This is the Asia trade. I'm Sheran in
Tokyo.
I'm Averil Hong in Singapore. The top
stories this hour. Caution set to
dominate Asian markets as signs of US
economic strength have traders trimming
bets on imminent Fed rate cuts. We'll be
live in Jackson Hole ahead of Chair Jay
Powell's much awaited speech. The
Justice Department signaling plans to
investigate Fed Governor Lisa Cook over
allegations of mortgage fraud with a top
official urging Powell to fire her. And
Bloomberg reveals Enthropic is nearing a
deal to raise up to10 billion dollars in
one of the largest funding rounds to
date for an AI startup.
Take a look at how we're setting up for
the Asian market sessions. We of course
had Japanese stocks losing ground for
three consecutive sessions. Nikke
futures at the moment not doing much
potentially pointing to a little bit of
upside. But we are expecting inflation
data out of Japan this hour. We're
watching Japanese currency, the yen,
also the Chinese, yuan, Asian currency
is overall under pressure as we saw a
rising dollar in the other side of that
trade. Take a look at how US futures are
setting up because we of course had data
out of the US, including stronger than
expected PMI numbers, manufacturing data
accelerating at the fastest pace in more
than three years. On the other side of
that equation, there was also more signs
of perhaps labor market weakness with
jobless claims rising. So a very
complicated picture for the Federal
Reserve US futures at the moment gaining
a little bit of ground as crude holds
steady as well. But Averil, it's really
about Cher Powell's speech coming up at
Jackson Hole as well.
Absolutely. And ahead of that, we've
heard from some other Fed officials as
well. The Cleveland Fed President Beth
Hammock says she would not support
lowering rates if central bankers were
making a policy decision tomorrow. And
Chicago President Austin Goldsby told us
he hopes a recent spike in services
inflation is just a blip.
For sure. It feels to me like it's a
live meeting. Uh as you know before
April 2nd before we got some
uncertainties coming on the policy side.
I believed that we had pretty stable
full employment that inflation's coming
down to target.
Let's go live to Jackson Hole and bring
in Bloomberg's Mike McKe. Mike, help us
make sense of what these Fed officials
are saying because we've seen how it's
playing out in expectations of a
September cut that's come down to the
lowest level since the week jobs report.
Well, basically what happened was at the
July 30th Fed meeting, almost all Fed
officials were more worried about
inflation than the labor market. Then we
had that bad July payrolls report and
the big revisions to the prior months
and people started worrying about
whether the economy was slowing down so
much that rates needed to be cut. The
latest data we've gotten has been sort
of inconclusive. And so Fed officials
are basically saying we're willing to do
whatever is necessary. If we get bad
labor market numbers, we're willing to
consider cutting rates. If we get an
increase in inflation before the next
meeting, we're willing to hold. They're
all kind of moving to the middle at this
point.
What are we expecting in terms of other
central bankers adding to the chorus of
where policy should go from here?
Well, I think Wall Street is pretty much
convinced that or has convinced itself
that the Fed should probably cut rates.
So the question is, does JP pal give
them any reason to hold on to that
optimism or are they going to sell off
after he comes out if he doesn't say
we're fixing to cut rates? And that's
the hard question to ask at this point.
My guess is he's going to say the Fed is
keeping its options open because they
don't want to get pushed into cutting
rates by the markets. So it could be an
interesting day tomorrow on Wall Street
and on global Wall Street.
Mike
I mean, it's also perhaps worth taking a
step back, right? This is Powell's
legacy we're talking about. Is he going
to leave a hawkish one at his last
Jackson Hole as Fed chair?
Well, he doesn't really have a lot of
choice about how it's remembered because
it depends on who's doing the
remembering. It may be that if he
signals that the Fed hasn't made up its
mind yet, people will consider that
hawkish on Wall Street because they've
bet on a dovish uh side. Uh but other e
economists are probably say he was
somewhat dovish and somewhat open to it.
So he's just going to do his best and
say what he thinks at this point is most
appropriate and let history judge. the
way he says it, uh, what he wants as his
legacy is to turn over the economy in
good shape to his successor.
Yeah. And of course, there's a lot of
questions about who the successor will
be, especially with President Trump
really pressuring uh the Federal Reserve
to cut rates, right? I mean, the last
that we heard was President Trump asking
Fed Governor Cook to resign after the
Federal Housing Finance Agency director
urged an investigation on her mortgages.
But take a listen to what he had to say.
We refer people almost every day. I
refer people every week on a minimum uh
to the Department of Justice for
mortgage fraud. This is literally what I
am required to do underneath the Housing
and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which
is to ensure the safety and soundness of
the mortgage market. Did she sign these
documents? I believe she did sign these
documents.
If Governor Cook needs to leave the
Federal Reserve, this was really changed
the power balance when it comes to the
cuts and the hikes um in the FOMC.
it probably wouldn't make that much
difference in the short run because she
has essentially supported the chair and
if the chair wants to cut rates, she
would vote to cut rates. So, it it's not
going to be a significant change there.
Uh it would give the president more of
his own nominees on the board. Whether
that would make a short-term difference
too is unclear. Long-term it might have
more of an effect. But the interesting
thing about uh the Mr. PY there and his
comments is uh first of all uh they if
they refer thousands of people's uh
mortgages for fraud uh how come he's
doing it? You would have your employees
doing that. And second, they've only
publicly disclosed three people
including Lisa Cook who have been
referred and they're all Democrats. So
one wonders if this is a publicity stunt
or if there's really anything there. The
Department of Justice says they will
investigate and the Department of
Justice investigator said she should
resign as well, which is kind of odd
because they're not supposed to talk
about open cases.
Mike, regardless of perhaps what the
outcome is going to be from this, those
lingering questions still about the
pressure the Fed faces regarding
independence, what are we expecting to
hear? Perhaps some push back at Jackson
Hole.
Well, we'll probably hear uh from Fed
officials and from central bankers from
other countries that it is important to
have an independent central bank because
your economy performs better. They will
do what's right for the economy and not
what's right for the politicians.
Whether that goes that message goes far
beyond Jackson Hole isn't clear. Uh it
isn't clear how closely Americans are
listening to all of this back and forth
between the administration and the Fed.
people are generally more concerned with
when they go to the grocery store, what
are prices doing? So, uh, we'll see how
it turns out and we'll see if it has any
impact. But right now, it's just a lot
of noise that the central bankers here
and in Europe and in Asia tell us they
ignore.
