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Asia markets plunge as technology rout intensifies
Asian markets fell on Monday, as investors put a halt to the AI rally. Meanwhile, the Israeli strike on Beirut sent oil prices and dollar up. The 'chip-heavy' KOSPI in South Korea took a beating. It fell more than 6.8% during volatile trading that had earlier caused a temporary halt of 20 minutes. The benchmark has fallen about 14% since last week's high. Japan's Nikkei dropped 3.4% in the early trading, but U.S. S&P and Nasdaq futures attempted a rebound following a Friday sharp selloff. Nasdaq dropped by 4.2% after Friday's hot jobs report fueled expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes. Marc Velan is the head of investments for Lucerne Asset Management, a Singapore-based asset management firm. "Korean tech names were among the best performers in the world and heavily owned, so they became a source of liquidity when the rate expectations changed after the jobs report." The yield on two-year Treasury bonds rose by more than 11 basis point on Friday, and then?by 1.6 basis points to 4.1782% on Monday. Bob Savage is the head of BNY's?markets and macro strategy. The key question is whether this?is an opportune pause or a peak in the nine week equity rally. SpaceX and Anthropic's IPO focus is part of this pause - to either make room for a new market cap, or to rethink the value. INFLATION AND THE ECB Ahead This week, the focus will be on inflation, with U.S. consumer prices due to be released on Wednesday, and central bank meetings taking place in Canada and Europe. Bitcoin dropped by 16% last week, its biggest weekly decline since the collapse in 2022 of the crypto exchange FTX. On Monday, it was hovering just below $63,000. SpaceX's debut will be followed in the coming months by mega-IPOs from?Anthropic? and OpenAI?, which are expected to raise so much money that brokerages are worried it could pull down other assets. Nick Ferres of Vantage Point Asset Management, Singapore, said that the market has shifted away from moderate inflation, rate cuts, and towards a potential "overheating" which could lead to higher Treasury yields and a path for short-term rates, as well as tighter liquidity. The Middle East situation remains fragile. Brent crude futures rose about 2.6% to $95.45 per barrel on Monday after an Israeli attack on Beirut led Iran to fire a salvo of missiles on Israeli targets. OPEC+ decided on Sunday to increase its oil production targets for the fourth time in as many month. The dollar held firm above 160 yen in the currency market and the Australian dollar rose to $0.7055. The euro was hovering at $1.1531. Reporting by Tom Westbrook, Editing by Aurora Ellis & Shri Navaratnam
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The price of oil has risen by more than $2 since Israel's attack on Lebanon
Oil prices rose by more than $2 per barrel on Monday, after Israel launched new strikes against Lebanon on Sunday despite an agreement between the two nations. This shattered hopes of a ceasefire and the restart of crude flow through the Strait of Hormuz. As of 0013 GMT U.S. crude oil futures were up by $2.10 or 2.32% at $92.64 per barrel, while Brent crude rose by $2.33 or 2.5% to $95.42 per barrel. This erased a majority of Friday's losses, when prices fell on the hope of a deescalation of the U.S. - Iran conflict. The latest strikes seemed to be yet another obstacle to a U.S. - Iran peace?deal, and to the reopening of Strait of Hormuz a vital conduit for global 'oil and gas' flows. Iran has set a ceasefire in Lebanon as a precondition for a deal with Washington. Iran launched missiles against Israel in retaliation for the Beirut attacks on Hezbollah, its ally. U.S. president Donald Trump said that he would instruct Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from retaliating against Iran. Israel invaded Lebanon in march after Hezbollah, backed by Iran, fired drones and rockets across the border. Lebanon and Israel announced on June 3, that they had reached a ceasefire after negotiations in Washington. Both countries had agreed in April to cease hostilities, but the violence continued. The wider war is on hold since the U.S., Israel and other countries stopped their attacks on Iran early in April. However, Tehran continues to block shipping through Strait of Hormuz. OPEC+ agreed to its fourth increase in output?in just four months on Sunday, amid the resulting?supply crisis. Analysts said that the decision will have little effect, as most OPEC+ countries cannot meet their production targets because of the Hormuz shutdown or infrastructure attacks in Russia. In a recent note, Jorge Leon, Rystad's head of geopolitical analyses said that the impact of such a move would be "close to zero" in the current market. (Reporting and editing by Edmund Klamann, Christopher Cushing, and Colleen Waye)
