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Equities mostly rose Monday on optimism countries will reach US trade deals before an August 1 deadline, while the yen gained after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would stay in office despite another election defeat.Hong Kong topped 25,000 points for the first time in three years as tech giants advanced following strong earnings from Taiwanese chip giant TSMC and news US titan Nvidia would be allowed to export key semiconductors to China.While only three countries have signed agreements to avoid the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs, analysts said investors were hopeful that others — including Japan and South Korea — will follow suit.The upbeat mood has been helped by a series of largely positive US economic data releases that suggested the world’s top economy remained in rude health, helping to push Wall Street to multiple record highs.In early trade, Hong Kong climbed to as high as 25,010.90 — its highest level since February 2022 — thanks to a strong performance in ecommerce leaders Alibaba and JD.com and food delivery provider Meituan.Tech has been boosted after Nvidia said last week that it will resume sales of its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing restrictions that had halted exports.A surge in Chinese money supply sparked by Beijing’s stimulus measures has added to the jump in Hong Kong’s market, which has spiked around 25 percent since the turn of the year.There were also gains in Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Wellington, Manila and Jakarta. Sydney and Taipei slipped, while Tokyo was closed for a holiday.The yen strengthened against the dollar after Ishiba vowed to stay on even after his ruling coalition lost its overall majority in Sunday’s lower house elections, months after it suffered a similar fate in an upper house vote.The losses came amid growing anger at the surging cost of living, including a doubling in the cost of rice.Analysts said that while the result was bad for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner Komeito, the fact that the prime minister would remain in office provided some stability for now.The yen hit 147.79 per dollar in early trade but pared the gains to sit at 148.45 — still stronger than Friday’s finish.The currency had been weighed in recent weeks by expectations a bad defeat would lead to more spending and tax cuts.Despite Ishiba’s decision to stay, pressure will grow on the coalition to cut or abolish consumption tax, something Ishiba has opposed in view of Japan’s colossal national debts of more than 200 percent of gross domestic product.It also comes as he struggles to reach a trade deal with Trump, who has threatened tariffs of 25 percent on goods from Japan.He said “the deadline of (US) tariffs is coming on August 1. Until then we have to do our best with our body and soul”.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday a “mutually beneficial trade agreement… remains within the realm of possibility”.Jiji Press reported that Ishiba would inform a meeting of senior LDP figures on Monday that he will stay in office.If he did go, it is unclear who might step up to replace him now that the government needs opposition support in both chambers to pass legislation.The election result “now raises a host of questions, including whether… Ishiba remains in power or decides to resign, how potentially expansionary could fiscal policy become, and will domestic politics be a hurdle in reaching a potential trade agreement with the US?”, wrote Paul Mackel, global head of forex research at HSBC.Others suggested the yen could still come under pressure, and possibly top 150 for the first time since March, owing to lingering uncertainty about the leadership.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 24,944.31Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,550.33Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayDollar/yen: DOWN at 148.43 yen from 148.73 yen on FridayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1624 from $1.1627Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3415 from $1.3414Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.65 pence from 86.67 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $67.52 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $69.46 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,342.19 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,992.12 (close)

China is set to expand its influence over Southeast Asia’s development as the Trump administration and other Western donors slash aid, a study by an Australian think tank said Sunday.The region is in an “uncertain moment”, facing cuts in official development finance from the West as well as “especially punitive” US trade tariffs, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute said.”Declining Western aid risks ceding a greater role to China, though other Asian donors will also gain in importance,” it said.Total official development finance to Southeast Asia — including grants, low-rate loans and other loans — grew “modestly” to US$29 billion in 2023, the annual report said.But US President Donald Trump has since halted about US$60 billion in development assistance — most of the United States’ overseas aid programme.Seven European countries — including France and Germany — and the European Union have announced US$17.2 billion in aid cuts to be implemented between 2025 and 2029, it said.And the United Kingdom has said it is reducing annual aid by US$7.6 billion, redirecting government money towards defence.Based on recent announcements, overall official development finance to Southeast Asia will fall by more than US$2 billion by 2026, the study projected.”These cuts will hit Southeast Asia hard,” it said.”Poorer countries and social sector priorities such as health, education, and civil society support that rely on bilateral aid funding are likely to lose out the most.”Higher-income countries already capture most of the region’s official development finance, said the institute’s Southeast Asia Aid Map report.Poorer countries such as East Timor, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are being left behind, creating a deepening divide that could undermine long-term stability, equity and resilience, it warned.Despite substantial economic development across most of Southeast Asia, around 86 million people still live on less than US$3.65 a day, it said.