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Stocks largely rose on Thursday, with London striking a record high, as investors remained optimistic that governments will reach deals to avoid US tariffs.The dollar climbed versus main rivals while oil prices slid.Bitcoin steadied after topping $112,000 for the first time on Wednesday.Wall Street’s main indices wobbled in morning trading, a day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite set fresh highs thanks to a surge in US chip titan Nvidia that pushed the firm to a record $4 trillion valuation at one point.But as European market’s closed, both the Dow and S&P 500 were in the green.In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 index rose more than one percent to set a new all-time high, lifted also by a surge in mining stocks after US President Donald Trump said he would enact a 50-percent copper tariff on August 1.Paris stocks advanced, tracking gains in Asia, but Frankfurt ended the day lower. “European markets in general continue to shrug off Donald Trump’s daily tariff updates, perhaps seeing them as noise and not facts,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.”Trump is throwing out numbers left, right and centre, and investors have begun to dismiss anything that isn’t set in stone,” he added.Negotiators from around the world have been trying to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline pushed back to August 1.”Indications that the EU is edging closer to a deal with the US, with an agreement thought to be possible in a few days, has added to the positive vibes,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.The EU expects Trump to keep a 10-percent baseline tariff on EU goods with exemptions for critical sectors such as airplanes, spirits and cosmetics.Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels.There was little global reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50-percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would impose reciprocal levies on the United States.Brazil had not been among those threatened with higher duties, with the United States running a goods trade surplus with the South American giant.Traders were given few guides on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans after minutes published on Wednesday from its June policy meeting showed officials divided on the best way forward.While the board sees the president’s tariffs as inflationary, the minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size and duration of the effects.”There is an understanding that the tariffs could invite higher prices and worsening inflation, but the stock market and the Treasury market continue to operate with an attitude of ‘seeing is believing’,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.”They haven’t seen enough in the hard data to be convinced that the inflation threat is coming to fruition,” he added.- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 44,732.82 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,278.04New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 20,596.43London – FTSE 100: UP 1.2 percent at 8,975.96 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,902.25 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 24,456.81 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 39,646.36 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,028.37 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,509.68 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1679 from $1.1719 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3558 from $1.3590Dollar/yen: UP at 146.49 yen from 146.30 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.14 pence from 86.21 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.6 percent at $69.07 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $67.12 per barrelburs-rl/jj

E-commerce giant Shein faces a possible 150-million-euro ($175-million) fine in France for failing to properly get consent to track users on the internet.The regulator, the CNIL, faulted the fast-fashion retailer for using trackers called cookies that enable for targeted advertising to users without their approval as required in Europe, or for using a confusing method to get consent.It also found during a 2023 inspection that when users refused the tracking cookies Shein continued to read information from them.Given the firm has the technical and staff resources necessary to comply with the regulations its behaviour was negligent, said CNIL.Shein had recently complied with the regulations, it added.A final decision on fining the fast-fashion giant should come within weeks.Shein called the proposed amount of the fine “disproportionate”, in a statement sent to AFP.”Since August 2023 we have actively worked with the CNIL to ensure our compliance and respond to their queries,” the China-founded firm said.This additional possible fine from the CNIL follows a record 40 million-euro penalty it received last week from France’s competition and anti-fraud office over “deceptive commercial practices” by misleading customers on price deals and on its environmental impact.  

