Morning Update (15.01.2025)

📊 Asian Markets: Mixed sentiment as investors await key U.S. inflation data:

• 🇯🇵 Nikkei: +0.3%
• 🇨🇳 CSI 300: -0.2%
• 🇹🇭 SET: -1.0%
• 🇲🇾 KLCI: -0.7%

⚖️ Political Drama:

🇰🇷 South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested over a failed martial law attempt. Despite this, the 🇰🇷 KOSPI gained 0.3% as the Bank of Korea is expected to cut rates by 25bps on Thursday.

💹 Forex Focus:

🇯🇵 Japanese yen strengthened 0.4% after BOJ Governor Ueda hinted at rate hikes next week, citing positive wage growth trends. Markets now anticipate further tightening.

🔧 Tech Watch:

🇺🇸 The U.S. plans additional chip export controls targeting 🇹🇼 TSMC and other manufacturers, aiming to restrict advanced semiconductor flows to 🇨🇳 China.

📱 Social Media Shake-Up:

🚨 TikTok plans to shut down its U.S. app on Sunday ahead of the federal ban deadline unless the Supreme Court intervenes. The ban could cut off one-third of its 170M U.S. users within a month.

🏗️ Corporate News:

🇯🇵 Nippon Steel is seeking talks with the incoming Trump administration to salvage its $15B U.S. Steel acquisition after Biden's rejection, facing competition from Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor.

📈 Commodities:

• 🪙 Gold: Flat at $2,675.90 as traders await U.S. CPI data.
• 🛢️ Oil: Brent at $79.95, WTI at $76.45, near 4-month highs on Russian sanctions impact.
• 🧴 API Data: U.S. crude inventories dropped 2.6M barrels last week, while gasoline stocks rose 5.4M barrels.

🌍 Global Money Flows:

💵 The dollar steadied below 2-year highs.

🇰🇷 South Korea saw $3.86B in foreign outflows from its capital markets in December, marking the largest since March 2020, amid political turmoil.

Stay informed and have a great day! 📉📈