- ‘Global concern’ -“The centre of gravity in Southeast Asia’s development finance landscape looks set to drift East, notably to Beijing but also Tokyo and Seoul,” the study said.As trade ties with the United States have weakened, Southeast Asian countries’ development options could shrink, it said, leaving them with less leverage to negotiate favourable terms with Beijing.”China’s relative importance as a development actor in the region will rise as Western development support recedes,” it said.Beijing’s development finance to the region rose by US$1.6 billion to US$4.9 billion in 2023 — mostly through big infrastructure projects such as rail links in Indonesia and Malaysia, the report said.At the same time, China’s infrastructure commitments to Southeast Asia surged fourfold to almost US$10 billion, largely due to the revival of the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port project in Myanmar.By contrast, Western alternative infrastructure projects had failed to materialise in recent years, the study said.”Similarly, Western promises to support the region’s clean energy transition have yet to translate into more projects on the ground — of global concern given coal-dependent Southeast Asia is a major source of rapidly growing carbon emissions.”

Vietnam’s plan to bar gas-guzzling motorbikes from central Hanoi may clear the air of the smog-smothered capital, but riders fear paying a high toll for the capital’s green transition.”Of course everyone wants a better environment,” said housewife Dang Thuy Hanh, baulking at the 80 million dong ($3,000) her family would spend replacing their four scooters with electric alternatives.”But why give us the first burden without any proper preparation?” grumbled the 52-year-old.Hanoi’s scooter traffic is a fixture of the city’s urban buzz. The northern hub of nine million people has nearly seven million two-wheelers, hurtling around at rush hour in a morass of congestion.Their exhausts splutter emissions regularly spurring the city to the top of worldwide smog rankings in a country where pollution claims at least 70,000 lives a year, according to the World Health Organization.The government last weekend announced plans to block fossil-fuelled bikes from Hanoi’s 31 square kilometre (12 square mile) centre by next July.It will expand in stages to forbid all gas-fuelled vehicles in urban areas of the city in the next five years.Hanh — one of the 600,000 people living in the central embargo zone — said the looming cost of e-bikes has left her fretting over the loss of “a huge amount of savings”.While she conceded e-bikes may help relieve pollution, she bemoaned the lack of public charging points near her home down a tiny alley in the heart of the city.”Why force residents to change while the city’s infrastructure is not yet able to adapt to the new situation?” she asked.Many families in communist-run Vietnam own at least two motorcycles for daily commutes, school runs, work and leisure.Proposals to reform transport for environmental reasons often sparks allegations the burden of change is felt highest by the working class. London has since 2023 charged a toll for older, higher pollution-emitting vehicles.France’s populist “Yellow Vest” protests starting in 2018 were in part sparked by allegations President Emmanuel Macron’s “green tax” on fuel was unfair for the masses.- ‘Cost too high’ -Hanoi authorities say they are considering alleviating the financial burden by offering subsidies of at least three million dong ($114) per switch to an e-bike, and also increasing public bus services.Food delivery driver Tran Van Tan, who rides his bike 40 kilometres (25 miles) every day from neighbouring Hung Yen province to downtown Hanoi, says he makes his living “on the road”.”The cost of changing to an e-bike is simply too high,” said the 45-year-old, employed through the delivery app Grab. “Those with a low income like us just cannot suddenly replace our bikes.”Compared with a traditional two-wheeler, he also fears the battery life of e-bikes “won’t meet the needs for long-distance travel”.But citing air pollution as a major threat to human health, the environment and quality of life, deputy mayor Duong Duc Tuan earlier this week said “drastic measures are needed”.In a recent report, Hanoi’s environment and agriculture ministry said over half of the poisonous smog that blankets the city for much of the year comes from petrol and diesel vehicles.The World Bank puts the figure at 30 percent, with factories and waste incineration also major culprits.Several European cities, such as Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam have also limited the use of internal combustion engines on their streets — and other major Vietnamese cities are looking to follow suit.The southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City aims to gradually transition delivery and service motorbikes to electric over the next few years.But with the high costs, office worker Nguyen My Hoa thinks the capital’s ban will not be enforceable. “Authorities will not be able to stop the huge amount of gasoline bikes from entering the inner districts,” 42-year-old Hoa said.”It simply does not work.”