Mike, thank you so much for helping us
sort through noise and signal. Great to
see you. Bloomberg's Mike McKe live from
Jackson Hole in Wyoming. Let's unpack
the market impact a bit further with
Bloomberg and live life strategist Mark
Cranfield joining us in the Singapore
studio. So Mark, the takeaway from the
Fed official comments is that September
is a live meeting.
I think from investors point of view
there there's no doubt they've just
heard in the past few hours at least
four Fed speakers. They may hear more in
the coming hours because they're all
there at Jackson Hole together and
clearly they can't agree on there.
There's no consensus among the Fed
speakers at the moment which is
important from the market's point of
view. So they're clearly and there's
time to go. There's still a few weeks
until that meeting. So there's time for
a lot more opinions to be out there.
Plus whatever Jerome Pal has to say
later on Friday, there will then be the
weekend situation in America. And
typically what investors have got used
to over the past few weekends is that
there's a bombardment of opinions from
outside the central bank about where
policy should go and how investors
should be thinking. So by the time you
get to Monday, things could look
completely different than they do
tonight. So there's there is a really a
lot for investors to digest here. And
apart from the official opinions, you've
also got the independence of the central
bank being questioned as well as Mike
was saying there. So, it is a period in
which people will be putting higher risk
premiums on everything, particularly on
things like bonds and the and the
dollar. They're the ones that are most
likely to be reflecting this change of
status in terms of how people view the
United States as an investment place.
Equity market is in a little bit of a
different space. They still got to deal
with other issues such as Nvidia next
week as well. But certainly bonds and
the dollar can expect a pretty choppy
period next week as people try to play
out the scenarios for whether there's
going to be a rate cut, how big a rate
cut there's going to be, how quickly
it's going to come. All of those things
are in play for the next couple of
weeks.
And the issue also is that even come
Monday, we might not see fully that
repricing because of the markets being
closed. So what is the most likely
outcome you're seeing in the ensuing uh
post Jackson hole?
People will have to be very dynamic in
the way that they they handle their
risks in the in the coming days. You've
got a typically quiet period in terms of
liquidity is the week leading up to
Labor Day is usually one of the low most
illquid in American markets. There's
also a UK public holiday as well thrown
in there just to add into the mix. So
it's a a tricky type. People would
probably prefer not to be carrying large
positions in that week, but the fact
that Jackson Hole comes here and there's
a divergence of opinions probably means
they're hanging on to some risk that
they usually wouldn't do so. So that
will add particularly on Monday. That's
when a lot of people will be reassessing
whether they want to really hold these
things through to the Fed meeting or
whether they want to dump some of their
exposure. So we can be in for some
pretty big knee-jerk reactions in the
market in that period. So um very
difficult one um bond people especially
we're looking at the curve to see
whether it justifies steepening even
further.
So all in all um not an easy time to be
an investor.
Yeah. On the bond space here when it
comes to the JGB's 20-year yield now
rising to the highest since 1999. So
what will be the dynamics especially in
Japan as the BOJ governor Weda is also
in Jackson Hole.
It's a a great opportunity for him to to
probably if he really wants to try and
get an interest rate hike in before the
end of this year, which appears to be
his objective. He's just looking for the
right window. He's been given a great
opportunity here because US Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessant has declared
publicly that the Bank of Japan is
behind the curve. That's a great chance
for a way to step in here and use a
foreign entity as his leverage to go
ahead with a rate hike back at home. So
here he is. Typically central bankers
sound a little bit more open where
they're on foreign soil than they do at
home. He's very guarded when he's
speaking before the the press and the
and the public in Japan. He really
watches his words very carefully. Here
he is at Jackson Hole. A chance to relax
a bit more and maybe be a bit clearer on
when he thinks it's time. We've got
Japanese CPI coming up later this
morning as well. It's probably going to
show once again inflation still running
about 3%. Japan. I think nobody
disagrees. They're behind the curve in
terms of raising interest rates. Here's
his opportunity to say, "I want to get
on with it." Whether it can be for the
September meeting, maybe too early. Odds
at the moment are a coin toss for
October. He can probably push those odds
towards fully pricing a rate hike for
October. That may well be his objective
this weekend.
Will he be able to move the yen? It's
been pretty rangebound.
Well, this is a chance for people who've
been waiting for the time to the yen
looks relatively undervalued. And if you
does sound a bit more hawkish than
expected, that would certainly play out
in the end, particularly on cross rates.
If you look at the way it's moved
against Australian dollar, the euro, the
pound. It looks as though people are
lining up here to look at the the yen as
a relative value play. And if they see
the chance for higher interest rates in
the near term, that certainly adds
weight to the case for people that want
to buy the yen.
Mark, really good to get your analysis.
Thank you so much. Bloomberg and life
strategist Mark Cranfield. More ahead on
the Asia trade. This is Bloomberg.
Let's check in on how US Treasury
futures are fairing. Of course, as we
wait with baited breath on what Powell
will say at Jackson Hole. We already saw
that caution creeping in ahead of this.
The entire Treasury curve shifted
higher. Treasuries fell as traders
paired bet backs of what we could see
from the September meeting about a
potential for a rate cut and as some of
our strategists have been highlighting
it's really also about this curve
steepener trade potentially. Now the
Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey
Schmidt says American businesses are
showing renewed optimism that's
filtering through to the labor market
and putting the focus back on inflation.
Schmidt spoke with us from Jackson Hole
about the economy and growing political
pressure on the Fed.
I'm a little philosophical about the
whole conversation of Fed independence
and and where our role is uh in the uh
American economy. Um we're almost 250
years old as a nation. I think there's
uh something to be said. We were built
on words and and and we continue to
debate those words uh legislatively and
judicially. uh whatever those whatever
friction we might have with other
branches of of the government. I think
great steel's tested by fire. So what we
can always eat better, we can always do
this better. But I think I think the
nature of independence uh and and I
think don't believe me, believe other uh
nations that have central banks and
don't. Uh it seems to work, but but uh
but I'm always open for the conversation
of how do we make it better? Well, the
big question for everybody, especially
for Wall Street, is what happens on
September 17th?
So, uh, this is, as you know, kind of an
interesting, uh, uh, month because we've
got Jackson Hole and and then, uh, we've
got quite a few weeks of data to kind of
pull in. So, uh, so I'm I'm really I
think everybody's quite interested in
some of the maybe the prints that
happened in the last couple months and
kind of where where they go from here.