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Asia markets plunge as technology rout intensifies
Asian markets fell on Monday, as investors slammed on the brakes to the AI rally. Meanwhile, the oil price and dollar rose due to the Israeli strikes in Beirut. A 8% decline in South Korea's chip heavy?KOSPI triggered a trading halt for 20 minutes?and has it down 17% since its record high last week. Japan's Nikkei dropped 3.5% in the early trading, while U.S. S&P500 and Nasdaq100 futures saw small gains. After a strong jobs report, which raised expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, the Nasdaq fell 4.2%, with most selling concentrated on semiconductor stocks. This put a halt to what had been an AI-led rally. The yields on two-year Treasury bonds rose by more than 11 basis points last Friday. Benchmark 10-year Treasury futures fell about five ticks in the early morning hours of Monday morning, Asia. Bob Savage is the head of BNY's macro-markets strategy. The key question is whether this is a "healthy pause" in the nine week equity rally, or a peak. IPO attention on SpaceX and 'Anthropic' is part of a pause - to either make room for a new market cap, or to rethink the value. INFLATION AND THE ECB Ahead The biggest news of the week is likely to be the SpaceX listing. It will price on Thursday, and trade on Friday. But inflation will also be a major topic, with U.S. Consumer Price Data due on Wednesday, and central bank meetings in Canada, Europe, and elsewhere. Bitcoin dropped by about?16% last week, its biggest weekly decline since the collapse in 2022 of crypto exchange FTX. On Monday, it was just above $63,000. Brokers are worried that the IPO of SpaceX could cause other assets to fall in value. The Middle East situation remains fragile. Brent crude futures were up 2.6% on Monday to $95.45 per barrel after an Israeli strike on Beirut led Iran to fire a volley of missiles on Israeli targets. OPEC+ decided on Sunday to increase its oil production targets for the fourth time in a row. The dollar held firm above 160 yen in the currency market and the Australian dollar rose to $0.7038. The euro was hovering at $1.1518. Reporting by Tom Westbrook, Editing by Aurora Ellis & Shri Navaratnam
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Asia markets prepare for sales after Wall Street tech crash
The Asian markets are expected to fall Monday as Wall Street's nine week winning streak in tech sales ends. Meanwhile, the Israeli strikes on Beirut have sent oil and dollar prices higher. Futures and the U.S. exchange-traded funds' moves on Friday pointed to sharp drops in Japan and South Korea. S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% early in Asia. After a strong jobs report, which raised expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes, the Nasdaq fell 4.2%, with most selling concentrated on semiconductor stocks. This put a halt to what had been an exciting?AI-led rise. The yield on the two-year Treasury rose by more than 11 basis point on Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury futures were down about five ticks on Monday morning. Bob Savage is the head of BNY's markets macro strategy. He said that "the AI-drives everything narrative frayed in the last week." The key question is whether this is a healthy break in the nine week equity rally, or a top. The IPO focus of SpaceX and Anthropic 'is part of the pause - to make space for the new market capital or to rethink the value." This week, the biggest news is likely to be the SpaceX listing. It's expected that it will price on Thursday, and then trade on Friday. But, inflation will also be a major topic, with U.S. consumer prices due on Wednesday, and central bank meetings taking place in Canada and Europe. Bitcoin dropped by 16% last week, its biggest weekly decline since the collapse in 2022 of the crypto exchange FTX. It was hovering around $63,000 on Sunday. Brokers are worried that SpaceX's IPO could cause other assets to fall in value. The Mideast situation remains fragile, and Brent crude futures rose 2.6% on Monday to $95.45 per barrel after an Israeli strike on Beirut led?Iran? to fire a salvo? of missiles? at Israeli targets. OPEC+ has agreed to a fourth increase in oil production targets in just a few months. The dollar held firm above 160 yen in the currency market and the Australian dollar rose to $0.7038. The euro was hovering at $1.1518.
