Bloomberg Daybreak Asia: Markets Cautious as Israel-Iran Ceasefire Appears to Hold
Stocks in Asia opened on a cautious note as the Israel-Iran truce appeared to hold and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave balanced comments on prospects for rate cuts. Late Tuesday in the States, President Donald Trump appeared to undermine years of US sanctions on Iran, giving its biggest customer China the green light to carry on buying its oil as he seeks to bolster a ceasefire with Israel. We discuss Beijing's role in what now appears to be a subdued conflict with Jenni Marsh, Greater China Eco-Gov Team Leader for Bloomberg News. Plus - Treasury yields and a gauge of the dollar steadied. The benchmark 10-year yield shed five basis points in the previous session as Fed Chair Powell said "many paths are possible" for monetary policy. We look at the US central bank's path ahead with JoAnne Bianco, Partner and Senior Investment Strategist at BondBloxx Investment Management.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
7 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Chill in U.S.-China Relations Hits Stock Listings
Wall Street's welcome mat for Chinese stock listings long transcended rocky U.S.-China relations. Increasingly, the stock market relationship is succumbing to distrust between the world's two largest economies. More than 80 Chinese companies have delisted their shares from U.S. exchanges since 2019, according to data provider Wind. Around 275 China-based companies now represent less than 2% of the capitalization of shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The NYSE hasn't hosted a new listing from China since carmaker Zeekr went public in May 2024. Chinese initial public offerings still pour in—in fact, 2024 saw the highest number in years—but most are tiny, highly speculative stocks, not the megabillion-dollar 'red chips' of yesteryear. The 62 Chinese offerings last year raised an average of under $7 million. Some struggle to maintain the minimum 300 public shareholders, a red flag for investors that they could be risky or outright scams.
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Most Hawkish BOJ Member Flags Rate Hike Risk as Inflation Gains
(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of Japan's most hawkish member said it may be necessary to raise interest rates should inflation risks rise even if economic uncertainty lingers. Bezos Wedding Draws Protests, Soul-Searching Over Tourism in Venice US Renters Face Storm of Rising Costs US State Budget Wounds Intensify From Trump, DOGE Policy Shifts Commuters Are Caught in Johannesburg's Taxi Feuds as Transit Lags 'When the likelihood of achieving the price stability target increases, or when upside risks to prices grow, I believe that the bank may face a situation where it should act decisively, despite heightened uncertainties,' Naoki Tamura said Wednesday in a speech to local business leaders in the northeast city of Fukushima. He spoke soon after the release of a summary of opinions from the BOJ's policy meeting last week. The brief record showed policymakers saw little need to rush on their next rate hike along with a broadening view that price gains have been stronger than expected, indicating a chance the central bank could revise up its inflation forecasts at next month's policy meeting. The BOJ is waiting to see the impact of US tariff measures and how trade negotiations between Japan and the US play out, and has cited 'extremely' high uncertainty ahead in recent communications. Tamura said he doesn't expect the situation will be 'entirely cleared up.' Speaking to reporters in the afternoon, Tamura said it's unlikely the bank would raise rates while the trade talks are still underway, although the chance of a hike isn't zero if authorities fear they face the risk of falling behind the curve to address inflation. 'There is a possibility,' Tamura said. 'But the likelihood isn't that high in reality for upside prices risks to rise so much when the talks are underway.' Tamura's remarks in the morning helped strengthen the yen against the US dollar temporarily as they suggested the central bank could move earlier on rates than a majority of traders expect. In the afternoon, his comments weakened the yen as they suggested no imminent policy action. Tamura has been a consistent hawk, and at the December 2024 meeting at which the BOJ held rates steady he was the lone dissenter in favor of a hike. Governor Kazuo Ueda's board raised borrowing costs to 0.5% at the following meeting in January. On Wednesday Tamura said that recent inflation data have been stronger than expected. Japan's key price measure hit a fresh two-year high in May, leaving the Asian nation with the fastest price gains among Group of Seven economies. In a February speech, Tamura, a former senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, said he estimates that Japan's neutral rate is at least around 1% and that borrowing costs need to be set around that level when the inflation target is met. The central bank currently expects to meet its sustainable inflation goal around the second half of a three-year projection period ending in March 2028. Tamura flagged the possibility it may happen sooner. 'I believe there is a good possibility that the price stability target will be achieved earlier than expected,' Tamura said. Traders are pricing in around a 30% chance of a rate hike by the October meeting and a more than 70% probability of an increase by year-end, according to overnight index swaps. (Updates with comments from Tamura's afternoon press conference from the sixth paragraph.) Inside Gap's Last-Ditch, Tariff-Addled Turnaround Push Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros Is Mark Cuban the Loudmouth Billionaire that Democrats Need for 2028? Can 'MAMUWT' Be to Musk What 'TACO' Is to Trump? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
10 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Thailand Holds Key Rate as Political Uncertainty Adds to Risks
The Bank of Thailand held its key interest rate unchanged, saving its limited policy space as political uncertainty at home compounds global risks ranging from US tariffs to the conflict in the Middle East. The central bank's seven-member Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-1 to maintain the one day repurchase rate steady at 1.75% at Wednesday's meeting. The hold was predicted by 15 of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, with the rest forecasting a quarter-point cut. April saw the first back-to-back cut since 2020.
