1. Asia-Pacific markets mostly rise as investors looked ahead to U.S. Fed chair Powell’s speech
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher Friday as investors await U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the central bank’s annual economic symposium, which could offer clues into the path of interest rates. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 0.86% to close at 3,168.73 and the small-cap Kosdaq ended the day 0.68% higher at 782.51. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 closed flat at 42,633.29, while the Topix rose 0.58% to 3,100.87. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.57% to close at 8,967.4 after the index crossed the 9,000 mark for the first time Thursday. The country’s core inflation rate cooled to 3.1% in July, coming down from 3.3% the month before. The figure — which strips out costs for fresh food — was higher than the 3% expected by economists.
2. Dow surges more than 800 points to post record close as Powell speech fuels rally
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to an all-time high Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled the central bank could begin easing monetary policy next month. The Dow climbed 846.24 points, or 1.89%, reaching a fresh high and closing at a record level of 45,631.74. The S&P 500 rose 1.52% to end at 6,466.91. At its session high, the broad market index came within three points of its record. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.88% and settled at 21,496.53. Expectations for a quarter-point rate cut in September surged to roughly 83% following the speed from about 75% earlier in the week, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. For the week, 30-stock Dow advanced 1.5%, and the S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.6%.
3. Gold gains as Powell’s comments fuel rate cut hopes
Gold prices rebounded on Friday, buoyed by heightened expectations of a September rate cut following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the central bank’s Jackson Hole symposium. Spot gold was up 1.1% at $3,373.89 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures settled 1.1% up at $3,418.50. The U.S. dollar was down 1%, making gold less expensive for other currency holders. Powell said that the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting the Fed’s policy stance, but stopped short of committing to a rate cut. His remarks struck a delicate balance, acknowledging growing risks to the job market, while cautioning that inflationary pressures remain. Traders now see an 85% chance of a 25 basis-point rate cut in September.
4. Oil prices rise, make weekly gains as Ukraine peace process stalls
Oil prices steadied on Friday amid uncertainty surrounding a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, with prices gaining on the week for the first time in three weeks. Brent crude futures settled up 6 cents or 0.09% to $67.73. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled up 14 cents or 0.22% to $63.66. Both contracts gained more than 1% in the previous session. Brent gained 2.9% this week while WTI rose 1.4%. Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday that Moscow expects to continue supplying oil to India despite U.S. warnings.
5. Dollar drops as Powell signals possible September rate cut
The dollar fell on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed to a possible rate cut at the central bank’s September meeting but stopped short of committing to such a move. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was last down 1.1% on the day at 97.58, after trading around 98.7 before Powell’s comments. The euro gained 1.2% to $1.1739. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 1.2% to 146.62. Traders had been raising their expectations for a cut in September after an unexpectedly weak jobs report for July. Consumer price data showing limited inflation increases from tariffs so far added to the view. Now, labour market data is expected to be the main driver of Fed policy going forward.
6. India says U.S. trade negotiations are still going on as fresh tariffs loom
India’s foreign minister said on Saturday that trade negotiations with Washington are continuing but there are lines that New Delhi needs to defend, just days before hefty additional U.S. tariffs are due to hit. Indian goods face additional U.S. tariffs of up to 50%, among the highest imposed by Washington, due to its increased purchases of Russian oil. A 25% tariff has already come into effect, while the remaining 25% is set to be enforced from August 27. A planned visit by U.S. trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25-29 has been called off, dashing hopes that the levies may be lowered or postponed. India-U.S. trade talks collapsed earlier this year due to India not agreeing to open its vast agricultural and dairy sectors. Bilateral trade between the world’s largest and fifth largest economy is worth over $190 billion.
7. Solar executives warn that Trump attack on renewables will lead to power crunch, spiking electricity prices
President Donald Trump’s attack on solar and wind projects threatens to raise energy prices for consumers and undermine a stretched electric grid that’s already straining to meet rapidly growing demand, renewable energy executives warn. Trump has long said wind power turbines are unattractive and endanger birds, and that solar installations take up too much land. This week, he said his administration will not approve solar and wind projects, the latest salvo in a campaign the president has waged against the renewable energy industry since taking office. “We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar,” Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!”
8. Putin and Zelenskyy have ‘no meeting planned,’ Russian official Lavrov says
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov threw cold water on the possibility of an imminent meeting taking place between President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that no meeting is currently planned. “Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy, when the agenda would be ready for a summit,” Lavrov said during an interview with News’ channels that aired Sunday. “And this agenda is not ready at all,” he continued. Lavrov’s comments come after President Donald Trump suggested earlier this month that the leaders of the two countries had agreed to meet, which would mark a breakthrough in the ongoing war. The continued attacks — and Lavrov’s comments — have raised questions about Trump’s ability to broker a peace deal between the two countries. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Lavrov’s remarks.
9. Canada drops many of its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.
Canada removed many of its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. on Friday, marking a significant step forward in the two countries’ relationship. Canada in March imposed counter-tariffs of 25%on a long list of U.S. products that fall in line with the North American trade deal after the U.S. had announced 25% duties on steel and aluminium. Notably, Canada’s 25% tariffs on U.S. autos, steel and aluminium will remain in place for now, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a press conference Friday. The change will go into effect on Sept. 1, Carney added, saying he believes Canada has the best trade deal out of all of the countries working with the U.S. “As we work intensively with the United States, our focus is squarely on the strategic sectors,” Carney said. Friday’s announcement follows a phone call between Carney and President Donald Trump.
10. Trump says furniture tariffs are coming later this year
The Trump administration has launched an investigation into imported furniture, President Donald Trump said Friday, setting the stage for new tariffs on a wide range of products. “Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union.” Following Trump’s post, shares of top furniture and home goods companies, including Wayfair, and Williams-Sonoma, tumbled in after-hours trading. It was unclear Friday whether new, sectoral tariffs on furniture would be applied on top of country specific tariff rates.
11. Meta reportedly signs over $10 billion cloud deal with Google
Google has struck a six-year cloud computing deal with Meta Platforms worth more than $10 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday, the search giant’s second big agreement recently after one with OpenAI. Under the agreement, Meta will use Google Cloud’s servers, storage, networking and other services, the source, who asked not to be named, Google and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The deal was first reported by the Information. The company raised the bottom end of its annual capital expenditures forecast by $2 billion, to a range of $66 billion to $72 billion last month. Meta is seeking outside partners to help it fund the massive infrastructure needed to power AI by offloading $2 billion in data centre assets, the company disclosed in a filing earlier this month.
12. Paramount reportedly preparing to cut as many as 3,000 jobs by early November
Paramount is looking to cut between 2,000 to 3,000 jobs by early November, after the completion of its merger with production studio Skydance, Variety reported on Friday. Paramount Global and Skydance Media completed their $8.4 billion merger — announced more than a year ago — earlier this month and the combined company was renamed Paramount Skydance Corp. The layoffs will affect staff across divisions and the numbers could vary, the Variety report said. As of December 2024, Paramount had nearly 18,600 full- and part-time employees, and 3,500 project-based staff. On Monday, just days after finalizing its merger with production studio Skydance, Paramount said it will pay $7.7 billion for exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for seven years — the first major strategic move by the combined company.
