamese parliament approved on Thursday a revised bill that limits the exports of?rare earths refined and reaffirms an ore -export ban. This is in an effort to support a domestic industry that has been struggling for years to extract its significant reserves. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Vietnam has one of the largest reserves of rare earths in the world. However, earlier this year, the government agency significantly reduced its estimate of the?reserves of the country to 3.5 millions metric tons from 22 million tonnes. The new law states that "deep processing must be associated with building...

Thailand's central banks is preparing measures to reduce the upward pressure of the baht. This includes tightening controls by banks on gold-related transactions in foreign exchange and requiring gold traders to provide their transaction data. The baht is Asia's second best performing currency, having gained 7% in value against the dollar this year. The appreciation of the baht is a threat to Thailand's export and tourism industries. In a recent statement, the Bank of Thailand said that it closely monitors the baht's volatility and will take action to minimize the impact of any fluctuations on businesses. The BOT will propose...

Indonesia posted a smaller-than-expected trade surplus in October after exports unexpectedly fell, official data showed on Monday, amid curtailed demand from China and weak shipments of mining products. The surplus was $2.4 billion. This is lower than the forecast of $3.72 billion by economists polled and September's surplus of $4.34 billion. According to LSEG, it was the smallest surplus monthly since April. Exports fell 2.31% compared to a year ago, reaching $24.24 billion. Analysts predicted a growth of 3.38%. A Statistics Indonesia official explained to reporters that the decline was caused by lower shipments, particularly of copper and coal products....

Two sources familiar with this matter claim that Chile's state owned copper producer offered to sell copper to U.S. clients with contracts based upon London Metal Exchange copper price at a record premium of over $500 per metric ton. The premium is added to the benchmark LME price and reflects fundamentals of demand and supply. The premium also covers transport costs and taxes. Codelco didn't immediately respond to our request for a comment. The LME copper price reached a record high of $11,200 per ton on the 29th October due to expectations that shortages would occur, partly as a result...

Residents of Pari Island sue Swiss Cement Maker Holcim Climate change is blamed for higher temperatures and warmer seas Indonesian coastline is being eroded by mangroves. By Leo Galuh The Women's Group of Pari Island is hoping that mangroves will protect its coastline from rising sea levels, tidal flooding, and stronger waves. Mangroves absorb greenhouse gases, which are harmful to the planet. The sea has changed. "It's hotter and rougher. It scares us," Asmania, a mom of three, said as she dug her hands in the sand below the shallow sea. Pari Island, near Jakarta's capital, is home to only...

The price of copper rose on Tuesday as traders took into account supply developments, record U.S. stocks and the uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision for December. As of 1300 GMT, the most traded copper contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange had risen 0.33% to 86,320 Yuan ($12154.32) a metric tonne. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.31% to $10,806 per ton. Freeport Indonesia announced on Monday that it had reduced its production plans for 2026 at its flagship Grasberg Mine to 478,000 tonnes of copper cathode, from an earlier expectation of 700,000...

Lynas Rare Earths, based in Australia, said that it estimated a possible shortfall of one month's worth of production at its Kalgoorlie plant in Western Australia due to significant power supply interruptions. Lynas stated that the Kalgoorlie Rare Earths processing facility has experienced a dramatic increase in power supply interruptions since 2025. November saw a particularly high number, which resulted in significant losses in production of Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate. The largest rare-earth manufacturer outside China, the world's biggest rare-earth supplier, also expects that the Kalgoorlie disruptions will affect the production of finished products at its Malaysian plant during the...

Nippon Steel is Japan's largest steelmaker. It expects to report an annual profit drop of 14% before one-offs in the current fiscal year. However, it did not include its outlook for U.S. Steel due to the significant challenges on the U.S. Market. The Japanese steelmaker is expecting a underlying business gain, or profit adjusted to remove one-offs of 680 billion dollars for the fiscal year ending March. This is down from last year's 793.7 billion dollars. Nippon Steel acquired U.S. Steel for $15 billion in June. The company said that it had excluded the U.S. Steel business from its fiscal...

Sojitz, a Japanese company, has started importing rare earths heavy from Australia's Lynas. This is the first import of this kind produced using Australian ore that was separated and refined in Malaysia. This move is intended to ensure that Japan can obtain key materials for electric vehicles and renewable energies from other sources than China, the dominant market. Japan, the United States and their allies are working to create supply chains outside China as Beijing tightens its export controls on key minerals. Kosuke uemura, CEO of Sojitz, told reporters that the company would continue to promote diversification in the rare...

Sany Heavy Industry's shares rose up to 4.7% on their Hong Kong debut Tuesday, after the Chinese construction equipment maker raised HK$12.36bn ($1.59bn) in one the biggest listings in the city this year. According to the prospectus, this company was founded in 1994 and is part of the Sany Group. It is now China's leading construction machinery manufacturer, and ranks among the top three worldwide. Sany, which manufactures excavators and concrete machinery as well as road construction equipment and cranes, operates 16 production bases in different countries and sells its products to more than 150. The stock price opened at...

Sanae Takaichi, the new Japanese premier, gave a putter that Shinzo Abe used to use. Shinzo was his friend and former leader of Japan. The club, displayed in a case with a gold-leaf ball and bag autographed by Japanese major champion Hideki Matsuzaya, was one of many references to Trump’s bond with Abe which underpinned relations between the two countries during Trump's first term. Analysts say that Takaichi will want to rekindle the bond with Abe's protegee Takaichi who was killed by a single gunman in 2022 to help her minority government navigate any thorny matters that may arise, such...

The Chinese-led expansion in Indonesia of aluminium production is expected to lead the global market in excess next year. This will result in lower prices for the metal used widely in the transportation industry. Three new smelters backed by China are close to completion, including Xinfa-Tsingshan Juwan in Weda Bay, Taijing at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park and the Adaro-Lygend Kaltara Project in North Kalimantan. Indonesia exported 325.293 metric tonnes of aluminium from January to August of this year. This is up 67% compared to the same period last year. Ross Strachan is an analyst with consultancy CRU. He said,...