- More re Fed’s Daly – supported decision to hold rates steady at July FOMC meeting
- Asian tech stocks tumble as AI spending fears hit Nikkei, KOSPI
- Australian June trade surplus AU$1.929bn (deficit 1.1bn expected)
- Fitch says Korea equity volatility poses limited near-term credit risk
- Trump holds frequent informal calls with Fed chair Warsh, WSJ reports
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.7895 (vs. estimate at 6.7462)
- Fed’s Daly says tariff impact on inflation beginning to fade
- LDP lawmaker floats BOJ ETF sales to fund Japan tax cut
- Fitch says further yen gains require BOJ rate hikes
- UKMTO incident report- Strait of Hormuz
- CITIC Securities warns that South Korea’s equity deleveraging liquidation still incomplete
- PIMCO says AI-linked categories are distorting core PCE readings
- Explainer: what a Hormuz deal giving Iran shipping control would mean
- Trump administration refunds $100bn of struck down tariffs
- BofA CEO Moynihan sees three Fed rate hikes through year end 2026
- UBS on five reasons the equity rally has further to run
- investingLive Americas market news wrap: Gold storms higher
- BofA cuts year end dollar/yen forecast to 149 after intervention
- JPMorgan warns AI-driven stock momentum echoes dot-com era extremes
- Oil recap – Oil prices mixed as Hormuz reopening hopes offset surprise US crude build
- Fed’s Cook: Fed running out of room for disnflation to return
- At the close: Nasdaq sags as Google falls more than 4%
Summary:
- Oil traded subdued amid reports Iran and Oman are close to finalising a Strait of Hormuz deal, with route coordinates reportedly agreed
- The Houthis reportedly targeted another Saudi oil vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday evening
- UKMTO said a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz reported hearing two explosions, with the vessel and crew reported safe and no environmental damage noted
- Gold dipped under US$4,270
- Fed Governor Lisa Cook struck a hawkish tone after the US close, saying she is ready to support a rate hike if inflation does not ease, though she says the bar to act could be low
- Fed’s Mary Daly said she fully supported holding rates steady last week but wants more data before September and is prepared to act aggressively if inflation momentum rebuilds
- FX markets were quiet, but equities were not, with Japan’s Nikkei falling and South Korea’s KOSPI extending losses to around 4.5%, dragged down by a tech and semiconductor selloff
Wrap:
Oil traded in subdued fashion, even as equity markets across Asia came under renewed pressure and Federal Reserve officials offered a mixed set of signals on the path for interest rates.
Crude found little direction as reports circulated that Iran and Oman are nearing finalisation of a deal covering the Strait of Hormuz, with the two sides said to have agreed on the coordinates of shipping routes through the waterway. That progress was tempered by fresh security concerns, however, after reports emerged Wednesday evening that Houthi forces had targeted another Saudi oil vessel in the Gulf of Aden. Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said the master of a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz reported hearing two explosions during its passage. UKMTO said the vessel and its crew were safe and that no environmental damage had been reported, but the incident underscored that risk in the strait remains far from resolved even as diplomatic progress is reported. Gold, meanwhile, dipped back from UIS$4300 to under US$4,270.
On the policy front, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook struck a notably hawkish note in remarks after the US regular session close. Cook said she is ready to support a rate hike should inflation fail to ease, warning that price stability risks now outweigh those facing the labour market and that the Fed is running low on room to keep waiting for disinflation to return. She said she backed last week’s decision to hold rates steady because she sees potential for price pressures tied to tariffs, the war and the AI investment buildout to ease over time, but signalled the threshold for a hike could be low, saying “if I do not see signs of continued disinflation soon, I am prepared to act.” Cook added that after several years of above target inflation, “while we might be able to afford to wait for longer in a different environment, we do not have that luxury in this one.”
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly offered a somewhat more measured tone, saying she was “completely supportive” of the decision to hold rates steady last week, but that the central bank needs more data before its September meeting to judge whether current inflation reflects fading supply shocks or something more persistent. Daly said she is prepared to see the Fed act aggressively if inflation momentum shows signs of rebuilding, striking a similar note of vigilance to Cook even while backing patience for now.
FX markets were broadly quiet through the session, but equities told a different story. Japan’s Nikkei fell, dragged lower by heavyweight technology names tracking overnight weakness in US listed chip and AI adjacent stocks. The selloff was even sharper in South Korea, where the KOSPI extended losses through late Thursday morning, falling 4.52% to 6,299.88, driven by a broad sell-off in large-cap technology shares as concerns over the sustainability of AI related spending continued to weigh on sentiment across the region’s chip heavy markets.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.