- ING says Canadian dollar has further to fall on tariff chaos
- Recap: BOJ’s Himino calls for ‘timely’ rate hikes to curb inflation
- China industrial profit growth slumps to 7-month low of 11.2%
- BOJ’s Himino signals more hikes, flags growing upside inflation risk
- Australian household spending surges, builds case for RBA hike
- Oil – the report of an oil tanker attack in Hormuz says it occurred August 25
- Bank of Korea (BOK) delivers second straight rate hike, lifts benchmark to 3.00%
- BOJ hawk Himino speaks soon ahead of key September meeting
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.7840 (vs. estimate at 6.7261)
- Kansas City Fed hawk Schmid set for high profile Fox Business interview
- Bank consensus builds for near term RBA hike as economists cite sticky inflation
- There is a cascade of analysts forecasting a near term RBA rate hike. Westpac says No.
- UBS backs de-dollarization trend, lifts gold target to $5,400 an ounce
- Nvidia’s stock does the limbo then the moonwalk on 2028 guidance
- Preview: Warsh’s silence on rates leaves Fed and markets guessing before Jackson Hole
- UBS says tech pullback has opened up attractive entry points
- investingLive Americas FX news wrap 26 Aug The USD is mostly higher with higher yields the catalyst
- Nvidia earnings results: Revenue and EPS moderately beat but shares fall
- Oil catch up: Russia-Ukraine war keeps a floor under oil despite Hormuz optimism
- US stock markets close near flat ahead of Nvidia earnings
Summary:
- UKMTO said Iran struck a Kuwaiti oil tanker on 25 August in the Strait of Hormuz’s US-backed southern corridor while the vessel was transiting under US escort; the rest of the Middle East news flow was quiet and oil traded subdued
- Gold rose back to $4640 before stalling, still supported by dollar depreciation concerns and worries over rising US debt
- Australian household spending rose 1.1% m/m in July, nearly triple the 0.4% forecast, with annual growth up to 7.0% from 6.1%, adding to the RBA hike case built by Wednesday’s hot CPI print; AUD stayed underpinned by rate hike expectations
- China’s industrial profit growth slowed to an 11.2% annual pace in July, a seven-month low, with January-July profit growth easing to 17.6% from 18.7% in the first half, as the AI-driven turnaround from years of declines loses some momentum
- BOJ Deputy Governor Himino called for timely rate hikes to avoid a future inflation spike and flagged a weak yen as an inflation accelerant, though the yen softened anyway, with USD/JPY back to 159.40
- Bank of Korea delivered a second straight hike, lifting its policy rate to 3.00% from 2.75%
- PBOC resumed net injections via overnight reverse repos as cash demand picked up ahead of month end
- Nvidia beat on revenue and EPS for fiscal Q2 2027, but shares slipped as much as 3% in after-hours trading before jumping higher when CFO Colette Kress guided fiscal 2028 revenue growth to around 70%, well above the roughly 44% analysts had expected, and CEO Jensen Huang said underlying demand growth is running closer to 100%, with guidance capped by supply rather than demand; Nvidia separately agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.9bn
- Markets in Asia traded quietly, citing a wait-and-see approach to Fed Chair Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech on Friday, even though the symposium itself opens Thursday evening US time
Asian markets traded cautiously on Thursday, with much of the region’s price action muted as traders adopted a wait and see approach ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech, even though the symposium itself opens Thursday evening US time and Warsh is not due to speak until Friday morning.
The one notable flashpoint came in the Middle East, where the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said Iran struck a Kuwaiti oil tanker on 25 August in the Strait of Hormuz’s US-backed southern corridor, while the vessel was transiting under US escort. Beyond that incident, Middle East news flow was otherwise quiet and oil prices traded in a subdued fashion. Gold pushed back up toward $4640 before stalling, with dollar depreciation concerns and worries over rising US debt levels cited as the factors still underpinning the metal.
Australian data added to the hawkish narrative building around the Reserve Bank of Australia. Household spending rose 1.1% month on month in July, nearly triple the 0.4% pace forecast, with annual growth accelerating to 7.0% from 6.1%. The beat builds further on the case for an RBA hike established by Wednesday’s stronger than expected CPI print, and the Australian dollar remained underpinned by growing rate hike expectations.
China’s industrial sector offered a more mixed signal. Profit growth slowed to an 11.2% annual pace in July, a seven month low, according to National Bureau of Statistics data, with the January to July run rate easing to 17.6% from 18.7% in the first half. The figures suggest the AI-driven turnaround that had been lifting industrial profits from years of declines is starting to lose momentum. Separately, the People’s Bank of China resumed net injections through overnight reverse repos on Thursday, as cash demand picked up ahead of month end.
Central bank commentary out of Asia leaned hawkish elsewhere too. Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino called for timely rate hikes to avoid a future spike in inflation that could force more abrupt tightening later, and flagged a weak yen as a factor that could push up inflation at a faster pace than in the past. Despite the hawkish tone, the yen softened regardless, with USD/JPY back at 159.40. The Bank of Korea delivered a second consecutive rate hike, lifting its policy rate to 3.00% from 2.75%.
In earnings, Nvidia posted better than expected second quarter fiscal 2027 results after Wednesday’s close, though shares slipped as much as 3% in after-hours trading against high investor expectations. The share price bounced back strongly though with Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress telling analysts the company now expects fiscal 2028 revenue growth of around 70%, well above the roughly 44% analysts had previously forecast, saying demand is still accelerating even at Nvidia’s current scale and that customer forecasts point to growth roughly doubling next year, with the 70% figure reflecting supply constraints rather than a ceiling on demand. Chief Executive Jensen Huang said Nvidia has never before given guidance this far in advance, and that underlying demand growth is actually running closer to 100%, with the official outlook capped by current supply capacity rather than by demand itself. Nvidia separately agreed to buy open source model repository Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, according to The Information.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.