Taylor Swift unseated as world's youngest self-made female billionaire by Lucy Guo, a hard-partying, 30-year-old college dropout
Taylor Swift has been dethroned as the world's youngest self-made female billionaire, according to Forbes — by a 30-year-old, hard-partying college dropout who has reaped a windfall from the artificial intelligence boom.
Lucy Guo — a self-professed workaholic who rides an electric skateboard to work when she's not being chauffeured by an assistant — has a net worth of $1.3 billion, according to Forbes' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women released Wednesday.
Guo took Swift's title of world's youngest self-made woman billionaire in April, when it was reported that Scale AI — the firm she co-founded with Alexandr Wang in 2016 when she was just 21 and he was 19 — had been valued at $25 billion in a deal set to close by June 1.
The tender offer has not been finalized yet, but it is expected to close at that valuation in a few weeks, a source familiar with the matter told The Post.
The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Guo was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she quickly picked up coding in middle school. She dropped out of Carnegie Mellon University as she clinched a $100,000 entrepreneurial scholarship bankrolled by billionaire investor Peter Thiel.
She took a job in 2015 at Quora, where she met Wang, and later worked at Snapchat for a brief period as the company's first female designer.
At Scale AI, Guo ran the operations and production design teams — until Wang, who took the chief executive position, reportedly fired her after the two sparred over how the company should be run.
'We had a difference of opinion but I am proud of what Scale AI has accomplished,' Guo told the tech news site the Information last year.
Still, Guo kept most of her 5% stake in Scale AI, which is worth approximately $1.2 billion, according to Forbes. The firm labels data used by tech giants like OpenAI and Alphabet to train their chatbots.
With 'a swanky apartment in Miami' and a house in Los Angeles, Guo has admitted she never buys groceries or cooks, instead ordering all her meals from Uber Eats.
She says she works at least eight hours a day when on vacation and has boasted about taking two Barry's bootcamp fitness classes a day. She frequently attends techno raves.
'A lot of people don't like me because, honestly, I seem like an a****** online. I would not like me on the internet,' she told The Post in 2022. 'But I've made a lot of friends because I think people appreciate my savage personality.'
The Post previously reported on her massive collection of Pokemon paraphernalia — including slippers, stuffed animals, artwork and a Swarovski crystal necklace.
She now runs Passes, a content creation platform that has been dubbed the family-friendly version of OnlyFans, and Patreon, claiming to 'make millionaires' by allowing creators to hold onto 90% of their earnings.
Passes reaped $40 million last year in a Series A funding round, according to Fortune — allowing Guo to fund her lavish party-girl lifestyle.
But now Passes and Guo are facing allegations, in a class-action suit filed in February, that the platform allowed child pornography.
The bombshell suit accuses Alec Celestin, the plaintiff's agent, and Lani Ginoza, the site's director of talent, of knowingly allowing sexually explicit content featuring OnlyFans model Alice Rosenblum — who was underage at the time — to circulate on Passes. Ginoza was not employed by Passes at the time of the alleged events, according to Passes and the site's legal representation.
'Guo personally intervened to override Passes' strict internal safety controls tailored for creators of social media content aged between 15 and 17 years old to strip and deprive Plaintiff of any protections offered by Passes against the exploitation of a minor,' the complaint alleged.
Just before the suit was filed, Passes banned all underage creators and wiped the site of their content, according to Forbes.
Lawyers for Guo filed a motion in April to dismiss the suit, which they slammed as a defamatory attempt to 'pursue the 'deep pockets' of Passes, a successful startup, and its wealthy founder.'
'This lawsuit is part of an orchestrated attempt to defame Passes and Ms. Guo, and these claims have no basis in reality,' Rollo Baker of Elsberg Baker & Maruri told The Post.
'Ms. Guo and Passes categorically reject the baseless allegations made against them in the lawsuit, which was only filed against them after they rejected a $15 million payment demand.'
In between founding Scale AI and Passes, Guo started a small investment firm known as Backend Capital.
Guo landed at No. 26 on Forbes' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, while Swift came in at spot 21.
Swift still holds the title of world's richest female musician with a net worth of $1.6 billion, after her blowout-success international Eras Tour pushed her into billionaire status in October 2023.
Diane Hendricks took the top spot, with a $22.3 billion net worth thanks to her company ABC Supply, one of the largest distributors of roofing, siding and windows in the country.