Japan is heavily investing in a new kind of ultra-thin, flexible solar panel that it hopes will help it meet renewable energy goals while challenging China’s dominance of the sector.Pliable perovskite panels are perfect for mountainous Japan, with its shortage of flat plots for traditional solar farms. And a key component of the panels is iodine, something Japan produces more of than any country but Chile.The push faces some obstacles: perovskite panels contain toxic lead, and, for now, produce less power and have shorter lifespans than their silicon counterparts.Still, with a goal of net-zero by 2050 and a desire to break China’s solar supremacy, perovskite cells are “our best card to achieve both decarbonisation and industrial competitiveness,” minister of industry Yoji Muto said in November.”We need to succeed in their implementation in society at all costs,” he said.The government is offering generous incentives to get industry on board, including a 157-billion-yen ($1 billion) subsidy to plastic maker Sekisui Chemical for a factory to produce enough perovskite solar panels to generate 100 megawatts by 2027, enough to power 30,000 households.By 2040, Japan wants to install enough perovskite panels to generate 20 gigawatts of electricity, equivalent to adding about 20 nuclear reactors.That should help Japan’s target to have renewable energy cover up to 50 percent of electricity demand by 2040. – Breaking the silicon ceiling -The nation is looking to solar power, including perovskite and silicon-based solar cells, to cover up to 29 percent of all electricity demand by that time, a sharp rise from 9.8 percent in 2023.”To increase the amount of renewable energy and achieve carbon neutrality, I think we will have to mobilise all the technologies available,” said Hiroshi Segawa, a specialist in next-generation solar technology at the University of Tokyo.”Perovskite solar panels can be built domestically, from the raw materials to production to installation. In that sense, they could significantly contribute to things like energy security and economic security,” he told AFP.Tokyo wants to avoid a repeat of the past boom and bust of the Japanese solar business.In the early 2000s, Japanese-made silicon solar panels accounted for almost half the global market.Now, China controls more than 80 percent of the global solar supply chain, from the production of key raw material to assembling modules.Silicon solar panels are made of thin wafers that are processed into cells that generate electricity.They must be protected by reinforced glass sheets and metal frames, making the final products heavy and cumbersome.Perovskite solar cells, however, are created by printing or painting ingredients such as iodine and lead onto surfaces like film or sheet glass.The final product can be just a millimetre thick and a tenth the weight of a conventional silicon solar cell.Perovskite panels’ malleability means they can be installed on uneven and curved surfaces, a key feature in Japan, where 70 percent of the country is mountainous.- Generating where power is used -The panels are already being incorporated into several projects, including a 46-storey Tokyo building to be completed by 2028.The southwestern city of Fukuoka has also said it wants to cover a domed baseball stadium with perovskite panels. And major electronics brand Panasonic is working on integrating perovskite into windowpanes.”What if all of these windows had solar cells integrated in them?” said Yukihiro Kaneko, general manager of Panasonic’s perovskite PV development department, gesturing to the glass-covered high-rise buildings surrounding the firm’s Tokyo office.That would allow power to be generated where it is used, and reduce the burden on the national grid, Kaneko added.For all the enthusiasm, perovskite panels remain far from mass production.They are less efficient than their silicon counterparts, and have a lifespan of just a decade, compared to 30 years for conventional units.The toxic lead they contain also means they need careful disposal after use.However, the technology is advancing fast. Some prototypes can perform nearly as powerfully as silicon panels and their durability is expected to reach 20 years soon.University professor Segawa believes Japan could have a capacity of 40 gigawatts from perovskite by 2040, while the technology could also speed up renewable uptake elsewhere.”We should not think of it as either silicon or perovskite. We should look at how we can maximise our ability to utilise renewable energy,” Segawa said. “If Japan could show a good model, I think it can be brought overseas.” 