An Irish regulator helping police European Union data privacy said Thursday it had launched an investigation into TikTok over the transfer of European users’ personal data to servers in China. TikTok was fined 530 million euros ($620 million) in May by the Data Protection Commission over sending personal data to China, though the Chinese social media giant had insisted this data was only accessed remotely.The DPC on Thursday said it had been informed by TikTok in April that “limited EEA user data had in fact been stored on servers in China,” then deleted, contrary to evidence previously presented by the company.The watchdog said it had expressed “deep concern” in its previous investigation that “TikTok had submitted inaccurate information”.TikTok plans to appeal the May fine — the second largest ever imposed by the DPC.The social media giant has been in the crosshairs of Western governments for years over fears personal data could be used by China for espionage or propaganda purposes.But TikTok has insisted that it has never received any requests from Chinese authorities for European users’ data.- Big tech -TikTok, which has 1.5 billion users worldwide, is a division of Chinese tech giant ByteDance.But since it has its European headquarters in Ireland, the Irish authority is the lead regulator in Europe for the social platform — as well as others such as Google, Meta and Apple.The DPC is tasked with ensuring companies comply with the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), launched in 2018 to protect European consumers from personal data breaches. Its latest probe against the Chinese-owned giant will determine “whether TikTok has complied with its relevant obligations” to comply with the GDPR.The data protection watchdog has imposed a number of massive fines against tech companies as the EU seeks to rein in big tech firms over privacy, competition, disinformation and taxation.For years, TikTok promoted its data protection policies. It made much of what it called Project Clover, a plan to invest 12 billion euros (currently $14 billion) in European data security over 10 years, from 2023 onwards.It claimed that Europeans’ data was by default stored in Norway, Ireland, and the United States and “that employees in China have no access to restricted data,” such as phone numbers or IP addresses.TikTok told AFP in May that it had “promptly” informed the DPC of a technical issue regarding data transfers.The social media giant is also under pressure in the United States where it faces a looming ban if it does not find a non-Chinese buyer. US President Donald Trump said at the end of June that a group of buyers had been found for TikTok, adding that he could name the purchasers in a matter of weeks.

An Irish regulator helping police European Union data privacy said Thursday it had launched an investigation into TikTok over the transfer of European users’ personal data to servers in China. TikTok was fined 530 million euros ($620 million) in May by the Data Protection Commission over European data transfers to China, though the Chinese social media giant had insisted this data was only accessed remotely.The DPC on Thursday said it had been informed by TikTok in April that “limited EEA user data had in fact been stored on servers in China,” contrary to evidence presented by the company.The regulator said it had expressed “deep concern” in its previous investigation that “TikTok had submitted inaccurate information”.TikTok is a division of Chinese tech giant ByteDance.But since it has its European headquarters in Ireland, the Irish authority is the lead regulator in Europe for the social platform — as well as others such as Google, Meta and Apple.The DPC is tasked with ensuring companies comply with the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), launched in 2018 to protect European consumers from personal data breaches. It has imposed a number of big fines against tech companies as the EU seeks to rein in big tech firms over privacy, competition, disinformation and taxation.

Stock markets mostly rose Thursday on optimism that governments would reach deals to avoid US tariffs, with London hitting a record high. London’s FTSE 100 index jumped one percent in morning trading, lifted also by a surge in mining stocks after US President Donald Trump said he would enact a 50-percent copper tariff on August 1.The dollar fell versus main rivals and oil prices slid. Bitcoin steadied after topping $112,000 for the first time on Wednesday.Paris and Frankfurt stock markets advanced, tracking gains in Asia and after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit all-time highs Wednesday in New York.”European markets in general continue to shrug off Donald Trump’s daily tariff updates, perhaps seeing them as noise and not facts,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.”Trump is throwing out numbers left, right and centre, and investors have begun to dismiss anything that isn’t set in stone,” he added.Negotiators from around the world have been trying to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline pushed back to August 1.”Indications that the EU is edging closer to a deal with the US, with an agreement thought to be possible in a few days, has added to the positive vibes,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.The EU expects Trump to keep a 10-percent baseline tariff on EU goods with exemptions for critical sectors like airplanes, spirits and cosmetics.Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels.Thursday’s stock market rallies followed a healthy lead from Wall Street, thanks to a surge in US chip titan Nvidia that pushed the firm to a record $4 trillion valuation at one point.There was little global reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50 percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will impose reciprocal levies on the United States.Brazil had not been among those threatened with higher duties, with the United States running a goods trade surplus with the South American giant.Traders were given few guides on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans after minutes from its June policy meeting showed officials divided on the best way forward.While the board sees the president’s tariffs as inflationary, the minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size and duration of the effects.- Key figures at around 1030 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 8,956.73 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,930.37Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 24,584.82Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 39,646.36 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,028.37 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,509.68 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,458.30 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1733 from $1.1719 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3606 from $1.3590Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.17 yen from 146.30 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.24 pence from 86.21 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $69.92 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $68.03 per barrel

President Donald Trump announced a 50-percent tariff Wednesday targeting Brazil as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-leader, and said a US “national security” levy on copper would begin in August.In a letter addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump criticized the treatment of his right-wing ally Jair Bolsonaro as an “international disgrace.”Bolsonaro is facing trial over accusations he plotted a coup after his narrow 2022 election loss to Lula.In response to Trump’s tariff letter, Lula warned of possible reciprocation, writing on social media that “any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity.”Brazil said earlier on Wednesday it had summoned the US charge d’affaires over Trump’s previous criticism of the Bolsonaro trial.The 50-percent US tariff on Brazilian goods will take effect August 1, Trump said in his letter, mirroring a deadline that dozens of other economies face.On that same date, a 50-percent tariff on US imports of copper — a key metal used in green energy and other technologies — will take effect, Trump announced Wednesday evening on social media.He said the move followed a “robust NATIONAL SECURITY ASSESSMENT,” likely alluding to a Department of Commerce investigation into copper launched this year.”Copper is the second most used material by the Department of Defense!” Trump said.- Escalation threats -Trump’s message to Lula was the latest in more than 20 such letters the US president has released since Monday, after repeatedly threatening to simply decide a rate for countries as negotiations continue over his elevated “reciprocal” tariffs.Brazil had not been among those threatened previously with duties above a 10-percent baseline, and the United States runs a goods trade surplus with Brazil.China said in response that “arbitrary” tariffs such as the 50-percent levy on copper “serve no party’s interests”.”We have always opposed the overstretching of the concept of national security,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news conference.On Wednesday, Trump also addressed letters to leaders of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Moldova, spelling out duties ranging from 20 percent to 30 percent that would also take effect on August 1.Similar to a first batch of documents published Monday, the levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some partners received notably lower rates this time.While Trump in April imposed a 10-percent levy on almost all trading partners, he unveiled — and then withheld — higher rates for dozens of economies.The deadline for those steeper levels to take effect was meant to be Wednesday, before Trump postponed it further to August 1.Countries that faced the threats of elevated duties began receiving letters spelling out US tariff rates on their products.In the messages, Trump justified his tariffs as a response to trade ties that he says are “far from Reciprocal.”The letters urged countries to manufacture products in the United States to avoid duties, while threatening further escalation if leaders retaliated.Other countries that have received Trump’s letters include key US allies Japan and South Korea, as well as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand.- EU deal in ‘coming days’? -Analysts have noted that Asian countries have been a key target so far.But all eyes are on the state of negotiations with major partners who have yet to receive such letters, including the European Union.European stock markets rose at the start of trading on Thursday, with London hitting a fresh record high on optimism that governments will strike deals to avoid the worst of US tariffs.The Trump administration is under pressure to unveil more trade pacts. So far, Washington has only reached agreements with Britain and Vietnam, alongside a deal to temporarily lower tit-for-tat levies with China.Trump said on Tuesday his government was “probably two days off” from sending the EU a letter with an updated tariff rate.An EU spokesperson said Wednesday the bloc wants to strike a deal with the United States “in the coming days,” and has shown readiness to reach an agreement in principle.Apart from tariffs targeting goods from different countries, Trump has rolled out sector-specific duties on steel, aluminum and autos since returning to the White House in January.

