• Declines on Wall Street also translated into a weaker session in the Asia-Pacific region. Chinese indexes are down 0.80-1.00%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index is down 1.50% to 36,100 points - nearly 15% below its peaks.

  • Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX200 is down 0.25%. Contracts on the Singapore index SG20cash are down 0.20%.

  • US index futures are deepening declines on the last day of this week after yesterday's trading closed with significant losses. The small-cap index lost about 3.50% at the close of the session, and today futures are down another 0.40% to 2,188 points. The tech index, US100, is down 1.00% to 18,780 points.

  • Futures on European indexes also indicate a lower opening for the cash session on the Old Continent. UK100 is down 0.30%, and DAX is down 0.40% to 18,000 points.

  • In the forex market, the dollar is pausing its declines and moving into consolidation in the first part of the day. The dollar index is flat at 104.0000 points. One of the stronger currencies today is the Australian dollar, gaining about 0.1-0.2% against the rest of the G10 currencies.

  • Japanese equities lost heavily for the second day in a row due to expectations of further monetary tightening and the BoJ's hawkish stance. The Topix index lost as much as 5.7%, the most since 2020, and the yen approached its highest level since March, weighing on Japan's export-oriented economy. 

  • Investors are awaiting US labor market data today, which will be crucial in the context of a potential interest rate cut by the Fed in September and in assessing the overall health of the US economy.

  • Intel (INTC.US) is down nearly 19% in after-hours trading after announcing on Thursday that it will cut more than 15% of its workforce, or about 17,500 people, and suspend its dividend starting in the fourth quarter. Intel also forecasts third-quarter revenues below market estimates, struggling with a decline in spending on traditional semiconductors.

  • Singapore's second-largest bank Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) (OCBC.SI), which is Southeast Asia's second-largest lender by assets, said its net profit for the April-June period rose to S$1.94 billion (US$1.45 billion) from S$1.71 billion a year earlier, mainly on the back of revenue growth and a decline in write-downs.

  • Cryptocurrencies are rebounding slightly after yesterday's strong decline. At its worst point, Bitcoin was losing more than 4.00% to the US$62500 level, but then the hole was quickly overbought and the price rebounded above US$65000. We are currently seeing the price stabilising around USD 64200.