- Asia-Pacific markets fall after Trump modifies tariff rates: Markets Wrap
Asia-Pacific markets ended the day lower on Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.07% to close at
24,507.81, while mainland China’s CSI 300 index decreased by 0.51% to 4,045.93. Japan’s Nikkei
225 benchmark ended the day 0.66% lower at 40,799.60, while the broader Topix index ticked up 0.19% to
2,948.65. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index retreated 3.88% to close at 3,119.41, while the small-cap
Kosdaq plunged 4.03% to 772.79. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark fell 0.92% to end the day at 8,662. Over
in India, the 50-stock benchmark Nifty 50 was down 0.48%, while the BSE Sensex index lost 0.34% as of 2:02
p.m. Indian Standard Time (4:32 a.m. ET). - Dow closes 500 points lower Friday as weak jobs data and new tariffs incite sell-off
Stocks tumbled on Friday to kick off August trading as investors weighed stark signs of a weakening
economy and President Donald Trump’s modified tariff rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped
542.40 points, or 1.23%, closing at 43,588.58 and notching its worst decline since June 13. The S&P 500 shed
1.60% to end at 6,238.01 and post its worst day since May 21, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.24% and
settled at 20,650.13 for its biggest slide since April 21. The July jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls expanded
by 73,000 last month, well beneath the consensus estimate from economists polled by Dow Jones that called
for a 100,000 increase to payrolls. Prior months were significantly revised down. June job growth totalled just
14,000, down from 147,000. - Gold rises 2% as US payrolls data boosts rate cut hopes
Gold prices rose 2%, hitting a one-week high, on Friday after weaker-than-expected U.S. payrolls data boosted
Federal Reserve rate cut expectations and fresh tariff announcements spurred safe-haven demand. Spot gold
reached its highest level since July 25, adding 2.1% to $3,359.77 per ounce. Bullion was up 0.4% during the
week. U.S. gold futures settled 1.9% higher at $3,413.40. Earlier this week, the U.S. central bank left interest
rates unchanged in the 4.25%-4.50% range, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying “we haven’t made any
decisions about September.” - US crude oil falls more than 2% on possible OPEC production boost
U.S. light crude oil prices fell about $2 a barrel in early trade in New York on a possible increase in production
by OPEC and its allies. Brent crude futures fell $2.03, or 2.83%, to close at $69.67 a barrel. U.S. West Texas
Intermediate crude was down $1.93, or 2.79%, to settle at $67.33. Three people familiar with discussions
among OPEC members and its allies like Russia said an agreement to boost production by 548,000 barrels per
day in September could come as early as Sunday. Trump’s threatened penalties on China and India over their
purchases of Russian oil potentially put 2.75 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian seaborne oil exports at
risk. China and India are the world’s second and third-largest crude consumers respectively. - Dollar tumbles, traders bet on more U.S. rate cuts after weak jobs report
The dollar dropped on Friday and was on track for its biggest daily loss against the yen since January 2023 after
data showed that U.S. employers added fewer jobs in July than economists had expected, while last month’s
jobs gains were revised sharply lower, leading traders to ramp up bets on how many times the Federal Reserve
is likely to cut rates this year. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies
including the yen and the euro, was last down 1.23% on the day at 98.80. The euro rose 1.37% to $1.1571 and
was on track for its biggest daily gain since April. The single currency reached $1.1389 earlier on Friday, the
lowest since June 10. - Trump fires commissioner of labour statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets
President Donald Trump on Friday fired the Bureau of Labour Statistics commissioner, hours after the agency
reported that job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt. In a Truth Social post that also directed even
more fire at Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of being a political
appointee who was manipulating jobs data. The stunning move came the same day that the BLS reported a
gain of just 73,000 nonfarm jobs in July, below market expectations. In addition, the bureau revised the two
previous months down sharply, cutting a combined 258,000 from the prior counts, putting the three-month
growth rate at a paltry 35,000. It was the biggest two-month downward revision since April 2020, the early
days of the Covid crisis. - Trump says he moved two nuclear submarines after Russia’s Medvedev warns U.S.
President Donald Trump on Friday said that he ordered two nuclear submarines “to be positioned in the
appropriate regions” in response to warnings made to the United States this week by high-ranking Russian
official Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev in a social media post on Monday wrote that each new ultimatum that
Trump makes about Russia to force an end to its war on Ukraine “is a threat and a step towards war.” Trump
earlier Monday had said he was cutting from 50 days to less than two weeks his deadline for Russian
President Vladimir Putin to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or face big “secondary tariffs” on Moscow’s trade
partners. - Fed Governor Kugler is resigning, giving Trump a nominee on committee that sets interest rates
Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler announced Friday she is stepping down from her role at the central
bank, creating an important vacancy at a time when President Donald Trump is pushing for lower interest rates.
