Japan

Asian shares rallied Tuesday, as investors bet on a Federal Reserve rate cut in December. They also piled into technology stocks around the world, despite concerns that the sector is becoming overheated. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan gained 1%, led by tech stocks. This is a partial recovery of last week's 4% drop. The index is expected to drop 3.8% in the month. This will be its first monthly decrease since March. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8% at the start of trading on Tuesday, after returning to work on Monday from a long holiday. Last week, the index fell...

By Anna Szymanski LONDON (November 21) What Mike Dolan, the ROI team and I are looking forward to reading, watching and listening to this weekend. The Nvidia boost was short-lived. The U.S. equity market fell on Thursday, despite an initial rally. Both the Nasdaq index and Dow recorded +1,000 points from the peak to the trough. The Nasdaq, which is dominated by tech stocks, saw its largest intraday movement since April's tariff tantrum. Nvidia's $57 billion record third quarter revenue, and its rosy outlook did not calm fears of an AI bubble. Jamie McGeever, ROI's markets columnist, explains that the...

Tom Westbrook gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. The financial markets are in a holding pattern before the earnings report of Nvidia later on Wednesday. Nvidia is near 7% of the S&P 500, which means that wherever Nvidia goes, the market goes. It reports after business hours. CPI data for Britain is due before the release. It would take an unexpectedly large increase to derail the rate cut that has been priced into the markets for December. The Asian session saw a mostly stable market for stocks, bonds, and currency. However, gains...

Investors were held back by jitters over AI valuations ahead of a quarterly earnings report from Nvidia. The Nasdaq, a tech-heavy stock, fell by 1.2% over night. It was the second consecutive day that it lost money. It is now more than 6% lower than its record high reached in late October due to valuation fears. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were down 0.2% more by Asia afternoon. European futures dropped 0.1%, while FTSE Futures rose 0.1%. Nikkei, the Japanese stock market, which has fallen more than any major market in November, losing around 7% of its value in U.S....

The Asian stock market fell to a one-month low on Tuesday, with the most selling taking place in Japan and South Korea. Earnings from chipmaker Nvidia are expected later this week and will be a test of valuations in the entire sector. Bitcoin, the mood-barometer, is now below $90,000. This is the first time it has been under that level in seven months. Japan's Nikkei was on track to have its biggest one-day drop since April, with a decline of 3%. FTSE futures and European futures both fell more than 1%. Tareck Horchani is the head of prime brokerage at...

Asian stocks fell in the early trading on Tuesday as investors reduced their bets on a Federal Reserve rate reduction next month. The government shutdown had delayed a flurry of important U.S. economic data. The closely-watched September nonfarm payrolls data is due on Thursday. The focus in the region also centered on the meeting between Japan's new prime minister Sanae Takaichi and Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, which took place at 0630 GMT. This was the first time the two had met since the new leader's inauguration last month. In a Tuesday research note, JBWere analysts stated that "there...

Tom Westbrook gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. On Monday, the U.S. economy will start to flow again with figures on construction spending for August. On Thursday, September's jobs data will be released. The next month will bring more up-to date figures on labour and prices. However, due to concerns over the quality of these data and hawkish comments from policymakers, expectations for a December rate cut are fading. The main event for markets this week is likely Nvidia earnings after the close on Wednesday, which are shaping as a test for...

By Anna Szymanski 14 Nov - Hello Morning Bid readers! Wall Street's decline on Thursday, after a rally earlier in the week, may have been an example of Wall Street "buying rumor and then selling news" as the end of the U.S. shutdown was announced. The major issues that are driving the markets remain the "AI bubble" concerns and the direction of policy easing, even though Nvidia, Intel, and other AI leaders recorded significant losses yesterday. The end of the 43-day longest government shutdown, according to those who counted, had only a small impact on the markets. This is because...

Gregor Stuart Hunter gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. The markets have had a traumatic 24 hours as traders reduced their expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would ease policy during its December meeting. A cut is now seen as a coin flip. All three fell: stocks, Treasury bonds, and the U.S. Dollar. Data released on Friday revealed that China's retail sales and factory output grew at the slowest pace for over a decade in October. Fed officials' comments have increased the likelihood of a "hold" at the central bank’s final meeting...

The world stock market was looking to return to record levels on Thursday, following the end of the largest government shutdown in history. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen, which is under increasing pressure due its devaluation against the euro and the dollar has reached a new record low. The STOXX 600 index in Europe made a steady debut with a nearly 1% increase from France's CAC 40, pushing both indexes up to their all-time highs and offsetting the more than 4% drop from German engineering giant Siemens reported disappointing earnings. The U.S. Stock Futures fluctuated from a slight negative to a...

Gregor Stuart Hunter gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. The U.S. Government is about to reopen, restoring potential pay for unpaid federal employees and ending the drought of economic data which has left the Federal Reserve virtually blinded for more than one month. The latest sign that normalcy is returning could be Congressmen taking advantage of the free publicity. Thousands of flights have been delayed or cancelled due to the shutdown. Some Congressmen are carpooling with their colleagues, or taking a 16-hour Harley Davidson across the country to return to Washington D.C....