Um, so I'm I'm I'm
like everybody. I I'm I I think there
was some fascinating conversations at
the last FOMC. As you know, there were a
couple of dissents. Uh I I think my
interpretation of what's happening,
especially in the labor market, is that
the first couple quarters a lot of
business people were just saying um it
it there's uncertainty enough and I
think they kind of cooled a little bit
on the higher side. But the most recent
couple weeks that we've been talking to
businesses in the district, uh there
seems to be a a burgeoning optimism
again that they've kind of digested and
and they've been agile enough to try to
work their way through some of the new
policies uh from the administration and
maybe going forward maybe we'll see a
little bit of uptick. That said, I still
believe there's that the that the
inflation number uh is is trending
closer to three than two. Well, we saw
that in the minutes that in general the
open market committee felt that
inflation was a bigger danger at this
point. Would you say that's your view
now?
It it would be my view now. I I think
with an understanding that what may have
happened in the first couple quarters on
the labor side, which I think concerned
several people uh were on the committee
uh me included. But I I think the the
this PPI was interesting. That print was
interesting. But I I really believe that
that when we talk to uh a lot of our uh
uh a lot of folks in our district is
that if you if you had to kind of lean
or have a bias toward it would be on the
inflation side.
Schmidt speaking with our colleague
Michael McKe at Jackson Hole. And
another sector that we've been watching
the hot private credit market worth $1.7
trillion. and Averil. Of course, we know
that so far there isn't necessarily a
universal definition of what a private
credit default could look like, but
analysts are now sounding the alarm that
they could be in the range of around 2
to 3%. In fact, private companies have
been able to keep payment defaults in
check through payment in kind
arrangements that allow borrowers to
defer cash interest payments until debt
comes due, leaving them with one big
bill at the end. But if you include
those selective defaults, you can see
that line in white is much higher as
well.
Yeah. I mean it's really interesting how
this hot market as you say is indicating
perhaps these underappreciated risks
that even the private credit firms that
have been known to give a bit more
wiggle room uh are also flagging some of
these risks for borrowers potentially
when these times are tough and I think
it also speaks to how much capital has
just come into this market right uh we
had the likes of I think JP Morgan
talking about how it shows inflows, too
much capital was committed far too
quickly. Now, it's still worth noting
that we're still seeing that returns for
the private credit market really
attractive above 8%. Right. Uh so that's
still luring investment though it's not
quite uh the cash magnet that it once
was. Jerry,
yeah, I think the lower borrowing costs
given some optimism that perhaps this
market is still intact at least for the
time being. But as you said, it's a
transparency and really the potential of
more risks ahead. Something that we'll
be watching very closely. We have more
ahead on the Asia trade. This is
Bloomberg.
Here
are some of the stories we're following.
The US and the EU have outlined plans
that could reduce tariffs on European
cars to 15% within weeks and potentially
offer discounts on steel and aluminium.
The joint statement also includes
commitments to cooperate on economic
security, food standards, and digital
trade. White House trade adviser Peter
Navaro credits the breakthrough in
Ukraine talks for paving the way to the
deal.
I can think of no deal more important
than with the European Union. This is
like a really important uh mountain to
climb and we climbed that and President
Trump got up to the top of the mountain
today. In many ways, the Ukraine
situation has been a total wakeup call
for Europe.
President Trump has hinted that he is
open to Ukraine launching more attacks
on Russia as the White House seeks to
pressure President Putin into a meeting
with Ukraine's leader. In a truth social
post, Trump wrote that it is hard to win
a war without attacking the invader's
country. He later told Newsmax, "We'll
know in about two weeks whether peace
can be achieved." The Kremlin has so far
remained non-committal on any summit
with Ukraine's president.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the
US will immediately pause issuing worker
visas for commercial truck drivers. In a
post on X, he says the increasing number
of foreign drivers operating large
tractor trailer trucks on US roads is
endangering American lives and
undercutting the livelihoods of American
truckers.
A New York appeals court has struck down
a $464 million penalty against President
Trump and his company. The panel upheld
findings that Trump inflated asset
values, but called the fine excessive.
Attorney General Leticia James says her
office will challenge the ruling. The
decision eases Trump's legal troubles,
adding to other cases dropped since his
reelection.
And President Trump has visited a police
facility in Washington DC, thanking
federal officers deployed under his
control and saying they'll remain in the
city for a while. Trump had earlier told
a radio show he would be going on patrol
in a secret trip with police and
military. The stunt has returned focus
to his controversial move last week to
surge uh US officers and troops into the
nation's capital.
April, take a look at how we're signing
off for the Asian market opens. We are
awaiting inflation data out of Japan to
come just at the bottom of the hour.
You're seeing US futures now pointing to
upside after five sessions of losses for
Wall Street. Of course, ahead of Chair
Powell speech, there's a lot of caution.
Not to mention that Jackson Hole is not
just the big market risk, but maybe next
week could be worse. We're seeing of
course August jobs report released in
early September of risk. We have summer
liquidity issues with US and UK
holidays. Nvidia also reporting next
week. You can see Sydney futures down a
tenth of 1% as we're seeing a little bit
of strength for the US dollar. More hand
this is Bloomberg.
Breaking news out of Japan. We are
getting the core CPI numbers coming in
above market expectations growing 3.1%
yearonear for the month of July. When
you take out core food also energy
prices is a gain of 3.4% yearonear for
the headline number to come in at 3.1%
yearonear which is in line with
estimates. But of course, it's always
the core CPI numbers that we care about
and that's coming in above economist
expectations and of course very much
above the BOJ's policy target as well of
2%. We have continued to see the
acceleration in Japanese inflation
making it much tougher for the Bank of
Japan uh when it comes to hiking
interest rates in order to really put a
dampener on this inflation trend at the
same time when you have tariff
uncertainty and economic uncertainty.
Take a look at how bonds have been
trading because we have seen, of course,
uh JGB yields continuing to surge
higher. The 20-year JGB yield rising to
the highest since 1999 already. The
10-year yield around levels that we
haven't seen since 2008. The 30-year
yield also very close to record highs.
These high yields when it comes to the
long end for global bond markets has
been the trend. Of course, Treasury
yields have also been higher after
stronger than expected manufacturing and
factoring data in the US. Let's get more
perspective on the outlook for the US
economy and Fed policy as well. Joining
us from Jackson Hole is Sapnam Kmley
Oscan Brown University economics
professor and director of the global
linkages lab. Sapnam, always great to
have you with us. How tricky of a
messaging act does Chair Powell have on
his plate this week?
Hi Sharon, it's great to be back on your
show. Uh indeed I think uh this is going
to be a very delicate balancing act in
terms of uh messaging coming out of the
Fed tariff is a stackflationary shock.