In a letter addressed to Trump, Kugler, 55, did not state a reason for her decision to leave, only noting that she
will be returning to Georgetown University as a professor in the fall. Kugler’s term was set to expire at the end
of January 2026. A Biden nominee, she joined the Board of Governors in September 2023, filling the unexpired
term of Lael Brainard, who left to serve as a Biden economic advisor. As a governor, Kugler was a permanent
voter on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. Trump alleged without proof that Kugler resigned
over a disagreement with Powell on interest rates. Trump added that he was “very happy” about having a Fed
vacancy to fill. Kugler of late has expressed generally hawkish views, with support for holding rates steady until
the impact Trump’s tariffs are having on inflation becomes clearer. - Berkshire Hathaway operating earnings dip 4% as conglomerate braces for tariff impact
Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported a small decline in second-quarter operating earnings as Warren
Buffett’s conglomerate warns of negative impacts from steep U.S. tariffs. Berkshire’s operating profit — those
from the company’s wholly owned businesses including insurance and railroads — dipped 4% year over year
to $11.16 billion in the second quarter. The results were impacted by a decline in insurance underwriting, while
railroad, energy, manufacturing, service and retailing all saw higher profits from a year ago. The Omaha-based
conglomerate once again issued a stern warning of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the potential impact
on its various businesses. Buffett’s cash hoard of $344.1 billion remained near a record high, though slightly
lower than the $347 billion level at the end of March. Berkshire was a net seller of stocks for a 11th quarter in
a row, dumping $4.5 billion in equities in the first six months of 2025.The conglomerate also didn’t repurchase
any stock in the first half of 2025 even as shares declined more than 10% from a record high. - CEO Tim Cook says Apple ready to open its wallet to catch up in AI
Apple CEO Tim Cook signalled on Thursday the iPhone maker was ready to spend more to catch up to rivals in
artificial intelligence by building more data centres or buying a larger player in the segment, a departure from
a long practice of fiscal frugality. Apple has struggled to keep pace with rivals such as Microsoft and Alphabet
Google, both of which have attracted hundreds of millions of users to their AI-powered chatbots and assistants.
That growth has come at a steep cost, however, with Google planning to spend $85 billion over the next year
and Microsoft on track to spend more than $100 billion, mostly on data centres. During a conference call after
Apple’s fiscal third-quarter results, analysts noted that Apple has historically not done large deals and asked
whether it might take a different approach to pursue its AI ambitions. CEO Cook responded that the
company had already acquired seven smaller companies this year and is open to buying larger ones. - Tesla ordered by Florida jury to pay $243 million in fatal Autopilot crash
A Florida jury on Friday found Tesla liable to pay $243 million to victims of a 2019 fatal crash of an Autopilot
equipped Model S, a verdict that could encourage more legal action against Elon Musk’s electric vehicle
company. Musk has been pushing to rapidly expand Tesla’s recently launched robotaxi business based on an
advanced version of its driver assistance software. Tesla shares fell 1.8% on Friday, and are down 25% this year.
Jurors in Miami federal court awarded the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon, as well as her former boyfriend
Dillon Angulo, $129 million in compensatory damages plus $200 million in punitive damages, according to a
verdict sheet. Tesla was held liable for 33% of the compensatory damages, or $42.6 million. - Amazon tumbles after cloud computing growth disappoints investors
Amazon.com shares fell 7% on Friday as the tech giant’s results fanned investor fears its cloud unit was falling
behind Microsoft and Alphabet in the artificial intelligence race. Amazon Web Services, long the cloud
computing market leader, edged past Wall Street estimates for June-quarter revenue on Thursday with a 17.5%
increase, but it widely lagged the 39% growth seen at Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud’s 32% gain. That
disappointing growth came even as Amazon shelled out $31.4 billion in capital expenditure, more than rivals,
and suggested it would spend a more-than-estimated $118 billion for the year. - Coinbase shares sink after trading weakness hits quarterly profit
Coinbase shares slumped 15% and hit their lowest in more than a month on Friday, after the crypto exchange
reported a drop in second-quarter adjusted profit due to a slowdown in trading. The stock was last trading at
$321.68, set to wipe out $14.3 billion of market value if current levels hold. It has gained 52% this year as of
last close, ranking among the top 15 gainers on the benchmark S&P 500 index, which Coinbase joined in May.
The sharp investor reaction underscores the challenge Coinbase, as a major player in the crypto space, faces
to sustain its recent strong revenue growth. By contrast, Robinhood, which has a smaller footprint in the
segment, reported that its crypto trading revenue had nearly doubled in the second quarter. - BYD’s July production falls for first time in 17 months as expansion spree slows
BYD’s vehicle production fell 0.9% in July from a year earlier, ending a 16-month growth streak that has
catapulted the Chinese automaker into the world’s largest electric vehicle maker. BYD made 317,892 electric
vehicles and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) globally last month, while sales edged up 0.6% to 344,296 vehicles, slowing
sharply from a 12% increase in June, according to a monthly filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Its EV
sales and production still grew in July versus last year, but PHEV sales dropped 22.6% and production shrank
24.6%. The company last saw shrinking production in February 2024, in line with an industry-wide fall due to
the timing of China’s Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in February versus January in the prior year. Sales
contracted in February 2024 as well. BYD, which is the biggest Chinese rival to Tesla, saw both production and
sales hit record highs in the fourth quarter of 2024 before trending down this year. - Eli Lilly stock rises, Novo Nordisk shares jump on potential Medicare coverage
Eli Lilly stock rose 1.3% and Novo Nordisk shares jumped 2% Friday morning after The Washington Post
reported that Medicare and Medicaid programs are planning to experiment with covering weight loss drugs.
According to documents obtained by the newspaper, the Trump administration is developing a five-year
experiment that would allow state Medicaid programs and Medicare Part D insurance plans to voluntarily cover
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound for weight management purposes. This marks a
significant shift in policy, as Medicare currently covers these medications primarily for patients with Type 2
diabetes, not obesity. The experiment signals the administration may be open to broader coverage of these
drugs through government insurance programs.
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