1.Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed after Wall Street gains on tech rally
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Tuesday after Wall Street gained on a tech rally. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 reversed course to lose 0.42%, closing at 43,459.29 after hitting a record high earlier in the day, following Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s announcement of his resignation Sunday. The Topix retreated 0.51% to 3,122.12. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.26% to end the trading day at 3,260.05, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.76% to close at 824.82. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.52% to 8,803.5. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pared earlier gains to rise 1.19% after hitting its highest level since late 2021. The mainland CSI 300 slipped 0.7% to 4,436.26.
2. Stocks close at record highs despite job worries, looming inflation reports
All three major indexes closed at record highs Tuesday as investors moved past concerns about the state of the U.S. economy. The S&P 500 index settled up 0.27% at 6,512.61, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.37% to end the day at 21,879.49, with the latter hitting a new all-time intraday high as well. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 196.39 points, or 0.43%, at 45,711.34, thanks to a surge in UnitedHealth shares. Investor worries that the economy may not be holding up as well as previously thought were exacerbated Tuesday after the Bureau of Labour Statistics updated its jobs figures for the 12 months through March, lowering the total payroll gains during that period by a whopping 911,000.
3. Gold scales record peak on Fed rate-cut bets, U.S. inflation data in focus
Gold continued its record rally on Tuesday, buoyed by expectations of an imminent September U.S. interest rate cut, while investors looked ahead to inflation data due this week. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $3,646.59 per ounce, as of 1206 p.m. ET (16:06 GMT), after hitting a record high of $3,673.95 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.2% to $3,685.60. Traders are currently pricing in a 92% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut next week, with some also betting on a larger 50-basis-point move, as per the CME FedWatch tool. The dollar index rose, but hovered near a seven-week low against rivals, while benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields also rose after reaching five-month lows earlier. Investors now await U.S. producer price data on Wednesday and consumer price data on Thursday for further rate cut cues ahead of the Fed’s meeting next week.
4. Oil rises after Israeli attack in Qatar
Oil prices rose on Tuesday after the Israeli military said it carried out an attack on Hamas leadership in Qatari capital Doha, an expansion of its years-long military campaign across the Middle East. Qatar, a major global energy exporter, condemned the attack as “cowardly” and called it a violation of international law. Brent crude futures rose 37 cents, or 0.56%, to close at $66.39 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 37 cents, or 0.59%, to close at $62.63 a barrel. The attack on Qatar came hours after Israel said it was about to obliterate Gaza City. Analysts called it a major escalation of Israel’s military campaign across the Middle East.
5. Job growth revised down by 911,000 through March, signalling economy on shakier footing than realized
The labour market created far fewer jobs than previously thought, according to a Labour Department report Tuesday that added to concerns both about the health of the economy and the state of data collection. Annual revisions to nonfarm payrolls data for the year prior to March 2025 showed a drop of 911,000 from the initial estimates, according to a preliminary report from the Bureau of Labour Statistics. The total revision was on the high end of Wall Street expectations, which ranged from a low around 600,000 to as many as a million. The revisions were more than 50% higher than last year’s adjustment and the largest on record going back to 2002. On a monthly basis, they suggest average job growth of 76,000 less than initially reported. The numbers, which are adjusted from data in the quarterly census and reflect updated information on business openings and closings, add to evidence that the employment picture in the U.S. is weakening.
6. Israel targets top Hamas officials in Qatar strike
Israel on Tuesday carried out an attack on senior Hamas officials in Qatar’s capital city of Doha. The Israel Defence Forces announced the “precise strike” in a social media post, accusing the targeted leaders of being “directly responsible” for the massacre of Israelis by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The IDF’s post did not identify the location of the strike. But a senior Israeli official confirmed to the News that it occurred in Doha. The strike on the capital of a foreign sovereign nation — one where the U.S. maintains a major military base — is a significant escalation of Israel’s efforts to destroy Hamas.