Uh so the dual mandate of the Fed uh is
coming into tension. We started seeing
this already in the data with higher uh
producer price numbers and also some uh
softening in the labor market. Uh I
think it is going to be a difficult time
and difficult road ahead.
Do you expect the Federal Reserve to cut
in September and should they?
Uh I don't think they should uh because
I think inflation is right now a bigger
uh risk. uh than the labor market. This
is my opinion and the work we did at
global linkages lab Brown University
confirms this. We uh estimated the
impact of tariffs both on inflation and
unemployment and uh right now what is
happening in real life data is exactly
as our model estimates. Uh because this
is all about supply chains and it's all
about higher cost of doing business. Uh
so it is going to start with higher
producer prices, higher uh cost to firms
and then it is going to uh pass to
consumers. This is going to take time.
It didn't happen so far because of
course there were inventories. The
orders were before but uh if you go down
the street and start talking to firms
which is what we do at global linkages
lab. We use firm level data on supply
chains and our model based on that then
you realize how serious this is going to
be. For example, a major uh uh flooring
supplier to uh commercial and uh uh
residential uh construction real estate
in the United States is going to
increase prices 8% starting orders in
September uh on every uh country that
now faces a reciprocal tariff over 10%
when they buy their supplies from those
countries. So we have to watch out the
September numbers. Uh I think they are
going to be important. uh and then uh
going forward I think we are going to
see more and more this on the inflation
side coming through uh producer prices
supply chains and firms pricing.
Sam you raised a good point that the
equation could be more tilted towards
the inflation side of things but can you
help us understand because a number of
economists had been flagging that by now
we would have seen the inflationary
impacts. Why is it taking a while for
the pass through to be witnessed?
Yes, of course. Because again, uh the
that type of thinking starts from the
observation that US is actually not a
very open country, right? Why? Because
imports are not a big share of GDP
around 10 to 12%. uh compared to a
country like Ireland or Singapore uh or
Brazil, South Africa, you would say US
is not that an open country. So if I put
a tariff, you know, say 5 to 10% on
imports, that wouldn't have that big of
an inflationary impact on the US. That's
kind of the starting point. But I would
you know say this type of thinking is
very uh middle age uh and it doesn't
work in today's globalized world because
today's globalized world is about supply
chains about uh trade in inputs not
necessarily only trade in final goods.
So even you are in that sense not a
large importer and in terms of your
final goods like the US you buy a lot of
raw materials and inputs and products
for your own manufacturing production
and also for your own other uh services
production other sectors in the United
States. So the inflationary impact then
is going to come through that production
side that supply chain side which is of
course the standard thinking uh that
doesn't take into account the globalized
world we are living in is going to miss
because that thinking is going to say
well you know we don't import that much
so you know if we don't do very high
tariffs we are going to get by also the
tariffs are ending up pretty high yes
maybe we are not putting tariffs like 30
40 50% uh we are now celebrating you
know 15% of Europe but you know make no
mistake I mean 15% tariff on European
Union is a pretty pretty large number so
I don't think it is right to think this
as oh we didn't get 30% we got 15% so we
are lucky no 15% is much higher than 10%
and if you start adding up all these
tariffs United States now has an
effective tariff rate over 10% coming
from a 2% so at the beginning of 2025 we
had a 2% tariff rate now we are climbing
to almost 15% tariff rate and in a world
where in United States we buy a lot of
our inputs that's going to have an
inflationary impact for sure
as we wait to see potentially higher
inflation you talked about some of the
sectors you've been speaking to on the
ground you talked about builders where
else are we likely to see that
incremental uh price pressure because we
have seen how US retailers for the
moment they do seem quite hesitant to
pass on those costs to consumers
true and that it's going to come a lot
to that but I think sectors such as not
only construction but also wholesale
retail you know these are the sectors to
watch and after that also you know
pharmaceuticals steel and aluminium
because uh administration also announced
that there will be more sectoral tariffs
down the road and they are going to be
very very uh dangerous for example we
already heard from Walmart and Home
Depot, right? They were trying to keep
it under control so far. But there were
two reasons for that. One is uh the
inventories and the other one is
consumer demand stay strong. If we also
start uh seeing now uh the uh consumer
demand uh being weakening and inventory
is now out. Even you want to replenish
your inventories that's going to be at
the new higher price. So that means even
you know those guys those large guys
like Walmart and Home Depot they cannot
keep this up under the rug anymore. They
are going to start passing it to uh you
know not only to the distribution and
other sector but also consumers. So now
the the the big question is of course
how much is going to be this pass
through. The academic literature is uh
conflicted on this. You know there are
papers showing the pass through is very
high and there are papers showing it is
not that high. But nevertheless, this
doesn't change the fact that we are
going to have inflation coming simply
from the fact that we are importing a
lot of inputs uh in our uh production in
America. And there's also the uh the
other side of the stackflationary
impulse. I told you tariff is a
stackflationary impulse, right? And
that's going to be on the uh employment
side because the firms again this goes
back to firms. If firms are now seeing
this, okay, my my costs are higher, my
cost of doing business is higher, then
maybe I have to also think about hiring
new workers, right? Maybe then I need to
uh fire some workers. So, it is also
going to hurt workers and employment at
some point.
Sam, always good to have you with us.
Saman KMY Oscan Brown University
professor of economics and director of
global linkages lab joining us there
from Jackson Hole. We continue to watch
Japanese assets. Of course, we got the
inflation number out of Japan. Core
inflation rising 3.1%
yearonear which was above economist
expectations but slowing down a little
bit from the previous month. The
national headlines CPI also growth of
3.1% of course very consequential as we
talk about central banks and what the
bank of Japan governor ua will do. He's
also at Jackson Hall. We will be
watching for any commentary on the
direction of Japanese monetary policy as
Nikki futures at the moment not doing
much after three sessions of losses
already, but we're watching the Japanese
yen because it strengthened slightly
against the US dollar after we saw the
inflation numbers in Japan still come in
above 3%. We have more ahead on the
Asian trade. This is Bloomark.
given the right to build electric
plants. They become almost like a public
utility because we have old grids. We
have a lot of stuff that's old. We
wouldn't be able to compete with China
AI. And now we're totally leading the AI
race and the artificial intelligence.
It's a big deal and it's the hottest
thing there is for probably in 354
years. It's a lot of people don't know
what it is. Just trust me, it's very
hot. It's big.