London hit a record high Thursday as equity markets were boosted by optimism governments will hammer out deals to avoid the worst of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs even after he broadened his range of measures.Negotiators from around the world have tried to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline recently pushed back to August 1.Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels.Trump also said this week he would put a 50 percent tariff on copper imports, while considering a 200 percent charge for pharmaceuticals.However, analysts said the threats are largely being seen as negotiating tools, and investors have increasingly taken them in their stride, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting all-time highs in New York.David Chao, global market strategist for Asia Pacific at Invesco, painted a positive picture even in light of the threatened levies.”Should the US ultimately impose higher tariffs on Asian countries, the region appears better positioned to withstand the resulting headwinds,” he wrote.”A softer dollar should give Asian central banks greater flexibility to ease policy to support their domestic economies without heightened concerns over currency depreciation.”London jumped one percent to a record high at the open, with Frankfurt and Paris also advancing.In Asia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei and Jakarta all rose, though Tokyo edged down with Manila, Bangkok and Wellington.The rallies followed a healthy lead from Wall Street, where the Nasdaq hit another peak thanks to a surge in Nvidia that pushed the firm to a $4 trillion valuation at one point.The upbeat mood helped push bitcoin above $112,000 for the first time.There was also little reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50 percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.In a letter addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, he called the treatment of his right-wing ally an “international disgrace”. Bolsonaro is on trial over accusations he plotted a coup after his 2022 election loss to Lula.Lula said he will impose reciprocal levies on the United States.Brazil had not been among those threatened with these higher duties previously, with the United States running a goods trade surplus instead with the South American giant.Traders were given few guides on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans after minutes from its June policy meeting showed officials divided on the best way forward.Boss Jerome Powell’s patient approach to lowering borrowing costs has drawn the ire of Trump, who on Wednesday said on social media that they were “AT LEAST 3 Points too high”.While the board sees the president’s tariffs as inflationary, the minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size and duration of the effects.Companies might choose not to raise consumer prices until they depleted their product stockpiles, for example, but supply chain disruptions caused by the levies could trigger larger price hikes.”While a few participants noted that tariffs would lead to a one-time increase in prices and would not affect longer-term inflation expectations, most participants noted the risk that tariffs could have more persistent effects on inflation,” the report said.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 39,646.36 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,028.37 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,509.68 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 8,952.92Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1733 from $1.1719 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3610 from $1.3590Dollar/yen: UP at 146.32 yen from 146.30 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.18 pence from 86.21 penceWest Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $68.39 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $70.26 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,458.30 (close)

In the basement of a Jakarta housing complex, surrounded by the silver piping of the air-conditioning system, Indonesian technician Ari Sobaruddin is doing his part to tackle climate change.Ari and his colleagues will spend 12 hours capturing AC refrigerant to stop this “super-pollutant” — thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide — from leaking into the atmosphere.It is plodding, sweaty work, but Ari, a member of climate startup Recoolit, does not mind.”I love it because it’s about preserving nature, saving nature,” the 30-year-old technician told AFP.Recoolit began working in Indonesia in 2021 to tackle what it considers an often-overlooked contributor to climate change: refrigerants.These gases found in air-conditioners, fridges and cars are an old environmental problem.In the 1970s, research showed refrigerants called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were destroying the ozone layer.Countries agreed to phase them out under a deal that came into force in 1989.While their replacements, particularly hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are less harmful to the ozone layer, they still have major climate-warming properties.”And those are in AC units, in the form of refrigerant banks… everywhere in developing countries right now,” said Recoolit’s head of operations Yosaka Eka Putranta.