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Business Recorder
4 minutes ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Asia FX steady
BENGALURU: Asian currencies held steady and stock markets traded mixed on Monday as investors braced for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium. Malaysia's ringgit and the Taiwan dollar shed 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, while other currencies in the region were largely subdued. The dollar index edged higher, recovering from last week's decline as traders scaled back bets on a jumbo Fed rate cut next month. The Kansas City Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium through August 21-23 is the week's main event, where Chair Jerome Powell is set to outline the Fed's economic outlook and policy framework. Markets are now pricing in an 84.2% chance of a quarter-point Fed rate cut next month, and are priced for more easing by December. ANZ strategists said Powell is unlikely to be as candid as last year when he made the case for imminent rate cuts. 'Our base case remains that the Fed will cut rates at its September meeting,' they said in a note. Market focus for the day is on the Trump-Zelenskiy meeting as Washington presses Kyiv for a swift peace deal to end the Ukraine war. Equities in Southeast Asia traded mixed, with Singapore down 0.8%. Thailand shed 0.4%, while Taiwan advanced 0.6% to a record high. South Korean shares slumped 1.3%, with chip stocks leading the decline following reports US President Donald Trump would unveil tariffs on semiconductor imports in coming weeks. 'While broader sentiments remain supportive on expectations that the Fed may cut rate at its next meeting, there are concerns on sectoral tariffs – pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and even metals,' said Christopher Wong, currency strategist at OCBC.
Observer
8 hours ago
- Business
- Observer
Dollar firms heading into busy week of geopolitics
SINGAPORE: The dollar gained against the euro and sterling on Monday ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian and European counterparts, while focus also turned to the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium for policy cues. The euro was down 0.2% against the dollar at $1.1683, while the British pound slipped 0.1% to $1.3546. The paring of wagers on a rate cut by the Fed next month helped the dollar find some support amid otherwise muted moves in foreign exchange markets. Money markets are now pricing in an 85% chance the Fed will ease rates by a quarter point next month, as traders pulled back wagers on the certainty of a cut after a jump in US wholesale prices and a solid increase in July's retail sales. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on the economic outlook and the central bank's policy framework at the Jackson Hole symposium between August 21 and 23. MUFG expects the US central bank to cut rates in September as well, but it's unlikely that the Fed chair will give a clear signal towards that later this week, said Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG Bank. The main event for investors on Monday is a White House meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy, joined by European leaders, as Washington presses Ukraine to accept a quick peace deal. Trump had met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday and agreed that a peace deal should be worked upon without a ceasefire. "Financial markets are continuing to trade like there could be some - still undetermined - path to peace," an ING analyst note said. In other currencies, the dollar rose 0.1% against the Japanese yen to 147.38, while the Swiss franc slipped 0.1% to 0.8069. The Australian dollar rose 0.1% to $0.6515, and the New Zealand dollar rose 0.3% to $0.5941 after falling last week. Cryptocurrency bitcoin eased 2% to $115,362.46, while ether slid 4.3% to $4,275.85.— Reuters
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Markets Today: Crypto Declines as U.S. Index Futures Hold Steady
The cryptocurrency market experienced broad losses Monday, while U.S. stock index futures held steady ahead of a crucial meeting between European leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at shaping the future of Ukraine. Market volatility across multiple asset classes declined sharply as investors looked forward to Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium later this week, where he is expected to signal the possibility of rate cuts starting in September. Bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and other major tokens dropped, while the crypto oracle Chainlink's LINK token held steady. Solana hit a major milestone in transaction speeds. On the macro front, some observers hailed Japan's plans to approve its first yen-backed stablecoin by the third quarter as a game changer. "From Tokyo to Wall Street, major players are locking in positions, and it seems the next leg up may be less about hype, and more about positioning in a maturing ecosystem," Mena Theodorou, a co-founder of crypto exchange Coinstash, said in an email. Derivatives Positioning - Omkar Godbole Bitcoin's price decline since Friday is marked by a steady increase in futures open interest (OI), which has surged to 720,000 BTC, the most since Aug. 2. At the same time, positive funding rates are fading, indicating that bearish short positions are gaining momentum in the market. The same can be said for the ether market, where open interest has increased to 14.34 million ETH, also the highest since Aug. 2. OI in LINK, which has bucked the broader market weakness, reached a record high 68.13 million LINK, alongside annualized funding rates of around 10%. The combination points to investor interest in chasing price gains. On the CME, open interest in Solana futures hovers at a record high of over 4.6 million SOL. However, the annualized three-month premium has declined sharply to 15% from 35% last week. The premium for BTC and ETH remains locked near 10%. Open interest in CME bitcoin futures remains well below July highs, pointing to low participation from institutional traders. The OI here has continued to print lower highs since December, diverging bearishly from the new highs in the spot price. On Deribit, risk reversals out to November expiry showed a bias for put options as the spot price drop spurred demand for downside protection. In ETH's case, bearishness was pronounced at the short-end. Block flows featured a giant short strangle, involving writing of $4.4K puts and $4.7K calls. The trader collected a premium of $680,000, betting on a rangeplay between $4,040 and $5,020. In BTC's case, a trader picked up the Sept. 25 expiry put option at $110,000, anticipating a price sell-off. Token Talk Solana's on-chain liquidations exceeded wipeouts at centralized exchanges during the weekend slump, with $37.4 million of SOL flushed on the blockchain versus $20.9 million on CEXs. Drift and Hyperliquid carried most