Unknown to the general public just three years ago, Jensen Huang is now one of the most powerful entrepreneurs in the world as head of chip giant Nvidia.The unassuming 62-year-old draws stadium crowds of more than 10,000 people as his company’s products push the boundaries of artificial intelligence.Chips designed by Nvidia, known as graphics cards or GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), are essential in developing the generative artificial intelligence powering technology like ChatGPT.Big tech’s insatiable appetite for Nvidia’s GPUs, which sell for tens of thousands of dollars each, has catapulted the California chipmaker beyond $4 trillion in market valuation, the first company ever to surpass that mark.Nvidia’s meteoric rise has boosted Huang’s personal fortune to $150 billion — making him one of the world’s richest people — thanks to the roughly 3.5 percent stake he holds in the company he founded three decades ago with two friends in a Silicon Valley diner.In a clear demonstration of his clout, he recently convinced President Donald Trump to lift restrictions on certain GPU exports to China, despite the fact that China is locked in a battle with the United States for AI supremacy.”That was brilliantly done,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a governance professor at Yale University.Huang was able to explain to Trump that “having the world using a US tech platform as the core protocol is definitely in the interest of this country” and won’t help the Chinese military, Sonnenfeld said.- Early life -Born in Taipei in 1963, Jensen Huang (originally named Jen-Hsun) embodies the American success story. At nine years old, he was sent away with his brother to boarding school in small-town Kentucky.His uncle recommended the school to his Taiwanese parents believing it to be a prestigious institution, when it was actually a school for troubled youth.Too young to be a student, Huang boarded there but attended a nearby public school alongside the children of tobacco farmers. With his poor English, he was bullied and forced to clean toilets — a two-year ordeal that transformed him.”We worked really hard, we studied really hard, and the kids were really tough,” he recounted in an interview with US broadcaster NPR.But “the ending of the story is I loved the time I was there,” Huang said.- Leather jacket and tattoo -Brought home by his parents, who had by then settled in the northwestern US state of Oregon, he graduated from university at just 20 and joined AMD, then LSI Logic, to design chips — his passion.But he wanted to go further and founded Nvidia in 1993 to “solve problems that normal computers can’t,” using semiconductors powerful enough to handle 3D graphics, as he explained on the “No Priors” podcast.Nvidia created the first GPU in 1999, riding the intersection of video games, data centers, cloud computing, and now, generative AI.Always dressed in a black T-shirt and leather jacket, Huang sports a Nvidia logo tattoo and has a taste for sports cars.But it’s his relentless optimism, low-key personality and lack of political alignment that sets him apart from the likes of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Unlike them, Huang was notably absent from Trump’s inauguration ceremony.”He backpedals his own aura and has the star be the technology rather than himself,” observed Sonnenfeld, who believes Huang may be “the most respected of all today’s tech titans.”One former high-ranking Nvidia employee described him to AFP as “the most driven person” he’d ever met. – Street food -On visits to his native Taiwan, Huang is treated like a megastar, with fans crowding him for autographs and selfies as journalists follow him to the barber shop and his favorite night market.”He has created the phenomena because of his personal charm,” noted Wayne Lin of Witology Market Trend Research Institute.”A person like him must be very busy and his schedule should be full every day meeting big bosses. But he remembers to eat street food when he comes to Taiwan,” he said, calling Huang “unusually friendly.”Nvidia is a tight ship and takes great care to project a drama-free image of Huang. But the former high-ranking employee painted a more nuanced picture, describing a “very paradoxical” individual who is fiercely protective of his employees but also capable, within Nvidia’s executive circle, of “ripping people to shreds” over major mistakes or poor choices.