7. India urges BRICS to tackle deficits as bloc rallies against U.S. tariffs
India on Monday urged BRICS members to address their trade imbalances with New Delhi, as the bloc rallied against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs that have unnerved Washington’s friends and foes alike. Speaking at the virtual summit, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that the country’s “biggest trade deficits are with BRICS partners.” The bloc, which has Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as key members, has been charged by Trump of pursuing “anti-American policies.” Jaishankar was representing India in the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose attendance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China last week was seen as signalling warming ties with Beijing at a time when relations with the U.S. have been under strain. India’s tone at the BRICS meeting contrasted with that of host Brazil, which charged the U.S. of “blackmail.” Brazil, along with India, is among the nations hardest hit by Trump’s tariffs, with levies as steep as 50%.
8. Europe and the U.S. talk Russia sanctions as attacks ramp up
The European Union is working with the U.S. as it prepares to announce its latest round of sanctions on Russia, sources told CNBC. Despite diplomatic efforts over the summer, Russia’s more than three-year-long war in Ukraine is not showing any signs of coming to an end. In fact, Moscow has recently stepped up its offensive and on Sunday launched its biggest air attack on Ukraine, hitting a key government building. European officials are now working on their 19th package of sanctions against Moscow, with one EU official, who did not want to be named as the measures are not yet finalized, telling CNBC these will be presented at the “end of the week [or] early next week.” The package will then have to be formally approved by the 27 members of the EU. The European Commission and member states started informal discussions about the measures over the weekend.
9. Trump presses European Union to impose 100% tariffs on India and China to pressure Putin
U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the European Union to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% over the countries’ Russia oil purchases, in a move aimed at turning up the heat on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. Trump made the request when he was called into a meeting with senior U.S. and EU officials in Washington, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the discussion. Washington was also prepared to “mirror” any tariffs imposed by Europe on the two countries, the report said. The U.S. has imposed a punitive 25% tariff on imports from India over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, taking the total duties to as high as 50%. India has said the tariffs are “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” while calling out the U.S. and the EU’s trade with Russia. The EU’s bilateral trade with Russia stood at 67.5 billion euros ($78.1 billion) in 2024, while its services trade in 2023 was at 17.2 billion euros, according to European Commission data.
10. Judge blocks Trump from firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook while lawsuit plays out
A judge on Tuesday night blocked President Donald Trump from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook as her lawsuit challenging her termination plays out in court. “The public interest in Federal Reserve independence weighs in favour of Cook’s reinstatement,” U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb wrote in an explanation of the decision to grant Cook a preliminary injunction barring her removal. Cobb said, “At this preliminary stage, the Court finds that Cook has made a strong showing that her purported removal was done in violation of the Federal Reserve Act’s ‘for cause’ provision.” The judge wrote that “the best reading” of that provision is that the bases for removing a Fed governor are limited to actions relating to that governor’s ‘behaviour in office.’”
11. China’s consumer prices fall more than expected in August as deflation woes persist
China’s consumer prices fell more than expected in August while deflation in factory-gate prices persisted, as calls mounted for Beijing to ramp up measures to bolster sluggish domestic demand and cushion weakening exports growth. The consumer price index dipped 0.4% last month from a year earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Wednesday, compared with economists’ forecast for a 0.2% contraction. Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.9% from a year earlier, according to the official release. The producer price index dropped 2.9% in August from a year ago, in line with economists’ estimates.
12. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says the economy ‘is weakening’
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that a Labor Department report released Tuesday confirmed that the U.S. economy is slowing down. “I think the economy is weakening,” Dimon said. “Whether it’s on the way to recession or just weakening, I don’t know.” Dimon said that, as the biggest U.S. bank by assets, JPMorgan is privy to a spectrum of data around consumers, corporations and global trade. “There’s a lot of different factors in the economy right now,” Dimon said, citing a weakening consumer and still-robust corporate profit. “We just have to wait and see.” The Federal Reserve will “probably” reduce its benchmark interest rate at an upcoming meeting, though that might not “be consequential to the economy,” Dimon said.
13. Oracle pops 27% on growth projections even as earnings miss estimates
Oracle shares spiked 20% in extended trading on Tuesday after the database software maker indicated hefty growth prospects even as earnings and revenue missed estimates. Revenue increased 12% from a year earlier during the quarter, which ended on Aug. 31, according to a statement. Net income was about flat at $2.93 billion, or $1.01 per share, compared to $2.93 billion, or $1.03 per share, in the same quarter last year. Oracle said its remaining performance obligation, a measure of contracted revenue that has not yet been contracted, now stands at $455 billion, up some 359% from a year earlier. During the quarter OpenAI said it signed an agreement with Oracle to develop 4.5 gigawatts of U.S. data centre capacity.
