- BoJ declares underlying inflation at 2% target, lifts FY2027 price forecast as rates held
- BoJ keeps policy rate unchanged at 1.25%, as expected
- (Some good news!) Treasuries rally as AI selloff drives flight to safety, 10-year yield at one-month low
- Amazon and Intel results deepen worries over AI boom costs as tech, chip stocks slide
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.7138 (vs. estimate at 6.6548)
- Chainalysis estimates $5.9B stolen in suspected Binance hack, nearly 4 times Bybit
- Binance halts deposits and withdrawals, pledges to cover all losses from suspected hack
- Ukraine reportedly pauses strikes on Russian refineries after US pressure
- Vessel on fire in Strait of Hormuz after incident near Oman, cause “unknown” (LOL)
- Japan September factory output beats forecasts, but retail sales disappoint ahead of BoJ
- ANZ lifts year-end Brent forecast to $105 as tight physical market persists
- Tokyo October CPI 2.8% (2.7% expected)
- Binance pauses withdrawals after suspected $3B+ hack as Tether, Circle freeze $2.4B
- Nvidia in talks to guarantee Nscale debt tied to $45 billion Anthropic compute deal
- Morgan Stanley’s Wilson sees one final sell-off before US stock correction ends
- RBA set for back-to-back hike after hot CPI, says Natixis’ Garcia Herrero
- ING lifts AUD/USD target to 0.71 as it backs a 25bp RBA hike next week
- ECB to hike once more in December as tighter conditions may not suffice: Deutsche Bank
- Intel earnings call: 18A progress and data centre growth offset by PC slump and cash burn
- Binance appears hacked, CZ says, as Tether and Circle freeze $1.79B in stablecoins
- Tether freezes $971M USDT amid suspected Binance hack as crypto sells off
- Earnings bloodbath: Intel crashes over 22%, Amazon over 12%. What’s coming next?
- Intel shares tumble around 15%. The narrative is –> weak Q4 guidance overshadows Q3 profit beat
- Nasdaq leads stocks lower; Intel and Amazon tumble after hours
- investingLive Americas market news wrap: ECB holds, sources report says December hike
Summary:
- Equities: Asian stocks fell after weak Amazon and Intel results deepened concern over AI costs. The KOSPI fell 4.9% after a sidecar halted programme trading, and the Nikkei lost 2.5%, while the Hang Seng rose 1.4%.
- Bonds: US Treasuries rallied, taking the 10-year yield to around 4.90%, a one-month low.
- BoJ: The Bank of Japan held at 1.25% in an 8-1 vote, with Takata seeking a hike. It said underlying inflation is consistent with its 2% target and will more than double ETF sales from 2027. The yen firmed modestly.
- Oil: Prices rose after a vessel fire in the Strait of Hormuz, but gains were capped by diplomatic hopes. Ukraine has reportedly paused refinery strikes.
- Crypto: Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals after a suspected hack and pledged to cover losses. About $2.5 billion has been frozen. BNB fell 8.6% and bitcoin dropped to near $77,700.
Asian equities fell sharply on Friday, led by South Korea, as disappointing results from Amazon and Intel deepened concern over the cost of the artificial intelligence boom. A suspected hack at cryptocurrency exchange Binance rattled digital asset markets, and the Bank of Japan signalled growing confidence that inflation has reached its target.
South Korea bore the brunt of the selling. The Korea Exchange activated a sidecar on the KOSPI after KOSPI 200 futures fell 5%, halting programme trading for five minutes. The KOSPI closed down 4.9% and the KOSDAQ lost 4.3%. Japan’s Nikkei fell 2.5% and China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.8%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng bucked the trend to rise 1.4%. US equity index futures also traded lower in Globex trade.
The pressure stemmed from US earnings released after Thursday’s close. Amazon shares fell about 7% in after-hours trading after it forecast holiday-quarter sales below expectations. Intel dropped around 18% after issuing weak fourth-quarter guidance and warning of falling PC demand. The selling spread to AI cloud providers, PC makers and chipmakers. US Treasuries rallied as investors sought safety, with the 10-year yield falling to around 4.90%, its lowest in more than a month.
In Japan, the Bank of Japan held its policy rate at 1.25% in an 8-1 vote, with board member Hajime Takata dissenting in favour of a hike to 1.5%. In its quarterly Outlook Report, the central bank said underlying inflation is now generally consistent with its 2% target. It described risks to prices as skewed to the upside and raised its core inflation forecast for fiscal 2027 to 2.6%. It also agreed to more than double the pace of its ETF sales from January 2027. The yen firmed modestly after the announcement. Earlier, Tokyo core inflation for October came in at 2.6%, in line with forecasts. Governor Kazuo Ueda’s press conference later in the day will be watched for signals on a December hike.
Oil prices rose after a vessel caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz following an incident northeast of Oman, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, which said the cause was unknown. Gains were limited by renewed hopes of a diplomatic resolution to the Middle East conflict following a letter from Vane. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine has paused strikes on Russian oil refineries after pressure from the US. Meanwhile, there has been unconfirmed speculation that US President Donald Trump could resume military action against Iran after next week’s midterm elections. Separately, ANZ raised its year-end Brent forecast to $105 a barrel.
In crypto markets, Binance suspended all deposits and withdrawals after a suspected hack in which on-chain data showed billions of dollars leaving its hot wallets across several blockchains. Estimates of the outflows have ranged from about $2 billion to more than $3 billion. Co-founder Changpeng Zhao said the exchange appeared to have been hacked and that user funds were safe, and Binance pledged to cover all losses. It said about $2.5 billion has been frozen, but gave no figure for losses or a timeline for reopening.
Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle moved quickly to freeze tokens linked to the outflows, acting within about 40 minutes of the drains beginning, according to reports. More than $1 billion, mostly ether, was reported to be beyond reach. Binance’s BNB token fell 8.6% to near $694 and bitcoin slipped to around $77,700.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.