Asian markets tiptoed higher as traders braced for more tariff drama. Japan's Nikkei 225 posted a 1% gain, shrugging off U.S. threats to slap levies on Chinese vessels entering American ports. That surprise move rattled global supply chains and sent shipping stocks like Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and HMM surging. Meanwhile, rice prices in Japan just logged a staggering 92.1% jump year-over-year—yes, you read that right—giving the Bank of Japan even more reason to stick with its slow-and-steady rate hike game plan.
Investors are playing geopolitical ping-pong. President Trump said talks with Japan went smoothly—no FX headaches there—and he's “very confident” about a deal with the EU. But when it comes to China? It's complicated. Beijing isn't ready to talk without conditions, yet behind the scenes, its sovereign wealth fund has been working overtime. Over the past three days, state-linked ETFs exploded in volume during the final minutes of trading—China's quiet way of saying “we got this” as markets flinch from trade crossfire.
Over in the U.S., stocks slipped for the week after Fed Chair Jerome Powell pushed back on more rate cuts. That didn't sit well with Trump, who fired off a social media missile saying Powell's exit “can't come soon enough.” At the same time, Trump warned further tariffs on China might freeze trade altogether—though he teased a minerals deal with Ukraine that could be signed next week. Meanwhile, CATL's IPO took a hit after U.S. lawmakers told banks to back off the deal. Chinese investors? Some are already rotating out of Treasuries and into European bonds and gold, according to Deutsche Bank. The global chessboard just got a little messier.