14. Apple holds down new iPhone prices amid threats of Trump tariffs
Apple on Tuesday introduced an upgraded line of new iPhones, including a slimmer iPhone Air, and held prices steady amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs that have hurt the company’s profit. The iPhone Air comes with a high-density battery and a brand-new processor, and will be priced starting at $999. Wall Street had been watching to see whether the company would increase the price of iPhones, or seek alternative routes to make up for tariff costs, such as increasing the cost of iPhone versions with more storage. The iPhone Air’s price is slotted in between the company’s other models, as analysts had predicted. Apple also launched the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro, the latest upgrade to its flagship smartphone, as well as a new version of its AirPods Pro wireless headphones and a blood pressure monitor in its latest Apple Watch. A 256-gigabyte version of the iPhone 17 base model will start at $799, the same as the previous iPhone 16 model with half the storage space.
15. Intel announces key executive shake-up, says products chief Holthaus will exit
Intel announced a series of top executive changes on Monday, including the departure of products chief Michelle Johnston Holthaus, at a time when CEO Lip-Bu Tan intensifies efforts to turn around the struggling U.S. chipmaker. Reports earlier this year suggested that Tan seeks to flatten the company’s leadership team, with most important chip groups reporting directly to him, while also slashing jobs to streamline operations. Intel also said on Monday Kevork Kechichian has joined as executive vice president and general manager of the data centre group. A chip industry veteran, Kechichian came from Arm, where he most recently was the executive vice president of engineering. He has also worked at NXP Semiconductors and Qualcomm.
16. Arm launches new generation of mobile chip designs geared for AI
Arm Holdings said on Tuesday it was launching its next-generation set of chip designs called Lumex that it has optimized for artificial intelligence to run on mobile devices such as smartphones and watches without accessing the internet. Called Lumex, the new generation of Arm mobile designs come in four types, ranging from less powerful but more energy efficient ones designed for watches and other smart wearable devices to a version designed to maximize the computing horsepower available. The peak performance design aims to run software that harnesses the power of large AI models without accessing cloud computing on devices such as high-end smartphones. “AI is becoming pretty fundamental to kind of what’s happening, whether it’s kind of real-time interactions or some killer use cases like AI translation,” said Chris Bergey, a senior vice president and general manager at Arm.
17. Alibaba mapping app steps into local business rankings, intensifying competition
Alibaba’s mapping app Amap is moving away from its traditional focus on navigation and encroaching into rival Meituan’s local-lifestyle territory by launching its own ranking of restaurants, hotels and tourist destinations. Alibaba and Meituan are among the prominent tech companies in China locked in a bitter battle for market share in “instant retail”, flooding consumers with discounts and coupons in the booming one-hour delivery segment. This has also drawn increased scrutiny from regulators who are worried about a downward price spiral in China, where weak property prices and poor job stability have contributed to a persistent consumer malaise, pressuring companies into aggressive pricing and subsidies to get people spending. Amap’s new function, announced Wednesday, will be known as “Street Stars” and will use artificial intelligence algorithms to rank destinations for Amap’s 170 million daily active users.
18. Boeing Defence strike enters sixth week with sides still at loggerheads
Boeing Defence and the machinists’ union remained at loggerheads after meeting on Tuesday in an effort to resume contract negotiations as a strike by about 3,200 St. Louis-area workers that assemble military aircraft enters its sixth week. Talks that included a federal mediator ended after a few hours, with both the company and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) saying the other side was unwilling to move forward. “It became clear to the bargaining committee that the company wasn’t serious about finding a way to end the strike,” IAM officials said in a message to members of District 837. Boeing Defence Vice President Dan Gillian said in a statement that “the union continues to ask for more of everything, which we’ve repeatedly told them is not constructive.” The strike began on August 4 after District 837 members rejected Boeing’s latest four-year contract offer that included a 20% general wage increase.