A glitch in Malaysia’s self-service border control machines has hit tens of thousands of travellers, the immigration department estimated Saturday, causing delays at the capital’s airport and land crossings. Among major gateways affected since Friday afternoon are Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s two main terminals, as well as southern land crossings with Singapore. “It should be more than tens of thousands of travellers who have to wait longer at the manual counters to clear immigration,” estimated Zakaria Shaaban, director-general of Malaysia’s Immigration Department. Zakaria was unable to give a precise number of people affected when asked by AFP.”We don’t have many manual counters over in Johor because we have converted most of them into autogates,” Zakaria said, referring to the southern state neighbouring Singapore. Malaysian daily The Star said the breakdown has been described as the “worst ever”, involving over 200 machines and affecting only foreign passport holders. Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority warned people intending to travel to Malaysia to expect delays. “Those who are already at the land checkpoints and need to U-turn can approach officers for assistance,” it said in a Facebook post.Since June 2024 travellers from 63 countries, as well as accredited diplomats and their families, have been allowed to use Malaysia’s self-service machines for immigration clearance.The Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency said initial investigations found the “technical disruption” was due to a data integration issue. “This caused the delays in the cross-checking process within the MyIMMS (immigration) system,” it said in a statement.”All manual counters have been fully activated and additional personnel have been deployed to manage the flow of visitors and control the queues at the best capacity,” the agency added.

US and European stock markets stalled or trimmed gains on Friday after a bullish week buoyed by US data and upbeat company earnings.New York — whose S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite struck record highs on Thursday — made little further headway, while the Dow slid.In Europe, London’s blue-chip FTSE was up though just under its all-time record reached on Tuesday. Paris was flat and Frankfurt slipped a little on profit-taking.Asian markets closed higher except for Tokyo, which was dragged down ahead of weekend upper-house elections that could spell trouble for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.The week’s strong performance in equities showed that worries were largely being set aside for now when it comes to US President Donald Trump’s threats of higher tariffs from August 1 if governments do not agree on trade deals.”With the president toning down his rhetoric, markets are quick to forget tariff risks and concentrate on the positives including a resilient US economy,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading firm XTB.The overall optimism was fueled by data suggesting the US economy was still well, with no persuasive indication that the tariffs were causing a surge in inflation.A June consumer price index report released this week “does not reveal tariff-induced price increases, but a closer look shows clear signs” they could be building, said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank.”We expect (US) annual core inflation to approach 3.5 percent by year-end and the Fed to hold the policy rate at the 4.25-4.50 percent target range,” he said, referring to the US central bank.One Federal Reserve governor, Christopher Waller, on Thursday argued for a July rate cut, saying he expected tariff increases to cause a one-time bump to prices. On Friday, Waller flagged risks in the labor market.But overall, Fed policymakers have remained cautious as they gauge the right timing for further interest rate reductions.Trump this week denied he was planning to sack Fed boss Jerome Powell, whom he had been urging to reduce US borrowing costs to boost the world’s top economy.A meeting in South Africa of G20 finance ministers on Friday pointedly stressed that “central bank independence is crucial” around the world.In corporate news, American Express followed big US banks in reporting better results than expected in the second quarter.Results from streaming giant Netflix also outperformed, although its share price slipped Friday as investors weighed whether it had been overvalued.In London, British luxury brand Burberry said sales had not fallen as much as analysts expected, “which is a sign that the company’s new strategic direction could be working,” said XTB’s Brooks. Its shares rose nearly six percent.On the downside, shares in GlaxoSmithKline slid more than four percent after the British pharmaceutical giant reported a US regulatory setback for its blood cancer drug Blenrep.Oil prices initially rose after fresh EU sanctions aimed at crimping Russia’s crude exports, to pressure Moscow over its war on Ukraine. But then they fell back.