President Trump there speaking in
Washington. Now, Bloomberg has learned
that Anthropic is nearing a deal to
raise as much as $10 billion in new
funding, one of the largest rounds ever
for an AI startup. Let's bring in
Bloomberg tech reporter Annabelle Drus
for more on this group. So Belle, it
looks like what's potentially being
raised might be more than expected. Uh
what do we know?
Yeah, I mean that's exactly it. It's a
higher than expected sum. That's what
we're hearing from sources. So at the
end of July, Bloomberg News was saying
that Anthropic was in advanced
discussions to raise up to $5 billion in
a round that would have valued it at
$170 billion. The amount though does
appear or what we're hearing is that the
amount has increased significantly given
very strong investor demand. So $10
billion as you said it actually would be
one of the largest mega rounds we've
ever seen for an AI startup. The
discussions of course they are ongoing.
Uh again according to our sources that
final amount could change but certainly
it would cement anthropic as one of the
world's leading AI developers. And of
course very important given you've got
President Trump and we just heard in
that soundbite there saying that the US
I mean that's his view that they're
leading the AI race but it's certainly a
very big contest between the US and
China right now.
Any ideas right now how the funds will
be used?
Yeah, what we understand from sources is
that it's going to be again used to fuel
that competition more domestically. Uh
Anthropic is up against the likes of
OpenAI for instance, Elon Musk's XAI. uh
each of those have have of course raised
billions of dollars this year to try and
finance their own investments in data
centers and talent for building AI
models. Just some context as well on
Anthropic because it was actually
founded in 2021 from previous OpenAI
employees, but it has certainly been
positioning itself as sort of a reliable
a safety conscious firm that users can
trust. In terms of who's leading this
this round, what we understand from
sources that it's at IONQ capital. Uh
other expected participants could be
TPG, Light Speed, Spark Capital, Menllo
as well. That's again according to
sources familiar with the matter. But uh
we do understand anthropic is also in
discussions with some sovereign wealth
funds including in Katar and Singapore
that can often be a little bit more
deeped.
Congress's annal jewelers there with the
latest on anthropic. Bloomberg also
learning that Boeing is closer to
finalizing a deal to sell as many as 500
aircraft to China. The deal is
contingent on diffusing the trade
hostilities that go back to Trump's
first term in office. Let's bring in our
China correspondent Min. Now, this is
expected to be a centerpiece of any
trade agreement between China and the
US.
Yes, for sure. I mean planes are as
expensive as skyscrapers and this deal
would go some way to reduce the trade
imbalance between the two sides. It
would be beneficial for both Trump and
she and as you said it would put an end
to this sales drought that we had seen
since uh 2017 during Trump's last visit
to China. That was when both sides had
agreed to this big 37 billion deal.
China agreeing to buy about 300 jet
planes. But you can see on this chart
that since 2019 we had seen a sharp drop
in the number of orders for Boeing from
China really coinciding with the souring
relations between the two sides. So yes,
for now we understand that the Chinese
government has been talking to Chinese
airlines to find out how many aircrafts
they would need and Boeing is in talks
to work out the terms of this mega deal,
working out the delivery timeline, the
volume and types of aircrafts that that
China might want.
M this is also coming at the time when
China is trying to build up or become a
bigger player when it comes to the
homegrown plane making capabilities.
Does this potentially imply something
for their efforts?
Yeah, it does for sure mean that China's
own homegrown plane making capabilities
it's not be able to ramp up as fast as
it wants to. Right. Because right now
this Boeing deal is coming on the heels
of another deal that we just reported a
couple of days ago. China also in talks
with Airbus also looking to buy around
500 aircrafts. So in total 500 plus 500
this a,000 aircrafts from this Boeing
and Airbus deal. It would double the
number the number of aircrafts that
China currently has. Of course that's a
volume of aircrafts that its homegrown
plane maker comarmac will not be able to
keep up with. So, China is still quite
reliant at this point on western
industrial technology and this deal if
it comes through it would help China
secure a very hard to get sort of
delivery slot given that both Boeing and
Airbus are pretty much sold out until
the 2030s. But, but as you said Cherry
earlier, uh you know, a lot also hinges
upon how trade tensions are being
resolved between China and the US. You
know, we know that trade talks are have
been ongoing. They haven't managed to
reach a an agreement, but this will
likely become the centerpiece of any
trade agreement between the two sides.
Minman, thank you so much. Bloomberg's
China correspondent Min Low. Now, when
we talk about rivalry between the US and
China, not just about planes or AI,
smartphone giant in the meantime, Xiaomi
has succeeded where Apple failed by
launching its own electric car. The
dramatic pivot has helped the Chinese
company gain some $120 billion in market
value over the past year. Bloomberg
Originals has been looking at Xiaomi's
push into the EV sector. Here's a
preview.
Giant has a connected ecosystem of
products, a devoted fan base, and is
constantly innovating. If you're in the
US, you may say Apple, but in China,
it's Xiaomi. It's this consistent
marketing to the younger consumers in
China that has cultivated kind of a cult
following.
For many consumers in China, Xiaomi is
Apple, is Tesla, is Google.
Now, Xiaomi has managed what Apple
failed to do, build a car.
Xiaomi shares have touched a record high
after strong initial orders for its new
$35,000 SUV. So within 3 years, they
managed to set up this very complicated
supply chain in China and essentially
turn out these incredibly popular cars.
Profits have jumped as customers rush to
the company's latest offerings. But
succeeding in the world's most crowded
EV market isn't easy.
Competition is really fierce right now.
Growth will mean turning Xiaomi into a
global brand. And this is no easy task
when the world's biggest economy is
effectively off limits because of trade
barriers. Yet, Chinese companies are
already tapping markets beyond the US.
So, is Xiaomi on easy street or will it
be a bumpy road to success?
Subscribers can watch that documentary
in full right now on the terminal and on
Bloomberg.com. And it'll also be up on
the Bloomberg Originals YouTube channel
a little bit later. We have more ahead.
This is Bloomberg
technology is developing so fast. My
belief is that the humanoid robotics
will um
will not only build the biggest business
we've ever seen by many many multiples,
but it it's going to be also the biggest
product launch we've ever had.
We aim to reach an annual delivery
volume of over 10,000 robots within the
next four years.
This year we are we are uh building
about 2,000 robots uh and next year we
plan to build over 10,000 robots.
Prototype is easy but mass production is
difficult to make them reliable can work
for a long time without maintenance is
not easy.
We are seeing like the robots are
getting smarter these days. They're
better explaining themselves and the
magic ingredient is of course about the
AI.
Whatever AI produced could be deployed
uh in the robotics. That's true.
