Real-time News

The China Earthquake Networks Center automatically determined that an earthquake of approximately magnitude 5.6 occurred near Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province at 05:36 on August 19. The final result is subject to the official rapid report.

Moody's expects Nvidia's (NVDA.O) balanced capital allocation policy to support its "exceptionally strong net cash position and credit metrics."

According to The Information: Google (GOOG.O) claims its AI can do some of the work of frontline deployment engineers.

Moody's affirmed Nvidia's (NVDA.O) Aa1 rating with a positive outlook.

On August 19th, Kenji Koshimizu, co-head of Mizuho's global markets division, stated that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) may raise interest rates again as early as September, potentially increasing the frequency of policy adjustments from approximately once every six months to once every three months. Koshimizu noted that the weak yen and inflationary pressures are pushing the BOJ to accelerate its actions, and he does not rule out two rate hikes before the end of the year, bringing the policy rate to 1.5%. The market currently anticipates a 78% probability of a rate hike by the BOJ on September 18th. He stated that Mizuho will continue its conservative Japanese government bond investment strategy, focusing only on inflation-linked bonds and short-term government bonds. Although the 10-year JGB yield has risen to a 30-year high, it remains below Japan's nominal economic growth rate of approximately 4%. Koshimizu believes that global structural changes and investment growth may further push up Japan's neutral interest rate, while inflation risks remain skewed to the upside. Regarding the yen, he stated that the joint intervention by the US and Japan reflects both sides' desire to prevent further yen depreciation, but the yen's weakness is partly due to Japan's loose monetary policy. He anticipates that the Japanese economy is undergoing a significant transformation in decades, and while the Japanese stock market remains attractive, financial market volatility may intensify.

According to relevant documents, Brazilian energy company Cosan has formally notified the New York Stock Exchange of its intention to delist its American Depositary Receipts (ADS).

August 19th - Bond traders are once again adjusting their strategies. After a series of data suggested that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates for the remainder of the year, options market bets are attempting to hedge against the risk of the Fed turning to rate cuts in 2027. This dovish bet contradicts recent movements in the U.S. Treasury market: long-term bond yields have risen to multi-year highs because a Fed wait-and-see approach would allow inflation to remain above target for a longer period. Options traders, whose policy path is closely tied to the Fed's, are turning their attention to signs of a weakening U.S. economy, believing this could trigger a market reversal. This move emerged after data released last week showed that inflation and consumer demand slowed in July, cooling market expectations for a rate hike at the Fed's September meeting. Options market participants subsequently began adjusting their positions, reducing the magnitude of rate hikes priced in for the coming months in the swap market. Some options are even considering hedging against a potential rate cut by the middle of next year. "The fear of rate hikes has eased," said Jeff Shul, head of interest rates at Constitution Capital, noting that recent positions betting on this outcome are being liquidated.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Brehman: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is advancing various initiatives to promote competition in the banking sector.

On August 19, French Foreign Minister Jean-Michel Barrow announced on social media that France would expel two Iranian diplomats in response to the detention and interrogation of two French diplomats by Iranian security services. Barrow had posted on social media on July 20 that Iranian security services had detained and interrogated two French embassy staff members for several hours the previous evening, violating their diplomatic immunity. Barrow also said he had told the Iranian Foreign Minister that this action was "extremely serious and unacceptable" and "will have consequences." The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on August 18, local time, saying that given the two French diplomats' violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Iran had decided to declare them persona non grata and prohibit them from entering Iran.

On August 19, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghae refuted the UAE's accusation that Iran had fired missiles at it. He stated that such actions violated the principle of good neighborly relations and undermined efforts to strengthen trust among regional countries and prevent the escalation of insecurity. Baghae called on all parties to refrain from making unfounded accusations against Iran, given the complex situation caused by the continued malicious actions of the United States and Israel in regional peace and security, particularly the numerous false flag operations in recent years. Previously, the UAE announced the suspension of trade, commercial, and financial transactions with Iran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bagaei called on all parties in the region to refrain from making baseless accusations against Iran and to be wary of the continued malicious actions by the US and Israel that undermine regional peace and their history of using false flags.

The API reported that U.S. crude oil production increased by 238,000 barrels per day in the week ending August 14, compared with 34,000 barrels per day in the previous week.

U.S. refined product imports for the week ending August 14 were -354,000 barrels per day, compared to 196,000 barrels per day in the previous week.

U.S. crude oil imports for the week ending August 14 were 50,000 barrels, compared to 835,000 barrels in the previous week.

U.S. heating oil inventories fell by 360,000 barrels in the week ending August 14, compared with 424,000 barrels in the previous week.

U.S. API Cushing crude oil inventories fell by 1.438 million barrels in the week ending August 14, compared with 1.571 million barrels in the previous week.

U.S. API distillate fuel inventories fell by 2.797 million barrels in the week ending August 14, compared with a previous week's decrease of 596,000 barrels.

U.S. gasoline inventories for the week ending August 14 were 1.076 million barrels, compared to a decrease of 1.531 million barrels in the previous week.