- Key figures at around 2020 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,342.19 points (close)New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 6,296.79 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 20,895.66 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,992.12 (close)Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 7,822.67 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.3 percent at 24,289.51 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 39,819.11 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.3 percent at 24,825.66 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,534.48 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1627 from $1.1600 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3414 from $1.3415Dollar/yen: UP at 148.73 yen from 148.60 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.67 pence from 86.43 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $69.28 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $67.34 per barrelburs-bys/sst

The G20 finance ministers stressed Friday that central banks must remain independent, after months of escalating attacks by US President Donald Trump on Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell.It was the first communique under South Africa’s G20 presidency and marked a rare consensus for a bloc jolted by the drastic trade policies of its richest member, the United States.”Central banks are strongly committed to ensuring price stability… and will continue to adjust their policies in a data-dependent manner,” the group, whose members account for more than 80 percent of the world’s economic output, said after a finance ministers’ meeting in South Africa.”Central bank independence is crucial to achieving this goal,” it said in the statement, also signed by the United States.Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Powell for not lowering interest rates more quickly, calling the central banker a “numbskull” and “moron”.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not attend the two-day meeting in the port city of Durban, with Washington instead represented by acting undersecretary for international affairs Michael Kaplan.Bessent also skipped a similar meeting in February and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio snubbed a meeting for G20 foreign ministers.Trump insists the Fed should boost the US economy by cutting rates from the current range, 4.25 to 4.5 percent.The US central bank has meanwhile adopted a wait-and-see attitude, holding rates steady as it continues its plan to bring inflation to its long-term target of two percent.On Friday, Trump ramped his criticism of Powell, whose term ends in May 2026, calling him “one of my worst appointments”.The attack followed suggestions the 72-year-old banker could be dismissed for “fraud” over his handling of a renovation project at Federal Reserve headquarters.- ‘Difficult’ environment -Since returning to power in January, Trump has upended global trade rules, announcing a host of drastic stop-start tariffs that has unnerved investors and governments around the world, including the G20 — a grouping of 19 nations and the European Union and African Union.The US tariffs are due to jump from 10 percent to various higher levels for a list of dozens of economies, including the EU, come August 1. A separate 50-percent duty on copper imports will also come into force.The G20 said there was a need to strengthen cooperation and acknowledged the World Trade Organization needed reform “to be more relevant and responsive in light of today’s realities”.Washington is due to succeed Pretoria as G20 chair at a summit in November in Johannesburg, although Trump’s attendance remains uncertain.”The fact that we were able to reach a joint communique among other things outlining the global economic challenges or uncertainty coming from trade tensions shows that also US is willing to have constructive engagement,” said EU Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis.The discussions, at a luxury resort on the east coast, had focused on how to “preserve rules-based multilateral trading system”, Dombrovskis added.Reaching consensus was no small feat, acknowledged South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.”It has been a difficult one in this environment. To achieve what we have done in that environment, I think is a huge success,” he told journalists.The International Monetary Fund said “high levels of policy uncertainty” had dominated the talks and urged countries to resolve trade tensions.The leaders have set an objective of “finding a balanced and practical solution” on a global minimum tax of 15 percent, aimed at stopping international corporations from slashing their tax bills by registering in nations with low rates.Anti-poverty charity Oxfam said G20 inaction would amount to betrayal.”The money is there — it’s time to tax the super-rich and fossil fuel excessive profits,” it said.Last month, the Group of Seven nations agreed to exempt US multinational companies from the OECD-negotiated tax, in a win for Trump’s government, which pushed hard for the compromise.