- ‘Growing problem’ -There are international agreements to phase out HFCs too, but, particularly in developing countries, they will be in use for decades yet. Demand is increasing as climate change fuels record temperatures and expanding middle classes seek cooling and refrigeration. “It is a growing problem because we need our indoor environments to be more resilient to climate change,” said Robyn Schofield, associate professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Melbourne.HFCs are expected to account for between 7 and 19 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to the United Nations.The risk comes during maintenance or disposal, when refrigerants like the HFC Ari is capturing can be released accidentally or on purpose.In Indonesia, as in most countries, this venting is illegal, but enforcement is limited.”It’s odourless, we cannot trace it. (Capturing) it takes so much resources. The machine, the people,” said Recoolit’s senior business development manager Erik Cahyanta.”So some people just release it.”Recoolit trains, equips and incentivises technicians to capture refrigerant so it can be destroyed.Technicians get 50,000 rupiah ($3) per kilogram of recovered refrigerant, which Recoolit sends to a government-approved cement kiln or municipal incinerator to be destroyed.While refrigerant can be recycled or reused, Recoolit argues this is imperfect.”Who’s going to guarantee that when the refrigerants are injected again… they are going to stay there without another venting?” said Yosaka.- Big tech interest -Recoolit sells carbon credits based on the amount of refrigerant it destroys, priced at $75 a unit.Carbon credits have faced criticism in recent years, and Benja Faecks of Carbon Market Watch warned that “offsetting” can give the impression “that emissions can simply be erased through financial transactions”.This allows “polluters to claim ‘carbon neutrality’ or ‘negating ongoing emissions’ without actually reducing their own emissions,” she told AFP.Recoolit argues its carbon credits are robust because it measurably destroys a climate-warming gas. While many carbon credits are sold on exchanges with third-party verification, Recoolit sells directly to buyers and uses a credit methodology developed by the Carbon Containment Lab, a nonprofit spun out from Yale University.Yosaka said canisters are sampled, and analysis is then done by the region’s only qualified lab, in Malaysia, to confirm the contents are refrigerants.Destruction facilities pass a “trial burn test” confirming they can break down refrigerants.Recoolit also pays less than the market price for coolants to avoid creating a market for new refrigerants.Refrigerant destruction remains a relatively small part of the carbon market. Existing players include US-based Tradewater, which grew out of California’s state-level emissions caps and has worked in Latin America and Africa.But Recoolit has attracted attention from one of the market’s biggest corporate players: Google.Earlier this year, the tech giant announced a partnership with Recoolit and a second company to prevent emissions equivalent to one million tons of carbon dioxide.Google says it wants to help Recoolit scale up operations and expand outside Indonesia.Some critics say refrigerant capture should simply be enforced by government policy, but Recoolit argues it is filling a real-world gap unlikely to be addressed otherwise.And Schofield said the need for refrigerant capture is significant.”As a climate action… it’s a very good one,” she said.”I wish we had more of it.”

Donald Trump’s insistence that “spoiled” Japan imports more US rice is adding to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s problems ahead of elections that could sink his premiership after less than a year in office.Japan is one of more than 20 countries receiving letters this week from the US president warning of “reciprocal” tariffs from August 1 failing a trade agreement with Washington. The 25 percent across-the-board levy for Japan is separate from similar charges for cars, steel and aluminium that have already been imposed.Trump wants to get Japanese firms to manufacture more in the United States and for Tokyo to buy more US goods — notably gas and oil, cars and rice — to reduce the $70 billion trade deficit with the Asian powerhouse.”I have great respect for Japan, they won’t take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,” Trump said on Truth Social on June 30.Rice, though, is small fry in the grand scheme of bilateral business between the countries.BMI Fitch Solutions said that it accounts for only 0.37 percent of US exports to Japan, and that even doubling that would have a “negligible” effect on overall trade.”(The) Trump administration seems more concerned with the optics of striking deals than with meaningfully narrowing the US trade deficit,” BMI said.For Japan, doubling imports could be swallowed if only the economic impact is considered.It could be well worth it if such a concession could reduce or even remove Trump’s damaging 25 percent tariff on Japanese autos.- Lost majority -But the politics of rice are fraught for Ishiba, whose ruling coalition disastrously lost its majority in lower house elections in October.Upper house elections on July 20 could see a similar drubbing, which might prompt Ishiba to quit, 10 months after taking the helm of the long-dominant but unloved Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).Rice Japan holds a cherished place in Japanese national culture — samurai reputedly used to be paid in it.Relying on imports — currently almost all rice consumed is grown domestically — would be seen by many as a national humiliation for the country of 124 million people, and risky.”Culturally, and historically, the Japanese people are all about rice,” Shinichi Katayama, the fourth-generation owner of 120-year-old Tokyo rice wholesaler Sumidaya, told AFP.”I personally welcome having an additional option for Japanese consumers. But I also feel the move (letting in lots of foreign rice) is too early from the standpoint of food security,” he said.”If we become reliant on rice imports, we may face shortages again when something happens.”While Japan already imports rice from the United States, many consumers see foreign, long-grain varieties as being of dubious quality and lacking the requisite stickiness of the homegrown short-grain rice.Bad memories linger from when Japan suffered a cold summer in 1993 and had to import large volumes of the grain from Thailand.American rice “tastes awful. It lacks stickiness”, said Sueo Matsumoto, 69, who helps families where children have hearing difficulties.”If they (the Americans) want to export to Japan, they must work at it. They must think about consumer preference,” he told AFP in Tokyo.