of the flow, showing how much perp activity has migrated on-chain. Hyperliquid OI in SOL hit a record $1.2 billion even as Binance volumes slipped. Total OI is back near $5 billion, with whales split: 59 wallets long, 70 short. One standout, 'White Whale,' holds a $79 million 20x leveraged long now sitting $1.22 million in the red. Ecosystem fees are back above $1 million a day as Jupiter, Jito and Kamino see fresh inflows. Stablecoins on Solana have crossed $12 billion, with nearly half of new capital migrating in from Ethereum. A Shiba inu (SHIB) whale shifted 3 trillion SHIB (~$38 million) off Coinbase Institutional into cold storage on Aug. 15, signaling conviction over trading. The wallet had no prior history. The move coincided with SHIB's burn rate jumping nearly 2,000% in 24 hours, with 4.7 million tokens destroyed. Supply compression remains a key narrative for the community. Developers are prepping cross-chain expansion to Base and Solana using Chainlink CCIP alongside a new dev hub and DEX to deepen liquidity. Price action is steady near $0.000013, with technicals pointing to a slow grind higher. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
CNBC
12 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Wells Fargo hikes S&P 500 target as U.S. tariffs get delayed again
The U.S. pushing back many of the tariffs announced earlier this year will help Wall Street through the end of the year, according to Wells Fargo. The bank's Investment Institute raised its year-end S & P 500 target range to 6,300-6,500 — putting the midpoint at 6,400. Strategist Darrell Cronk previously expected the benchmark to end 2025 between 5,900 and 6,100. "We believe delayed tariff increases will mitigate this year's U.S. economic growth slowdown and extend the soft patch into early 2026. This should dilute positive impacts from frontloaded tax cuts and deregulation during the first part of next year. We think the protracted tariff implementation will mute and defer the brunt of tariff-related price pressures until later this year and into early 2026," Wells said in a note to clients Friday. President Donald Trump in April unveiled steep charges on imported goods arriving from other countries, but soon after pushed back the implementation of those duties. That helped the S & P 500 recover from a sharp sell-off that nearly tipped the benchmark into a bear market. The index last week hit a fresh record high of 6,481.34. .SPX YTD mountain SPX year to date "Extending tariff implementation over a longer period coupled with the passage of the tax provisions in the [One Big Beautiful Bill] has improved investor sentiment and our forecast for equity earnings and returns," Wells Fargo said. Not everyone is as sanguine on stocks right now. Evercore ISI's Julian Emanuel who, at 5,600, has the lowest S & P target in CNBC's Market Strategist Survey , thinks the benchmark could pull back by anywhere from 7% to 15% from current levels. He said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech this coming Friday at the Jackson Hole symposium could send the market lower if investors leave with less confidence toward central bank rate cuts. "Powell on 8/22 is likely to indirectly signal a 25bp rate cut on 9/17/25 – stressing 50bp is not an option absent Labor market deterioration, and Oct and/or Dec cuts will be 'data dependent.' For a market that was eager to embrace '50 in Sept,' a balanced view could catalyze a near term -7% to -15% pullback into October, within the context of the Structural AI Driven Bull Market," Emanuel said in his weekly note to clients. UBS' wealth management arm also sees potential for "near-term volatility" with the market at current price levels. "Equity valuations are now elevated after a substantial rally in recent months," head of U.S. equities David Lefkowitz wrote. "The economic impact of U.S. tariffs is currently feeding through, with the labor market weakening and inflation rising. Uncertainty remains—regarding the scale, distribution and second-order effects." Still, Lefkowitz expects stocks to be higher a year from now.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gold Edges Up as Traders Look to Jackson Hole and Ukraine Talks
(Bloomberg) -- Gold edged higher as traders looked ahead to potential interest-rate signals from the Federal Reserve's annual gathering in Jackson Hole, as well as high-stakes diplomacy in Washington over efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Bullion traded near $3,350 an ounce, stuck in a narrow range over the past few sessions. Central bankers from around the world will gather at the retreat in Wyoming starting Friday, with market pricing suggesting that a reduction in US rates is likely at the Fed's policy meeting next month. The US-Canadian Road Safety Gap Is Getting Wider A Photographer's Pipe Dream: Capturing New York's Vast Water System Festivals and Parades Are Canceled Amid US Immigration Anxiety A London Apartment Tower With Echoes of Victorian Rail and Ancient Rome Princeton Plans New Budget Cuts as Pressure From Trump Builds The Fed's Raphael Bostic said after a three-day tour of the southeastern US that tariff strains were real, high borrowing costs were squeezing business profits and he's open to adjusting rates soon. Lower rates typically benefit gold because the precious metal doesn't bear interest. 'Markets increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to strike a more dovish tone at the upcoming Jackson Hole symposium, with traders largely looking past last week's slightly firmer U.S. inflation print,' said Priyanka Sachdeva, an analyst at Phillip Nova in Singapore. 'The broader market view is that inflationary pressures remain on a cooling path.' Meanwhile, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies are due to discover what US President Donald Trump committed to at his summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin last week, amid apprehension that he'll try to force Kyiv into making unpalatable concessions. Any signs of a ceasefire could ease demand for the precious metal as a haven. Gold has rallied by more than a quarter this year, reaching a record in April. Since then, prices have tracked sideways, with investors following the fallout from the US-led trade war, concerns over the strength of the global economy and geopolitical tensions. Central-bank buying has also helped to support bullion. Gold was up to $ an ounce at 12:42 p.m. in London. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady. Silver was up, platinum was little changed and palladium dropped. --With assistance from Laura Avetisyan. What Declining Cardboard Box Sales Tell Us About the US Economy Americans Are Getting Priced Out of Homeownership at Record Rates Living With 12 Strangers to Ease a Housing Crunch Foreigners Are Buying US Homes Again While Americans Get Sidelined How Syrian Immigrants Are Boosting Germany's Economy ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
