Moment Macron's face pushed away upon his arrival in Vietnam
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Perth Now
33 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Asia shares slip, dollar steadies ahead of Jackson Hole
Shares in Asia have fallen, weighed down by a tech-led selloff on Wall Street, while the dollar gained some ground ahead of a key meeting of central bankers later in the week. Oil prices inched higher after falling in the previous session, as traders bet that talks over a possible agreement to end the war in Ukraine could ease sanctions on Russian crude oil, boosting global supply. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.47 per cent, as did stock futures in Europe and the US. EUROSTOXX 50 futures slid 0.55 per cent, while DAX futures lost 0.5 per cent and FTSE futures eased 0.14 per cent. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2 per cent and Nasdaq futures lost 0.34 per cent, extending its fall from the cash session overnight. "The S&P 500 and Nasdaq slumped overnight as investors ditched high-flying tech stocks with their lofty valuations," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. Adding to headwinds for the sector, news that Nvidia and AMD have agreed to give the US government 15 per cent of the revenues from chip sales in China, as well as reports that the US is considering taking a 10 per cent stake in Intel, have stoked investor worries of the Trump administration's growing influence on tech companies. Sources also told Reuters that US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that receive CHIPS Act funding to build factories in the country. "These developments signal that US government is heading in a concerning and more interventionist direction," said Sycamore. Other bourses in Asia were similarly in the red on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei down 1.2 per cent, while China's CSI300 blue-chip index fell 0.5 per cent. Much of investors' attention at the start of the week was on a meeting between US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a group of European allies over the Russia-Ukraine war. While the talks concluded without much fanfare, Trump said the US would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there. He later said on Tuesday that the US might provide air support to Ukraine, while ruling out putting US troops on the ground. "The US is not categorically underwriting anything, any security for Ukraine, even if they're open to provide some, because we don't know the conditions under which they will. So there's quite a bit of risk left out there," said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho. Oil prices recovered after a fall in the previous session, with Brent crude futures last up 0.46 per cent at $US66.09 ($A102.23) a barrel. US crude advanced 0.6 per cent to $US62.72 ($A97.02) per barrel. All eyes are now on the Kansas City Federal Reserve's Thursday-to Saturday Jackson Hole symposium, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on the economic outlook and the central bank's policy framework on Friday. Focus will be on what Powell says about the near-term outlook for rates, with traders almost fully pricing in a rate cut next month. "Given the apparent tensions between US CPI and PPI data, (it) does come across as... premature to declare one way or the other. And most importantly, given this kind of dilemma embedded within the data, it is hard to decipher whether the Fed would take or would emphasise the risks that start to mount on the job side of the equation or (the) need to sit firm," said Mizuho's Varathan. Ahead of the gathering, the dollar firmed slightly, pushing the euro down 0.13 per cent to $1.1633, while sterling fell 0.16 per cent to $1.3470. The New Zealand dollar eased 0.17 per cent to $0.5885 ahead of a rate decision by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand due shortly on Wednesday, where a rate cut is expected. Elsewhere, spot gold fell 0.07 per cent to $US3,312.89 ($A5,124.46) an ounce.
The Australian
2 hours ago
- The Australian
Israel-France row flares over Macron's move to recognise Palestinian state
A row between Israel and France over Paris's plan to recognise a Palestinian state next month escalated to crisis level on Tuesday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused President Emmanuel Macron of fomenting "antisemitism". The Elysee hit back, calling Netanyahu's allegation "abject" and "erroneous". "This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation," the French presidency added. Netanyahu's accusation was sent in a letter addressed to Macron, seen by AFP, which said that antisemitism had "surged" in France following the French president's announcement last month that he will recognise Palestinian statehood. Macron said France would formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September -- a move that at the time drew a swift rebuke from Israel. In his letter, Netanyahu said to Macron: "Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas's refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets." By announcing the move, France was set to join a growing list of nations to have recognised statehood for the Palestinians since the start of the Gaza war nearly two years ago. France is among at least 145 of the 193 UN members that now recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, according to an AFP tally. France has long advocated for the so-called "two-state solution" for a Palestinian state to live in peace side-by-side with an Israeli one. It has said its move to recognise a Palestinian state goes against Hamas, which rules Gaza and which has excluded a two-state solution. - Anti-Jewish violence 'intolerable' - In its response to Netanyahu's antisemitism allegation, the French presidency said that France "protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens". Macron's office added that the allegation in Netanyahu's letter "will not go unanswered". "Violence against the (French) Jewish community is intolerable," the French presidency said. "That is why, beyond criminal convictions, the president has systematically required all his governments since 2017 -- and even more so since the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023 -- to show the strongest action against perpetrators of antisemitic acts," it said. Macron's minister for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, separately said in reaction to Netanyahu's letter that France has "no lessons to learn in the fight against antisemitism". The issue "which is poisoning our European societies" must not be "exploited", Haddad added. France is home to Europe's biggest Jewish community. Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry. Australia is also set to recognise Palestinian statehood next month, earning a Netanyahu criticism earlier Tuesday. The Israeli leader, on his office's official X account, called his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese a "weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews". The personal attack came amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries after the Australian government on Monday cancelled the visa of far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman. Rothman, whose ultranationalist party is in Netanyahu's governing coalition, had been scheduled to speak at events organised by the Australian Jewish Association. Hours after his visa was cancelled, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he had revoked the visas of Australia's representatives to the Palestinian Authority. In a statement, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said revoking their visas was an "unjustified reaction" by Israel and that Netanayahu's government was "isolating Israel and undermining international efforts towards peace and a two-state solution". bur-hr/rmb/gv
ABC News
7 hours ago
- ABC News
Trump administration rules out US boots on ground in Ukraine
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the US president has definitively ruled out the possibility of deploying US troops to Ukraine but remains open to providing air support to Kyiv.