I think it's the best time to be
entrepreneurs in China. I think the
whole world is seeing the opportunity
for this new generation of robots uh to
expand significantly and so I think uh
there's there's just a lot of promise in
this industry right now.
Now this new surge of AI breakthroughs
across Asia pushing those humanoid
robots closer to reality. But not
everyone's convinced the future is here
just yet. Many say the technology is
impressive but not yet commercially
viable. Bloomberg opinion columnist
Katherine Thorbeck joins us now with
more. And really, I'm not surprised. And
I share your skepticism because we've
seen these humanoids trying to run
marathons, trying to box, and trying to
play football. They look pretty funny.
Expensive toys.
Yes.
Do they have a future?
That's right, Sherry. So, you know, I
think there's been a lot of hype and a
lot of propaganda really sustaining the
humanoid robot industry in China. But
the reality is it's much more difficult
to, you know, get a robot to sort of
fold your laundry than it is to get it
to dance on stage for a few minutes. And
I think a lot of the excitement has been
propelled by AI advances. But training,
the amount of training and data it takes
to get a physical robot to navigate the
very unpredictable and messy physical
world is way different than, you know,
getting a chatbot to understand text
like a human being. So, I think there's
still a lot of technical barriers. And I
think that quick reality check aside,
you know, they they do have in the the
long-term potential to really transform
the economy, but I don't think they're
quite ready for prime time just yet.
So, Katherine, given how some of these
companies might not be ready in a very
intense competitive space, are we
expecting to see a lot of these
companies just not surviving?
Right. So, I think we're going to see
sort of a humanoid hunger games. And,
you know, one of my big takeaways from
this World AI conference I attended in
Shanghai last month was just how intense
the competition is right now. You know,
I've just never seen so many robots in
one place at one time. And it was kind
of remarkable. And I think it's a
double-edged sword. You know, I think
that really drives innovation in the
broader ecosystem. But at the same time,
I think the reality is that, you know,
in the next 5 to 10 years, not all of
these humanoid robot makers will exist.
Can these robots be companions as well?
So, that was a big debate that came up
over and over. You know, do we want
these robots to be tools or do we want
them to be our friends, our companions?
And I think ultimately, you know, as fun
as the idea of a robot buddy is, and I
think a lot of the ones that have been
getting a lot of attention are just the
ones that uh look very humanlike and and
people are really uh amazed at how
humanlike they can get. But I think the
ones that'll make the biggest difference
are the ones that can actually do, you
know, real work and repetitive tasks and
really make an impact on company's
bottom lines. And ultimately, I think
that's a good thing because, you know,
then we can spend more time being
humans. Katherine Thorberg, Bloomberg
opinion columnist here with the latest
on what to expect from this humanoid
race. And in fact, we'll have more of
this story when we come back with
Bloomberg Tech Asia in the next hour.
That's at 8:30 if you're watching in
Hong Kong and New York. 9:30 a.m. in
And these are some of the stocks that
we'll be watching when trading starts in
Japan and South Korea. Keep an eye on
bank stocks in Japan after the country's
core CPI came in above forecast. And
with BOJ Governor UEA said to speak at
Jackson Hole. Traders now on the lookout
for hints of the BOJ's next move. We of
course have seen JJB yields now at the
highest level in decades. The 10-year
yield at a 2008 high. This is Bloom Bar.
This is the Asia trade. We're counting
down to Asia's major market opens and
really ahead of Fed Chair Powell speech
at Jackson Hall. Of course, April, we
have seen some conflicting data out of
the US, including stronger than expected
factory numbers. So, what that means for
the inflationary picture in the United
States is a great question. And what
happens to September's rate cut? Another
question.
Yeah, complicated backdrop. If the Fed
wants to be data dependent, think about
how even jobless claims, right, are
telling us something quite different
even though broad-based PMIs grow. So
really, the Fed has their work cut out
for them coming up. Cherry
and of course the Bank of Japan Governor
UEA also in Jackson Hole and we have
seen those inflation numbers here in
Japan already surprising to the upside
growth of 3.1% yearonear for the month
of July that actually led to a little
bit of a pop for the Japanese yen that's
now at that 148 level after weakening in
the overnight session against the US
dollar. Nikkeay stocks also up about a
tenth of 1%. We have already seen three
sessions of losses for Japanese stocks.
So, we're reversing that a little bit.
But what we're watching is a 10-year
yield as well because it's now at around
those 2008-year highs. Not to mention
that we have seen the 30-year yield also
reaching almost record highs. Uh the
20-year yield also at levels that we
haven't seen in decades. And all of this
coming at a time when there are also
fiscal concerns to contend with. Take a
look at how South Korea is coming online
because we saw Korean stocks gaining
ground for the first session in four
days and right now gains of 8/10en of 1%
as the Korean Juan is holding steady at
that 1400 level against the US dollar.
Of course, we're watching geopolitics in
South Korea. We're watching the trade
deal with the United States as well as
President Eyong is in Japan this weekend
and headed for a summit with President
Trump next week.
Yeah, Sher, I think it's worth noting
that even though the likes of the US and
EU have sort of moved towards
formalizing their trade pack, Japan,
South Korea, we still have some of those
lingering question marks and the stock
market moves in the region this week.
We've been seeing how Asia stocks
continue their slide on the region's
benchmark for four sessions now and will
it be a fifth and even after Jackson
Hole, do we get more clarity? Think
about how those liquidity constraints
might continue weighing. Worth noting
the ASX 200 was the outperformer just a
day ago, adding a little at the moment.
You are seeing a bit more firmness in
treasuries against the backdrop of a day
ago. Treasuries falling as traders trim
those rate cut bets for the moment. Uh
treasuries both two years 10 years
ticking a little higher and looking
quite firm on the Aussie dollar as well.
keeping watch on brand after a Trump
administration official talked about the
pressure uh of India's imports on
Russian crude. So ramping up the
scrutiny there. Now let's bring in our
next guest who says there's a distinct
possibility probability that the Fed may
not cut rates this year depending on the
data. With us now is Puja Malik partner
at Nepun Capital. Puja really good to
see you. What is your sense of as we've
seen these momentum trades unwinding, do
we see them creep back in next week?
The momentum trade unwind is related to
investors taking some profits given
where markets are. You know, the US
market, for example, is has gone up over
a,000 points in the last 12 to 18
months. Emerging markets are up about
20% and then the markets like Korea that
you were just talking about are actually
up close to 40% for the year. So the
momentum unbind has to do with investors
taking profits at a time when
uncertainty is high given that the Fed
decision is going to come out between
now and September. So the momentum on
mind definitely related to profit taking
ahead of uncertainty. Will that come
back? Um yes you know there are lots of
momentum traders in the market and I do
think it will come back later in the
year but probably not till the Fed cut
decision is done.