European and Asian stocks markets closed out the week broadly higher Friday following Wall Street’s latest record highs sparked by healthy US retail data and upbeat earnings.The readings helped divert attention away from Donald Trump’s tariffs saga, with dozens of countries yet to cut deals with the US president two weeks before his August 1 deadline.However, Japanese investors were a little more anxious after news that rice prices doubled in June, compounding problems for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of weekend elections in which the grain has been a hot topic.Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed down slightly, while Europe’s main indices gained around midday.”The positive tone to risk sentiment is continuing… after a week of record highs for global equities,” noted Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group.London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index also reached an intraday record high earlier this week, topping 9,000 points on Tuesday.”Tariffs dominated market sentiment at the start of this week, but as the focus turns to President Trump’s health, tariff risks could recede,” Brooks added.The White House on Thursday said Trump had been diagnosed with a common, benign vein condition following speculation about his heavily bruised hand and swollen legs.The 79-year-old in January became the oldest person ever to assume the presidency.The dollar dropped Friday as traders bet on the Federal Reserve cutting US interest rates.Trump this week denied he was planning to sack Fed boss Jerome Powell, who has been urged by the president to reduce US borrowing costs to further boost the world’s top economy.The Nasdaq and S&P scaled fresh peaks Thursday after figures showed US retail sales rose more than expected last month and reversed May’s decline. Another modest jobless claims report provided extra assurance.That came on top of forecast-topping earnings from streaming behemoth Netflix, which further fanned buying in tech firms that followed Trump’s decision to allow chip giant Nvidia to export its H20 semiconductors to China. Hong Kong stocks were among the biggest winners Friday thanks to tech leaders.On the downside, shares in GlaxoSmithKline slid more than six percent after the British pharmaceutical giant reported a US regulatory setback for its blood cancer drug Blenrep.- Key figures at around 1045 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,977.21 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,840.46 Frankfurt – DAX: FLAT at 24,376.67Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 39,819.11 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.3 percent at 24,825.66 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,534.48 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,484.49 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1643 from $1.1600 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3445 from $1.3415Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.56 yen from 148.60 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.57 pence from 86.43 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.8 percent at $70.05 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $66.79 per barrel

Markets headed into the weekend on a broadly positive note Friday, as investors took up New York’s latest record highs sparked by healthy US retail data and upbeat earnings from some of Wall Street’s big names.The readings helped divert attention away from Donald Trump’s tariffs saga, with dozens of countries yet to cut deals with the US president two weeks before his August 1 deadline.However, Japanese investors were a little more anxious after news that rice prices once again doubled in June, compounding problems for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of weekend elections in which the grain has been a hot topic.The Nasdaq and S&P scaled fresh peaks Thursday after figures showed US retail sales rose more than expected last month and reversed May’s decline, indicating the world’s top economy remains in good health. Another modest jobless claims report provided extra assurance.That came on top of forecast-topping earnings from streaming behemoth Netflix, which further fanned buying in tech firms that followed Trump’s decision to allow chip giant Nvidia to export its H20 semiconductors to China. Hong Kong stocks were among the biggest winners thanks to tech leaders, while there were also gains in Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta. London, Paris and Frankfurt extended Thursday’s gains, but Seoul, Mumbai and Wellington dropped.Tokyo was also in the red as nervous investors eyed Sunday’s vote, with opinion polls suggesting Ishiba’s ruling coalition could lose its majority in the upper house, having lost control of the lower house last year.A poor show for the premier — who has been battered by a cost-of-living crisis — could put pressure on him to step down and likely usher in a period of uncertainty in the world’s number four economy.”Cost-of-living concerns have dominated the campaign for this weekend’s upper house election,” wrote Stefan Angrick, head of Japan and frontier markets economics at Moody’s Analytics.”Ishiba’s government has boxed itself in, promising only some belated and half-hearted financial support that will do little to improve the demand outlook.”Adding to the premier’s problems was news that rice prices had soared 99.2 percent in June year-on-year, having rocketed 101 percent in May and 98.4 percent in April.Public support for his administration has tumbled to its lowest level since he took office in October, with people also angry at his failure to reach a deal to avoid the worst of Trump’s tariffs.”While Ishiba’s base applauds his refusal to bow to Trump’s every tweet, the unwillingness to give even an inch on low-hanging fruit like a partial tariff rollback or mild defense spending boost suggests a man more committed to defiance than diplomacy,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.”It’s tempting to say the trade friction was out of Ishiba’s control… But markets, like politics, don’t reward stubborn idealism. They reward adaptability. And on that score, Ishiba has failed to hedge his leadership risks.”- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 39,819.11 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.3 percent at 24,825.66 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,534.48 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,992.54Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1637 from $1.1600 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3438 from $1.3415Dollar/yen: UP at 148.65 yen from 148.60 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.59 pence from 86.43 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $67.86 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $69.79 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,484.49 (close)