Originally published as Taylor Swift unseated as world's youngest self-made female billionaire by Lucy Guo, a hard-partying, 30-year-old college dropout
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The Advertiser
5 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Stocks stall as investors watch US-China trade talks
Global stocks and the dollar have held steady as trade talks between the United States and China continued into a second day, giving investors some reason to believe tensions between the world's two largest economies may be easing. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said discussions between the two sides were going well, while President Donald Trump on Monday put a positive spin on the talks after Monday's session. Lutnick, together with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met their Chinese counterparts in London. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given that Trump's often-shifting tariff announcements and swings in Sino-US ties have undermined the two economies, disrupted supply chains and threaten to hobble global growth. World stocks, as reflected by the MSCI All-Country World index, traded near record highs on Tuesday while the dollar steadied against a range of currencies. "While market participants are clearly taking a glass half-full view of the outlook, both on trade policy and more broadly, we don't think that should be interpreted as a view that tariffs will be fully unwound," said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics. Goltermann anticipates US duties on Chinese goods to settle at around 40 per cent, while most analysts have said that the universal 10 per cent levy on imports into the United States is here to stay. In Europe the STOXX 600 edged lower, led by UBS whose shares dropped seven per cent as investors worried about the impact of new government proposals to force the Swiss bank to hold $US26 billion in extra capital. US stock futures were trading around 0.1 per cent higher. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said policymakers were looking at measures to promote domestic ownership of Japanese government bonds, a day after Reuters reported that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB was flat at 1.47 per cent, while 30-year yields were up one basis point at 2.92 per cent, having retreated from late May's record high of 3.18 per cent. The yen strengthened throughout the day, leaving the dollar roughly unchanged on the day around 144.5 yen, while the euro also turned positive, up 0.1 per cent at $US1.1428. The pound dropped 0.3 per cent to $US1.35 after weak UK employment data. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than eight per cent this year. "It's not that the Americans are blowing up their fiscal situation because the deficit is going to remain more or less stable. But the quality of the deficit has degenerated," said Samy Chaar, an economist at Lombard Odier. "If you invest, and spend on productive investments, you'll get macro payoffs, because you're going to develop an industry, you're going to strengthen your economy, you're going to create jobs, you have a payoff. "If you spend by basically reducing revenues because you cut taxes on people who don't need the money, they won't be consuming more, or investing more, so the macro payoff is more limited." US Treasuries were yielding around 4.45 per cent, down 3.4 basis points on the day. Data on US consumer inflation for May due out on Wednesday could show the impact on tariffs on goods prices. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. "May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures," said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. "If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting." Traders expect the Fed to leave rates unchanged at its policy meeting next week. Just 44 basis points worth of easing have been priced in by December. In commodity markets, oil prices rose on the back of optimism that Tuesday's US-China talks could ease trade tensions and improve demand for energy, pushing Brent crude up 0.5 per cent to $US67.40 a barrel. Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $US3,341 an ounce. Global stocks and the dollar have held steady as trade talks between the United States and China continued into a second day, giving investors some reason to believe tensions between the world's two largest economies may be easing. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said discussions between the two sides were going well, while President Donald Trump on Monday put a positive spin on the talks after Monday's session. Lutnick, together with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met their Chinese counterparts in London. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given that Trump's often-shifting tariff announcements and swings in Sino-US ties have undermined the two economies, disrupted supply chains and threaten to hobble global growth. World stocks, as reflected by the MSCI All-Country World index, traded near record highs on Tuesday while the dollar steadied against a range of currencies. "While market participants are clearly taking a glass half-full view of the outlook, both on trade policy and more broadly, we don't think that should be interpreted as a view that tariffs will be fully unwound," said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics. Goltermann anticipates US duties on Chinese goods to settle at around 40 per cent, while most analysts have said that the universal 10 per cent levy on imports into the United States is here to stay. In Europe the STOXX 600 edged lower, led by UBS whose shares dropped seven per cent as investors worried about the impact of new government proposals to force the Swiss bank to hold $US26 billion in extra capital. US stock futures were trading around 0.1 per cent higher. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said policymakers were looking at measures to promote domestic ownership of Japanese government bonds, a day after Reuters reported that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB was flat at 1.47 per cent, while 30-year yields were up one basis point at 2.92 per cent, having retreated from late May's record high of 3.18 per cent. The yen strengthened throughout the day, leaving the dollar roughly unchanged on the day around 144.5 yen, while the euro also turned positive, up 0.1 per cent at $US1.1428. The pound dropped 0.3 per cent to $US1.35 after weak UK employment data. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than eight per cent this year. "It's not that the Americans are blowing up their fiscal situation because the deficit is going to remain more or less stable. But the quality of the deficit has degenerated," said Samy Chaar, an economist at Lombard Odier. "If you invest, and spend on productive investments, you'll get macro payoffs, because you're going to develop an industry, you're going to strengthen your economy, you're going to create jobs, you have a payoff. "If you spend by basically reducing revenues because you cut taxes on people who don't need the money, they won't be consuming more, or investing more, so the macro payoff is more limited." US Treasuries were yielding around 4.45 per cent, down 3.4 basis points on the day. Data on US consumer inflation for May due out on Wednesday could show the impact on tariffs on goods prices. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. "May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures," said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. "If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting." Traders expect the Fed to leave rates unchanged at its policy meeting next week. Just 44 basis points worth of easing have been priced in by December. In commodity markets, oil prices rose on the back of optimism that Tuesday's US-China talks could ease trade tensions and improve demand for energy, pushing Brent crude up 0.5 per cent to $US67.40 a barrel. Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $US3,341 an ounce. Global stocks and the dollar have held steady as trade talks between the United States and China continued into a second day, giving investors some reason to believe tensions between the world's two largest economies may be easing. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said discussions between the two sides were going well, while President Donald Trump on Monday put a positive spin on the talks after Monday's session. Lutnick, together with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met their Chinese counterparts in London. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given that Trump's often-shifting tariff announcements and swings in Sino-US ties have undermined the two economies, disrupted supply chains and threaten to hobble global growth. World stocks, as reflected by the MSCI All-Country World index, traded near record highs on Tuesday while the dollar steadied against a range of currencies. "While market participants are clearly taking a glass half-full view of the outlook, both on trade policy and more broadly, we don't think that should be interpreted as a view that tariffs will be fully unwound," said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics. Goltermann anticipates US duties on Chinese goods to settle at around 40 per cent, while most analysts have said that the universal 10 per cent levy on imports into the United States is here to stay. In Europe the STOXX 600 edged lower, led by UBS whose shares dropped seven per cent as investors worried about the impact of new government proposals to force the Swiss bank to hold $US26 billion in extra capital. US stock futures were trading around 0.1 per cent higher. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said policymakers were looking at measures to promote domestic ownership of Japanese government bonds, a day after Reuters reported that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB was flat at 1.47 per cent, while 30-year yields were up one basis point at 2.92 per cent, having retreated from late May's record high of 3.18 per cent. The yen strengthened throughout the day, leaving the dollar roughly unchanged on the day around 144.5 yen, while the euro also turned positive, up 0.1 per cent at $US1.1428. The pound dropped 0.3 per cent to $US1.35 after weak UK employment data. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than eight per cent this year. "It's not that the Americans are blowing up their fiscal situation because the deficit is going to remain more or less stable. But the quality of the deficit has degenerated," said Samy Chaar, an economist at Lombard Odier. "If you invest, and spend on productive investments, you'll get macro payoffs, because you're going to develop an industry, you're going to strengthen your economy, you're going to create jobs, you have a payoff. "If you spend by basically reducing revenues because you cut taxes on people who don't need the money, they won't be consuming more, or investing more, so the macro payoff is more limited." US Treasuries were yielding around 4.45 per cent, down 3.4 basis points on the day. Data on US consumer inflation for May due out on Wednesday could show the impact on tariffs on goods prices. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. "May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures," said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. "If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting." Traders expect the Fed to leave rates unchanged at its policy meeting next week. Just 44 basis points worth of easing have been priced in by December. In commodity markets, oil prices rose on the back of optimism that Tuesday's US-China talks could ease trade tensions and improve demand for energy, pushing Brent crude up 0.5 per cent to $US67.40 a barrel. Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $US3,341 an ounce. Global stocks and the dollar have held steady as trade talks between the United States and China continued into a second day, giving investors some reason to believe tensions between the world's two largest economies may be easing. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said discussions between the two sides were going well, while President Donald Trump on Monday put a positive spin on the talks after Monday's session. Lutnick, together with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met their Chinese counterparts in London. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given that Trump's often-shifting tariff announcements and swings in Sino-US ties have undermined the two economies, disrupted supply chains and threaten to hobble global growth. World stocks, as reflected by the MSCI All-Country World index, traded near record highs on Tuesday while the dollar steadied against a range of currencies. "While market participants are clearly taking a glass half-full view of the outlook, both on trade policy and more broadly, we don't think that should be interpreted as a view that tariffs will be fully unwound," said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics. Goltermann anticipates US duties on Chinese goods to settle at around 40 per cent, while most analysts have said that the universal 10 per cent levy on imports into the United States is here to stay. In Europe the STOXX 600 edged lower, led by UBS whose shares dropped seven per cent as investors worried about the impact of new government proposals to force the Swiss bank to hold $US26 billion in extra capital. US stock futures were trading around 0.1 per cent higher. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said policymakers were looking at measures to promote domestic ownership of Japanese government bonds, a day after Reuters reported that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB was flat at 1.47 per cent, while 30-year yields were up one basis point at 2.92 per cent, having retreated from late May's record high of 3.18 per cent. The yen strengthened throughout the day, leaving the dollar roughly unchanged on the day around 144.5 yen, while the euro also turned positive, up 0.1 per cent at $US1.1428. The pound dropped 0.3 per cent to $US1.35 after weak UK employment data. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than eight per cent this year. "It's not that the Americans are blowing up their fiscal situation because the deficit is going to remain more or less stable. But the quality of the deficit has degenerated," said Samy Chaar, an economist at Lombard Odier. "If you invest, and spend on productive investments, you'll get macro payoffs, because you're going to develop an industry, you're going to strengthen your economy, you're going to create jobs, you have a payoff. "If you spend by basically reducing revenues because you cut taxes on people who don't need the money, they won't be consuming more, or investing more, so the macro payoff is more limited." US Treasuries were yielding around 4.45 per cent, down 3.4 basis points on the day. Data on US consumer inflation for May due out on Wednesday could show the impact on tariffs on goods prices. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. "May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures," said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. "If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting." Traders expect the Fed to leave rates unchanged at its policy meeting next week. Just 44 basis points worth of easing have been priced in by December. In commodity markets, oil prices rose on the back of optimism that Tuesday's US-China talks could ease trade tensions and improve demand for energy, pushing Brent crude up 0.5 per cent to $US67.40 a barrel. Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $US3,341 an ounce.
The Advertiser
11 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Stocks rise ahead of US-China talks outcome
Stocks are buoyant and the dollar remains on guard as trade talks between the United States and China are set to extend to a second day, with tentative signs tensions between the world's two largest economies could be easing. US President Donald Trump put a positive spin on the talks at Lancaster House in London, which wrapped up for the night on Monday and were set to resume on Tuesday (7pm AEST). "The fact that we're still up here near record highs, does suggest that we are seeing the market accept what has been said by Trump and when you look at some of the other comments from Lutnick and Bessent, to me it seems to suggest that they are relatively happy with the progress," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. "But the market always likes to see some concrete announcements." As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were set to meet for the second day with their Chinese counterparts, much of investors' focus has been on the progress of the talks. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given Trump's chaotic tariffs and swings in Sino-US trade ties have undermined the world's two biggest economies and hobbled global growth. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.5 per cent, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.62 per cent. S&P 500 futures edged 0.43 per cent higher. EUROSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures both added roughly 0.1 per cent each. In Tokyo, attention was also on the Japanese government bond (JGB) market, following news that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB fell one basis point to 1.46 per cent in early trade, while the 30-year yield slid five bps to 2.86 per cent. Yields on super-long JGBs rose to record levels last month due to dwindling demand from traditional buyers such as life insurers, and jitters over steadily rising debt levels globally. "The volatility at the super-long segment of the curve stems from a supply-demand imbalance that has been brewing since the BOJ embarked on balance sheet normalisation," said Justin Heng, APAC rates strategist at HSBC Global Investment Research. Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday the government would conduct appropriate debt management policies while communicating closely with market participants. In currencies, the dollar attempted to regain its footing after falling on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.45 per cent to 145.25. The euro fell 0.28 per cent to $1.1387 while sterling slipped 0.2 per cent to $1.3523. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than eight per cent for the year. The next test for the greenback will be on Wednesday, when US inflation data comes due. Expectations are for core consumer prices to have picked up slightly in May, which could push back against bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. "May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures," said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. "If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting." Traders see the Fed keeping rates on hold at its policy meeting next week, but have priced in roughly 44 bps worth of easing by December. In the oil market, prices edged up, with Brent crude futures gaining 0.24 per cent to $US67.20 ($A103.09) a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was last up 0.25 per cent at $US65.45 ($A100.40) per barrel after hitting a more than two-month high earlier in the session. Spot gold fell 0.5 per cent to $US3,310.40 ($A5,078.22) an ounce. Stocks are buoyant and the dollar remains on guard as trade talks between the United States and China are set to extend to a second day, with tentative signs tensions between the world's two largest economies could be easing. US President Donald Trump put a positive spin on the talks at Lancaster House in London, which wrapped up for the night on Monday and were set to resume on Tuesday (7pm AEST). "The fact that we're still up here near record highs, does suggest that we are seeing the market accept what has been said by Trump and when you look at some of the other comments from Lutnick and Bessent, to me it seems to suggest that they are relatively happy with the progress," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. "But the market always likes to see some concrete announcements." As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were set to meet for the second day with their Chinese counterparts, much of investors' focus has been on the progress of the talks. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given Trump's chaotic tariffs and swings in Sino-US trade ties have undermined the world's two biggest economies and hobbled global growth. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.5 per cent, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.62 per cent. S&P 500 futures edged 0.43 per cent higher. EUROSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures both added roughly 0.1 per cent each. In Tokyo, attention was also on the Japanese government bond (JGB) market, following news that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB fell one basis point to 1.46 per cent in early trade, while the 30-year yield slid five bps to 2.86 per cent. Yields on super-long JGBs rose to record levels last month due to dwindling demand from traditional buyers such as life insurers, and jitters over steadily rising debt levels globally. "The volatility at the super-long segment of the curve stems from a supply-demand imbalance that has been brewing since the BOJ embarked on balance sheet normalisation," said Justin Heng, APAC rates strategist at HSBC Global Investment Research. Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday the government would conduct appropriate debt management policies while communicating closely with market participants. In currencies, the dollar attempted to regain its footing after falling on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.45 per cent to 145.25. The euro fell 0.28 per cent to $1.1387 while sterling slipped 0.2 per cent to $1.3523. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than eight per cent for the year. The next test for the greenback will be on Wednesday, when US inflation data comes due. Expectations are for core consumer prices to have picked up slightly in May, which could push back against bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. "May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures," said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. "If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting." Traders see the Fed keeping rates on hold at its policy meeting next week, but have priced in roughly 44 bps worth of easing by December. In the oil market, prices edged up, with Brent crude futures gaining 0.24 per cent to $US67.20 ($A103.09) a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was last up 0.25 per cent at $US65.45 ($A100.40) per barrel after hitting a more than two-month high earlier in the session. Spot gold fell 0.5 per cent to $US3,310.40 ($A5,078.22) an ounce. Stocks are buoyant and the dollar remains on guard as trade talks between the United States and China are set to extend to a second day, with tentative signs tensions between the world's two largest economies could be easing. US President Donald Trump put a positive spin on the talks at Lancaster House in London, which wrapped up for the night on Monday and were set to resume on Tuesday (7pm AEST). "The fact that we're still up here near record highs, does suggest that we are seeing the market accept what has been said by Trump and when you look at some of the other comments from Lutnick and Bessent, to me it seems to suggest that they are relatively happy with the progress," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. "But the market always likes to see some concrete announcements." As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were set to meet for the second day with their Chinese counterparts, much of investors' focus has been on the progress of the talks. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given Trump's chaotic tariffs and swings in Sino-US trade ties have undermined the world's two biggest economies and hobbled global growth. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.5 per cent, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.62 per cent. S&P 500 futures edged 0.43 per cent higher. EUROSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures both added roughly 0.1 per cent each. In Tokyo, attention was also on the Japanese government bond (JGB) market, following news that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB fell one basis point to 1.46 per cent in early trade, while the 30-year yield slid five bps to 2.86 per cent. Yields on super-long JGBs rose to record levels last month due to dwindling demand from traditional buyers such as life insurers, and jitters over steadily rising debt levels globally. "The volatility at the super-long segment of the curve stems from a supply-demand imbalance that has been brewing since the BOJ embarked on balance sheet normalisation," said Justin Heng, APAC rates strategist at HSBC Global Investment Research. Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday the government would conduct appropriate debt management policies while communicating closely with market participants. In currencies, the dollar attempted to regain its footing after falling on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.45 per cent to 145.25. The euro fell 0.28 per cent to $1.1387 while sterling slipped 0.2 per cent to $1.3523. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than eight per cent for the year. The next test for the greenback will be on Wednesday, when US inflation data comes due. Expectations are for core consumer prices to have picked up slightly in May, which could push back against bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. "May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures," said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. "If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting." Traders see the Fed keeping rates on hold at its policy meeting next week, but have priced in roughly 44 bps worth of easing by December. In the oil market, prices edged up, with Brent crude futures gaining 0.24 per cent to $US67.20 ($A103.09) a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was last up 0.25 per cent at $US65.45 ($A100.40) per barrel after hitting a more than two-month high earlier in the session. Spot gold fell 0.5 per cent to $US3,310.40 ($A5,078.22) an ounce. Stocks are buoyant and the dollar remains on guard as trade talks between the United States and China are set to extend to a second day, with tentative signs tensions between the world's two largest economies could be easing. US President Donald Trump put a positive spin on the talks at Lancaster House in London, which wrapped up for the night on Monday and were set to resume on Tuesday (7pm AEST). "The fact that we're still up here near record highs, does suggest that we are seeing the market accept what has been said by Trump and when you look at some of the other comments from Lutnick and Bessent, to me it seems to suggest that they are relatively happy with the progress," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. "But the market always likes to see some concrete announcements." As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were set to meet for the second day with their Chinese counterparts, much of investors' focus has been on the progress of the talks. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given Trump's chaotic tariffs and swings in Sino-US trade ties have undermined the world's two biggest economies and hobbled global growth. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.5 per cent, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.62 per cent. S&P 500 futures edged 0.43 per cent higher. EUROSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures both added roughly 0.1 per cent each. In Tokyo, attention was also on the Japanese government bond (JGB) market, following news that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB fell one basis point to 1.46 per cent in early trade, while the 30-year yield slid five bps to 2.86 per cent. Yields on super-long JGBs rose to record levels last month due to dwindling demand from traditional buyers such as life insurers, and jitters over steadily rising debt levels globally. "The volatility at the super-long segment of the curve stems from a supply-demand imbalance that has been brewing since the BOJ embarked on balance sheet normalisation," said Justin Heng, APAC rates strategist at HSBC Global Investment Research. Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday the government would conduct appropriate debt management policies while communicating closely with market participants. In currencies, the dollar attempted to regain its footing after falling on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.45 per cent to 145.25. The euro fell 0.28 per cent to $1.1387 while sterling slipped 0.2 per cent to $1.3523. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than eight per cent for the year. The next test for the greenback will be on Wednesday, when US inflation data comes due. Expectations are for core consumer prices to have picked up slightly in May, which could push back against bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. "May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures," said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. "If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting." Traders see the Fed keeping rates on hold at its policy meeting next week, but have priced in roughly 44 bps worth of easing by December. In the oil market, prices edged up, with Brent crude futures gaining 0.24 per cent to $US67.20 ($A103.09) a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was last up 0.25 per cent at $US65.45 ($A100.40) per barrel after hitting a more than two-month high earlier in the session. Spot gold fell 0.5 per cent to $US3,310.40 ($A5,078.22) an ounce.
AU Financial Review
12 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
‘We're not that strong': Huawei founder says it lags US in chip making
Beijing | Huawei's founder says the US is exaggerating the Chinese chipmaker's capabilities and played down his company's technology amid trade talks between Beijing and Washington that include discussions of export controls. In a rare interview with China's state-run People's Daily on Tuesday, Ren Zhengfei said Huawei's Ascend chip, the main rival to Nvidia's products in China, 'still lags behind the US by one generation'. He added that the 'US has exaggerated Huawei's capabilities – we're not that strong yet'.