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China dominates low-carbon industrial projects, US lags, report says
A report on Monday said that the number of low-carbon projects which have received funding in the past six months has increased by more than twofold, to 19 projects, worth $43 billion. The majority of these are located in China. A report by Mission Possible Partnership stated that 13 projects, from methanol and aluminium to methanol, reached a decision on investment between November and April. Only one project was in the U.S. It added that eight projects were funded in the same period last year. The green industrial investment boomed during the time when Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran, driving up the price of fossil fuels. Faustine Delasalle is the CEO of MPP. She said, "In an increasingly fragmented and unstable environment, fossil fuel dependence has repeatedly shown to be a source of price shocks and supply disruptions as well as economic crises." The MPP, a non-profit organization based in the United States that aims to?boost the growth of low emission industry is supported by both the Bezos Earth Fund as well as the World Economic Forum. Total pipeline of low-carbon industrial project announcements?is 969? in sectors such as chemicals, aviation and metals. China is responsible for 170 out of the announced projects. Other countries in the "sunbelt", such as India and Brazil, have 318. Europe has 211, and the United States has 72. The United States has a large pipeline of projects, but is losing momentum, according to the report. It also noted that over the past 12 months, there were 20 fewer announced projects than in 2012. Reporting by Eric Onstad, Editing by Chris Reese
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Russian drone strikes nuclear fuel storage facility near Chornobyl in Ukraine
Ukrainian officials said that a 'Russian drone' had struck a storage area for spent nuclear fuel near Ukraine’s now-disused Chornobyl plant. They added that the radiation levels remained stable. Separately, the Kyiv General Staff and state atomic agency stated that a container-receiving facility?had partially been destroyed, but no spent fuel had been stored at the time of?attack. The fire that resulted was put out and there were no reported injuries. Russia has not publicly commented on the alleged attack?on the facility which is located?around 15 km (9miles) away from the Chornobyl Plant, the site where the world's biggest nuclear disaster occurred. Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, wrote on X: "This isn't the first time Russian forces have put Ukrainian nuclear facilities in danger." "Russia's nuclear blackmail and threats against nuclear safety are systematic, deliberate, and inacceptable." A Russian drone attacked a containment 'arch that was over the Chornobyl reactor in February 2025. The 'arch had been destroyed by the explosion and meltdown of April 1986. ?Russia denied responsibility. Kyiv has also accused Moscow of attempting to attack the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant located in southeast Ukraine. (Reporting and editing by Tomaszjanowski).
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Embraer observes that airlines are delaying their decisions about plane purchases due to the Iran war
Embraer CEO Francisco Gomes Neto said 'on Saturday that some airlines are delaying their decisions on whether or not to exercise their aircraft purchase options due to a lack of certainty over the war in Iran. This uncertainty has led to a rise in 'jet fuel prices. Gomes Neto, the Brazilian planemaker, noted that while there have been no requests to delay deliveries or slowdowns in active sales campaigns he was noticing a growing caution around incremental commitments. He said that some companies who could exercise previously signed options were delaying that to better understand the?evolution of the situation. Embraer has a commercial backlog of nearly five years worth of deliveries. The company is pursuing multiple sales campaigns to sell its E2 family and hopes to close some deals next month at the Farnborough airshow in the United Kingdom. Embraer wants to capitalize on recent agreements, including those with Finnair and Azorra. It believes that the E2 family's fuel-efficiency can increase demand. Gomes Neto stated that several campaigns are currently underway, and the timing of any potential deals is heavily dependent on the customers. "I'm not sure if the commercial aviation sector will have a strong year like last year, but I think it should be good." Embraer is aiming to increase its output. The company has set an internal goal of delivering between 95 and100 commercial aircraft by 2027. This year, the?outlook is between 80 and85 planes. Gomes Neto said that the goal is more dependent on smoother supply chains than it is on geopolitical tensions such as the Iran war being resolved. He said that the bottlenecks in the industry, which have been present since the pandemic, are slowly improving. He added, "It is about getting the?cadence correct." Embraer is also looking to improve margins within its commercial aviation division. Gomes Neto stated that the company has renegotiated older contracts with lower profitability, and is expecting a stronger demand for new agreements to support better pricing.
