- Singapore to allocate US$1.1 billion to five asset managers to boost its equities market
- Japan’s Katayama says undervalued yen is problematic, agrees with Bessent on cooperation
- Australian household spending flat in August, missing forecasts ahead of RBA decision
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.7411 (vs. estimate at 6.7177)
- State Street: Gold may test $4,000 on rate fears but $5,000 still possible in six months
- Anthropic IPO prospectus shows $42 billion 2025 loss and $518 billion spending plans
- What is red diesel and why is Trump weighing selling it to curb fuel prices?
- UK shop price inflation slows to 1.4% in September as BRC urges business rates help
- Flatter US yield curve explained: tighter Fed policy, but not an automatic recession call
- ING cuts year-end AUD/USD target to 0.72 but sees an RBA hike blocking a retest of June lows
- NAB sees RBA hike supporting AUD near term, but the medium-term risk points the other way
- Weak Treasury auctions and Fed hike bets push US 10-year yield to highest since June 2007
- More from Araqchi: Iran hopes for final US reply via Qatar by Tuesday
- OpenAI scraps GPT-6.1 Astra release over safety concerns, WSJ reports
- Araqchi: Iran discussed ideas with Qatari mediators, Hormuz conditions must be met
- Trump denies offering Iran sanctions relief, calls Axios report a hoax
- Technical analysis: Nvidia record buyback lifts shares, $232-$234 resistance a hurdle for now
- Gold futures technical analysis and an important trade management for life
- ICYMI: Nvidia lifts buyback by record $150 billion to $235 billion, shares rise
- ICYMI: Fed’s Cook sees AI and oil keeping inflation pressure up, further hikes data dependent
Summary
- The US 10-year yield closed at around 5.24% on Monday, its highest close since the US attack on Iran on February 28. US rates overall ended at their highest levels since then.
- Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly lower after a weak Wall Street handover. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.2%, led by refiner and power-related stocks, and the KOSPI fell 0.6%, dragged by tech heavyweights.
- Oil rose. Reports of Iranian flexibility on nuclear issues, and of US sanctions relief and frozen funds in return, were denied by an Iranian official and by President Trump.
- Gold rose barely 0.5% after slumping on Monday alongside higher yields.
- The yen and other major currencies were little changed. Finance Minister Katayama said Tokyo agreed with US Treasury Secretary Bessent to step up cooperation and called an undervalued yen problematic.
- Australian household spending was flat in August, and the RBA’s decision is due later today (0430 GMT/ 0030 US Eastern time), with a hike to 4.60% widely expected.
- Anthropic’s IPO prospectus shows a net loss of around $42 billion for 2025, revenue of nearly $4.6 billion and about $518 billion of planned compute commitments, Reuters reported.
Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday after a weak handover from Wall Street, where equities came under pressure as oil prices and bond yields continued to climb.
The US 10-year Treasury yield closed at around 5.24% on Monday, its highest close since the US attack on Iran on February 28. US interest rates overall finished the session at their highest levels since that date, a move that weighed on Asian markets.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.2%, led by weakness in refiner and power-related stocks. South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 0.6%, with choppy trade and technology heavyweights pulling the index lower as yields rose.
Oil prices were higher after a choppy but ultimately positive session on Monday, driven by conflicting geopolitical headlines. Reports said Iran had shown flexibility on nuclear issues and that President Donald Trump was willing to offer sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in return for concrete steps on the nuclear program. Both were later denied. An Iranian official said the reports of flexibility were false, while Trump posted that the story was untrue and that he had offered Iran nothing.
Gold rose 0.5% as prices attempted to recover some of Monday’s losses, when the metal slumped alongside the higher yield environment.
In currency markets, the yen and other major currencies were little changed. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Tokyo had agreed with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to step up cooperation. She said an undervalued yen is, in general, problematic, that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is not reflationary, and that interest rates are determined by markets.
Closer to home, Australian household spending was flat in August against a forecast rise of 0.4%, with annual growth easing to 6.8% from 7.0%. The data landed ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision later today, where a rate hike to 4.60% is widely expected:
- Sticky core inflation pushes RBA towards its highest cash rate since 2011
- RBA preview: A 25 bps rate hike is priced in, but what comes after that?
- All four major Australian banks now forecast RBA hike to 4.60% on September 29
- RBA governor Bullock flags inflation risks as higher neutral rates come into focus
- RBA’s Bullock says supply shocks hard for policy to manage, flags second round risk
- RBA’s Hunter says rates may need to rise again as inflation risks stay tilted higher
Separately, Singapore said it will allocate S$1.45 billion (about US$1.1 billion) to five asset managers to support its equities market.
In technology, Anthropic’s IPO prospectus shows a net loss of around $42 billion for 2025, with revenue up twelve-fold to nearly $4.6 billion and planned compute commitments of about $518 billion, Reuters reported. The company could be valued at more than $2 trillion, with a debut likely after the US midterm elections.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.