Which market do you think is most
underpricing
the tariff risk here?
I in my opinion India is the one where
the tariff risk is very high and not
being priced in and remember the in
India the tariff risk has to do with
goods but also with the oil exports. So
that's the second set of tariffs which
is scheduled to kick in on August 27th.
India still got you know very high
exposure to oil imports coming from
Russia and they have benefited from the
drop in oil prices but nevertheless the
hike there would ripple through the
economy at a time when earnings are weak
already. So in India for the last five
quarters earnings growth has been at
single digits but the market's pricing
in almost a 15 to 20% earnings growth.
So that is the country where I see the
most risk in terms of tariffs and its
impact on earnings.
And puja as we're speaking we're getting
some headlines on the Bloomberg coming
from the information saying that Nvidia
now has ordered a suspension to H20 chip
production. It's it told some of its
component suppliers to suspend
production work related to the H20's
chip tailor made for the Chinese market.
This is according to two people speaking
to the information that the directive
comes after weeks of the Chinese
government telling local tech companies
to stop buying the chips due to alleged
security concerns. But Puja, of course,
we do have Nvidia earnings next week at
a week that we also have the US market,
the UK markets going on holidays. We're
also headed towards the August jobs
report. So, how much of a risk could all
of this be for the markets?
The Nvidia earnings is definitely a big
risk to the market. Not just in terms of
what it means for Nvidia, but the
investor sentiment impact it has across
the US, across the tech supply chain and
across emerging markets. I think one of
the areas of the markets that's going to
prove to be more resilient is China
because they have been supporting the
domestic sector in terms of AI,
semiconductor, and technology. But if
you look at other markets, the one that
is really vulnerable at this point is
Korea because it's had a huge run up and
most of that run up has had to do with
positive ripple effects from Nvidia,
semiconductors, etc. So a give back
there would I think impact investor
sentiment in Korea much more so than in
China for example.
Tell us a little bit more about the
Chinese market because there was a lot
of optimism over the tech sector with
the breakthrough from Deepseek earlier
in the year. Where are we at now?
It's interesting in China the economic
situation is definitely poor. And if you
look at some of the recent numbers that
came out in July, the industrial
production, the fixed asset investment,
retail sales as well as property, all
numbers were down. So the macro
situation in China is very tough right
now.
Nevertheless, investors are interpreting
that as a sign that there will be more
and more policy stimulus to offset that.
So markets have done really well. China
is up about 40% in the last 12 months
about 20% yet to date with China's small
caps leading the rally and that rally
while it did you know sort of it started
around the deep sea point but a lot of
that has come from policy stimulus. So
the Chinese government has um changed
regulation around requiring insurance
companies and mutual funds to invest
more in equities and that was the first
leg in as institutional investors bought
more equities. It supported prices. We
are now seeing a second wave of retail
investors come back into the market in a
huge way. So definitely policy support
has been pivotal to what's going on in
China despite the fact that the
macroeconomic situation is very weak.
So Puja at the end of the day would you
say that there is that potential for
Chinese outperformance versus the rest
of the region in the second half of the
year?
There still is and again you know that
that relates more to the stimulus. So
China has now finally embarked on
another set of measures to support
property prices. Property prices are 40%
or property is 40% of the GDP there and
property prices also have a wealth
effect. Consumers feel rich when their
property is doing well, even if they're
not selling it. So that consumer
sentiment finds a lot of support from
property prices. The government just
instituted a set of new measures to
support property prices, including
outright buying of distressed
properties. And as that happens, I think
that's going to be one big sort of
support that could drive consumer
sentiment, investor sentiment, and could
drive markets higher.
And then besides that, for the first
time, we're also seeing the government
actually support end demand through
giving interest rate subsidies on
consumer consumption loans. You know,
providing free um education in sort of
the elementary school level and now even
talking about social security for lower
um wage earners. So I think there's
still a lot more policy support to come
and that could drive the market higher
in China.
Puja thank you really appreciate your
insights. Puja Mallay is partner at
Nepun Capital. Now even as we focus on
the Chinese consumer and policym turning
our attention to the US as well. Kansas
City Fed President Jeffrey Schmidt says
American businesses are showing renewed
optimism that's filtering through to the
labor market and putting the focus back
on inflation. Schmidt spoke with us from
Jackson Hole about the economy and
growing political pressure on the Fed.
of how do we make it better. Well, the
couple of descents. Uh I I think my
Michael McKe at Jackson Hole. And of
course, the breaking news that we've
gotten in the past couple of minutes is
really how the information is reporting
that Nvidia has ordered the suspension
to its H20 chip production. It's told
its suppliers to suspend any H20 related
work. And of course, this is the chip
that's the most sophisticated one in the
AI sphere that Nvidia has been allowed
to sell in China. We know how the US
administration effectively banned its
sale to China early this year and then
reversed that decision. We're keeping
close tabs on Nvidia suppliers in the
Asia session today. Sherry,
and we're also watching banks here in
Japan. The topics banks index also at
the highest level in about a week or so.
And you can see the broad upside and
just a sea of green. Of course, we
continue to have JGB yields rising to
20-year yield uh rising to the highest
since 1999. We continue to get those
fiscal concerns after the upper house
election and the ruling coalition losing
its majority of last month's uh vote.
The 10-year yield around the highest
since 2008, 30-year yield also around
the highest uh ever. So, we are now
seeing that upside when it comes to
these financial stocks. More ahead. This
is Bloomberg.
We're watching chip stocks across the
Asia session. Of course, we have heard
from the information that Nvidia has
sold some of its component suppliers to
suspend production work related to the
H20. This would be the chip tailor made
for the Chinese market. and people
speaking to the information saying that
the directive comes weeks after the
Chinese government told local tech
companies to stop buying the chips due
to that alleged security concern and of
course a signal that although the Trump
administration might be allowing Nvidia
to resume selling the chips. Uh this may
really turn the dynamic in the Chinese
market as the geopolitical rivalry
between the two countries continues is a
little bit of a mixed picture right
there. Let's bring in Bloomberg Tech
reporter Annabelle Jewelers for more. So
what do we know at this point when it
comes to Nvidia?