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Israeli forces kill a Palestinian child and injure his parents on the West Bank
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that Israeli forces killed and injured a 7-month-old Palestinian child in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron, West Bank on Friday evening. The ministry identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, and stated that he died on the scene. His parents were moderately injured by gunshots. The grandmother of the baby said that the family stopped the car when they saw Israeli soldiers and military vehicles in the distance. She claimed that shots were fired at them which they first thought were warning shots. She said that "one bullet hit my grandson and lodged in his mother's cheek, after traversing his face, crossing his head and striking his mother's cheek." The bullet also grazed her father's finger and the mother is currently hospitalized. Israeli military claimed that during Friday's operational activity, soldiers in the Hebron region perceived a vehicle speeding toward them. One soldier fired a single shot at the vehicle. It said that three Palestinians had been injured and taken to hospital for treatment. The military stated that an initial investigation found that those injured were "uninvolved civilians" and that the incident is 'under review'. Tel Rumeida is an area in Hebron where Israeli settlers are under heavy military protection among Palestinian residents. It has been a hotbed of violence for many years, especially when it comes to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. According to a report by the European Union in 2024, more than 3 million Palestinians live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including over 700,000.
What's the significance of Russia claiming to have captured the Ukrainian town Chasiv Yar?
After nearly 16 months, Russia claimed to have taken control of the devastated town of Chasiv Yar (in eastern Ukraine), an assertion that Kyiv branded "propaganda".
Here are some key facts about Chasiv Yar (also known as Chasov Yar by Russians) and the long struggle for its control that began in March/April of 2024.
What is chasive yar?
Chasiv Yar, a quiet ravine with a population of over 12,000 before the war, is located in the industrial Donbas region in Ukraine's Donetsk Region, one of four areas that Moscow claims to have annexed by 2022. Kyiv has called this annexation an illegal land grab.
The town's economy pre-war was centered on an industrial complex that produced bricks and reinforced concrete products.
It was located on higher ground and served as an artillery forward base as well as a point of regrouping for the Ukrainian Army.
The Russian military considered it one of Ukraine’s strongest strongholds because of its location, elevation, terrain, and the factories and apartment buildings where Ukrainian forces had been able to dig into.
Why does Russia want it?
If confirmed, the Russian capture of the town would help Moscow in its effort to surround the "fortress-city" of Kostiantynivka, which it's trying to envelop with a pincer move, and remove an obstacle that had become an obstruction to the army's westward advance across the rest Donetsk.
Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are listed by Russian analysts as "fortress cities" that can be reached from Chasiv Yar, if Moscow is able to get there. Kyiv, however, is determined not to allow this.
Analysts in Russia say that their military will use Chasiv Yar to attack Ukrainian forces in Donetsk's northern region with artillery fire and drones and to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines. Rybar, a war blogger, said that holding the ground and moving northwards would not be an easy task.
What was the battle for chasiv yar like?
Both sides have military analysts who say that the battle is one of longest and most grinding of the war with many but not disclosed casualties.
The Russian Defence Ministry announced on Thursday that its paratroopers have cleared over 4,200 structures and buildings in the push to take town. They had also covered more than 12 miles of distance under Ukrainian artillery fire and drones.
Could not confirm this assertion.
Ukraine claims that its fierce and long-lasting resistance at Chasiv Yar demonstrates how it was able to slow down and inflict severe casualties on an numerically superior force, with the aid of its drone units.
How important would its fall be?
Ukrainian analysts have downplayed the importance of Chasiv Yar and suggested that Russia taking it would only be a Pyrrhic win given the high price Kyiv forced Moscow to pay and the length of time it was able to resist Russian forces.
Some Russian analysts claim that the capture of the town would be more of a tactical than strategic victory.
Sergei Markov said that the battle has been going on so long, Chasiv Yar's strategic importance had diminished.
Markov wrote in Telegram that "the capture of the city is symbolic: this could be how the war will continue for many more years - slowly and slowly the Russian army advances."
What does CHASIV Yar look like now?
The town is a shambles and has been pulverized by Russian forces after heavy shelling and air strikes, glide bombs and drone attacks.
Ukraine claims that a Russian airstrike on a residential building in the city in 2022 resulted in at least 43 deaths. Russia claims that the dead were Ukrainian soldiers.
Most of the residents of the town were evacuated when its utilities, such as power, water and gas, were destroyed. According to Serhii Chus, head of the town’s Ukrainian military administration, only 304 residents were still in the area in November of last year. They were sheltering in their basements.
The Russian military announced on Thursday that it had evacuated 65 civilians. Andrew Osborn, Andrew Heavens and Andrew Osborn contributed to the reporting.
(source: Reuters)