The U.S. Congress appeared to be on track to end the shutdown, and traders were looking for guidance in the absence any government data. The broadest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan rose by 0.4%, as House of Representatives members prepared to vote on legislation that would restore funding for government agencies and bring an end to the shutdown which began on October 1, and is the longest in U.S. History. Analysts from Westpac stated in a report that "Sentiment improved" after the U.S. Senate approved a bill ending the longest U.S. Government shutdown ever. The House is expected...

Bitcoin and ether fell to multi-month-lows on Friday. cryptocurrencies were swept up as part of a wider flight from riskier investments, as investors became worried about high tech valuations. They also lost bets that the U.S. would soon cut interest rates. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world, dropped 5.5% to $81,668, its lowest level in seven months. Ether fell more than 6%, to $2,661.37. This is its lowest level in four months. Both tokens have fallen by about 12% this week. Cryptocurrencies can be a good indicator of the risk appetite in the market. Their recent slide shows how...

Bosch said that thousands of employees are facing production interruptions due to a global shortage of chips caused by a dispute with the manufacturer Nexperia. China and the Netherlands are locked in a fight for control of Nexperia. However, there is hope that the standoff will ease with the Dutch government sending an official delegation to Beijing to try to reach a compromise. Bosch reported that it was experiencing disruptions at three of its sites: Ansbach, Salzgitter and Braga (both in Germany) and Braga (Portugal). It said: "We continue to do everything possible to serve our clients and to avoid...

Yum China Holdings (the parent company of KFC in China and Pizza Hut there) said on Monday that it would continue to run a vigorous campaign in order to improve profitability and open new stores in the future. Smaller cities will be a key target. Yum China stated that by 2028 KFC plans to have over 17,000 stores in China, with an operating profit of 10 billion yuan (1,41 billion dollars). The company will use lower-capex store models in order to expand into smaller, untapped cities. The group expects to double the operating profit for Pizza Hut in China by...

Mitsubishi Materials, JX Advanced Metals and its partners announced on Tuesday their intention to integrate Mitsubishi Material’s copper concentrates procurement into Pan Pacific Copper. PPC, Japan's largest supplier of refined metals, is owned by JX to the tune of 47.8%. Mitsui Mining and Smelting holds 32.2% and Marubeni 20%. In a joint announcement, the companies stated that they proposed an integration to create a framework for boosting profitability through consolidation of copper concentrate procurement and cost reductions, as well as streamlining their sales operations. The conditions for buying copper concentrates from mines have significantly worsened as the competition with overseas...

Marubeni Corp, a Japanese company, announced on Monday that it would invest in an Australian mineral sands development project run by RZ Resources. This follows in the footsteps JX Advanced Metals of Japan who struck a similar agreement with RZ Resources earlier this year. Marubeni has agreed to pay A$15m ($9.75m) towards options that will grant it up 5% of the equity in RZ's Copi Mineral Sands Mine Project in New South Wales, as well as certain marketing rights if the feasibility of the project is confirmed. RZ, the owner of the Copi project, as well as a mineral separation...

The physical gold demand in India was subdued in this week's trading as the volatile price levels discouraged buyers and led dealers to offer steep discounts in order to attract them. In China, demand also cooled due to new tax regulations. Indian dealers are offering a discount The discount is now up to $14 per kilogram over the official domestic price, including 6% import duties and 3% sales taxes, compared to last week's up to $12. A New Delhi jeweller said that investment demand was the main driver of the market last month. But now, even investors are waiting for...

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...

A factsheet released by the U.S. and Japan on Tuesday showed that around 20 companies have expressed an interest in projects which could contribute to Tokyo’s commitment to invest $500 billion in the United States under a trade deal. In a July deal, U.S. president Donald Trump agreed to lower tariffs on Japanese auto imports and other goods. The agreement also included a Japanese commitment to invest $550 billion in U.S. project. According to a list of possible projects, SoftBank Group, Mitsubishi Electric, and Hitachi are among the companies interested in participating. The list includes energy, AI infrastructure, and critical...

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 White House announced that U.S. president Donald Trump and Japan prime minister Sanae Takaichi signed a framework deal on Tuesday to secure the supply of rare earths and critical minerals through mining and processing. Both countries want to strengthen the supply chains of rare earths, which are used in everything from electronics to cars and renewable energy. The statement stated that the U.S., Japan, and other countries will cooperate by using economic policy tools, as well as coordinated investment, to develop a diversified, liquid and fair market for rare earths and critical minerals. China processes 90% of rare earths...

Five sources involved directly in the price negotiations said that the premium for aluminium shipments for Japanese buyers from October to December has been set at $86 per ton. This is down 20% on the previous quarter due to weak demand. This is a lower figure than the $108 paid per ton in the quarter July-September and marks the third consecutive decline. Japan is the largest Asian importer for premiums and light metals For primary metal shipments, it agrees to each quarter pay over the London Metal Exchange cash price that is the benchmark for the area. Early in September,...

Ford Motors cut its profit forecast on Thursday. The company cited the fallout of a fire that occurred at an aluminum supplier, which will affect production of some its most profitable vehicles until the end of the calendar year. Ford Motor said that a fire in September at Novelis's Oswego factory, which supplies materials for F-150 trucks, will cost it between $1.5 and $2 billion, before taxes and interests. It expects to offset around $1 billion next year. Ford CEO Jim Farley stated in a press release that he was on site with Novelis, working to source aluminum for parts...