- No sacrifice -As a result, Ishiba’s government has been at pains to say it won’t bend on the issue — although this may change after the election.”We have no intention of sacrificing agriculture in future negotiations,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said recently.”Ishiba is walking a narrow plank, wary of provoking powerful domestic lobbies like rice farmers, while juggling an approval rating that would make aggressive trade moves politically perilous,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.The government has already been under fire for the recent skyrocketing of rice prices, which have roughly doubled in 12 months.Factors include a very hot summer in 2023, panic-buying after a warning of an imminent “megaquake” in 2024,  alleged hoarding by some traders, and a surge in rice-hungry tourists. To help ease the pain, Tokyo is tapping emergency stockpiles, and imports have risen sharply — led by rice from California — but these are still tiny compared with domestic production.”All these problems with rice prices show the LDP’s agriculture policy has failed,” retiree Yasunari Wakasa, 77, told AFP.

Asian markets mostly rose Thursday on optimism that governments will hammer out deals to avoid the worst of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs even after he broadened his range of measures.Negotiators from around the world have tried to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline recently pushed back to August 1.Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels.The US president also said this week he would put a 50 percent tariff on copper imports, while considering a 200 percent charge for pharmaceuticals.However, analysts said the threats are largely being seen as negotiating tools, and investors have increasingly taken them in their stride, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting all-time highs in New York.And David Chao, global market strategist for Asia Pacific at Invesco, painted a positive picture even in light of the threatened levies.”Should the US ultimately impose higher tariffs on Asian countries, the region appears better positioned to withstand the resulting headwinds,” he wrote.”A softer dollar should give Asian central banks greater flexibility to ease policy to support their domestic economies without heightened concerns over currency depreciation.”Asian stocks mostly advanced after a healthy lead from Wall Street, where the Nasdaq hit another peak thanks to a surge in Nvidia that pushed the firm to a $4 trillion valuation at one point.Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta all rose, though Tokyo edged down with Wellington.The broadly upbeat mood helped push bitcoin above $112,000 for the first time.There was also little reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50 percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.In a letter addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, he called the treatment of his right-wing ally an “international disgrace”. Bolsonaro is on trial over accusations he plotted a coup after his 2022 election loss to Lula.Lula said he will impose reciprocal levies on the United States.Brazil had not been among those threatened with these higher duties previously, with the United States running a goods trade surplus instead with the South American giant.Traders were given few guides on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans after minutes from its June policy meeting showed officials divided on the best way forward.Boss Jerome Powell’s patient approach to lowering borrowing costs has drawn the ire of Trump, who on Wednesday said they were “at least” three points too high.While the board sees the president’s tariffs as inflationary, the minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size and duration of the effects.Companies might choose not to raise consumer prices until they depleted their product stockpiles, for example, but supply chain disruptions caused by the levies could trigger larger price hikes.”While a few participants noted that tariffs would lead to a one-time increase in prices and would not affect longer-term inflation expectations, most participants noted the risk that tariffs could have more persistent effects on inflation,” the report said.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 39,610.61 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 23,938.07Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,503.13Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1741 from $1.1719 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3608 from $1.3590Dollar/yen: DOWN at 145.95 yen from 146.30 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.28 pence from 86.21 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $68.28 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $70.15 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,458.30 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,867.02 (close)