Yeah, this is a really major development
this morning that we've got from the
information as you said. So the H20,
this is the chip that was designed
specifically for the mainland market in
China. It was halted earlier that was
resumed or or sales were allowed to
resume about a month ago. This morning
though, what we've got is a production
halt. What is interesting though is that
it's not coming from the US side. and
it's coming from the Chinese side
instead or it's a result of Chinese
government policies. So it tells you
very much that Nvidia's hopes of of
maintaining that foothold in the Chinese
market do remain in limbo right now. So
what the information is again previously
reported as well is that the the fear
here from Chinese authorities is that is
that Nvidia's chips could contain back
doors that funnel sensitive information
or sensitive data from China to the US.
That's their biggest concern that the
Nvidia chips, the H20 chips are going to
allow for data or information to be
transferred from China to the US. As a
result, the information has said that's
why China is asking companies or the
government rather is asking companies in
China to not purchase H20 products. And
and this is why that production halt has
now apparently come into effect. Again,
according to the information here,
Belle, this also puts Nvidia suppliers
in the spotlight. uh they're caught up
in the middle of this. It's interesting
though. We're seeing how some of these
Korean suppliers like Samsung
electronics, they're actually higher in
trade today.
Yeah, I mean it's it's kind of difficult
to judge the sentiment off that as well
uh given that we have really seen a lot
of mixed moves for tech and a lot of
downward pressure over the past few
sessions. But generally I mean they are
very much caught up in this because
Samsung for instance that you mentioned
it does supply HBM chips to to the H20
production lines. You also have Amcore
for instance that uh that does advanced
packaging of the H20 chips. Again the
information here has said that uh the
both of these companies have been
informed to halt their productions. Uh
this is another sign to us as well that
Nvidia is really caught up in these
geopolitical tensions like you mentioned
Sherry between the US and China. This
reversal on the ban uh came from the
Trump administration. We had initially
seen sort of a buying spree from Chinese
firms or that was what was reported
again by the information that there had
been a flurry of orders around 700,000
H20 chips uh the ordered in in just the
the the the the first few weeks after
that ban was lifted. But again, this
halt does appear to have come through
from Beijing and it appears that firms
are heeding as well that advice.
Blor Animal Dr. with that breaking news
on the media. Let's turn to geopolitics
because President Trump has hinted that
he's open to Ukraine launching more
attacks on Russia as the White House
seeks to pressure President Putin into a
meeting with Ukraine's leader. In a
truth social post, Trump wrote that it's
hard to win a war without attacking the
invader's country. Bloomberg's Jean
Herskovitz is with us and President
Trump really trying to bring
interferation the Putin Zilinski
meeting, but will it happen? I guess
yeah, we have two of the three parties
say that they're interested in it. Of
course, Trump is pushing for this to
happen. Zalinsky is saying that it can
happen. He's looking for a neutral site
somewhere in Europe. But there's Russia.
Russia has shown no inclination towards
meeting Zalinski, they have continued
their hardline stances and it just seems
like uh while the White House has
optimism Zalinsky is open, there's no
indication that Putin is ready to sit
down for direct talks with the Ukrainian
leader for a ceasefire, let alone a
peace deal.
Anything else on security guarantees at
this point for Ukraine?
Sure. We have some talk going on now
between Ukraine and European leaders
looking for an article 5 NATO type of
arrangement that would put in some sort
of collective defense that would help
Ukraine get some European boots on the
ground. It could get some European boots
on the ground. And this is something
that Russia has objected to and we've
seen the foreign minister of Russia,
Sergey Lavrov, repeat some of these
maximalist demands that has seen for
Ukraine. It doesn't want European troops
in Ukraine. It doesn't want any European
protection for Ukraine. So, while these
talks go on and these are key for any
agreement, Zullinsky has said that we
must have some real security guarantees
if we're going to have a ceasefire or a
peace deal. Of course, Russia isn't
moving towards any of these and has
shown stern objections to what's going
on.
Yeah. And at the same time, John, Russia
is continuing these strikes on Ukraine.
What are we seeing from the Russian
side?
Yeah, we've seen massive drone and
missile strikes um that have happened
while these talks are going on. This has
kind of been part of the course for
Putin that while Trump has pressured uh
for a ceasefire, Putin has responded
with more attacks on more parts of
Ukraine. We saw some attacks overnight
on Ukraine. So it just shows that while
there is a push for some sort of
movement towards a ceasefire or a some
sort of peace deal that um Russia is
responding by increasing its assaults on
Ukraine, trying to get more territory
and launching more drone and missile
strikes. It just kind of shows that
Russia is much more interested now in
increasing the military pressure and the
attacks than sitting down. Blers John
Herskovitz here with the latest on that
negotiation over Ukraine. But we
continue to watch of course uh the
futures market in Europe at a time when
we saw a little bit of a waiver in the
overnight session. We had three sessions
of gains already for European stocks,
but investors were really trying to
parse the data especially on Euro area
business activity. You can see the euro
holding at that 116 level. We're also
getting a bit more progress on the US
and the European Union also taking steps
to formalize their trade deal. Uh we're
talking about detailed plans on reducing
tariffs on European car makers within
weeks. We have more ahead. This is
Let's take a look at how markets are
fairing as the countdown continues to
Powell speech at Jackson Hole. That risk
off was quite pronounced in the US
session the past couple of days. We're
seeing a bit of a reversal in the Cosby
Py and this is driven by some of the
chip related stocks including Samsung uh
and SK Highix which is also interesting
against the backdrop of Nvidia earnings
coming out next week but also how the
chip giant has told some of its
suppliers to suspend uh anything related
to the H20 chip production. Rest of the
region looking quite cautious ahead of
Jackson hold. Now speaking of tech,
smartphone giant Xiaomi has succeeded
where Apple failed by launching its own
electric car. The dramatic pivot has
helped the Chinese company gain some
$120 billion in market value over the
past year. Bloomberg Originals has been
looking at Xiaomi's push into the EV
sector. Here's a preview.
What tech giant has a connected
ecosystem of products, a devoted fan
base, and is constantly innovating? If
you're in the US, you may say Apple, but
in China, it's Xiaomi.
It's this consistent marketing to the
younger consumers in China that has
cultivated kind of a cult following.
failed to do.
build a car.
$35,000 SUV.
So, within 3 years, they managed to set
up this very complicated supply chain in
China and essentially turn out these
incredibly popular cars.
Profits have jumped as customers rushed
to the company's latest offerings. But
bloomberg.com and it'll be up on the
Bloomberg Originals YouTube channel a
little later. Stick around for Bloomberg
Tech Asia as we explore how companies
are pushing the boundaries of innovation
for humanoid robots. That's coming up in
a few minutes. In the meantime, quick
look at how Japanese assets are fairing.