com Asia Market Update: Training wheels are being removed in terms of monetary and FX intervention policies; Q3 chip-maker volatility contin

***General Trend and Developments*** - TECH: Shares of Meta rallied by >8% in NY trading. The move came as the co. is said to be building a cloud business to sell excess AI compute, which could ease concerns about the co’s costs [press]. Recent cost reduction news also circulated in The Information related to OpenAI on Wed.

- -There was additional press speculation about Apple becoming the latest US tech firm to seek chip supplies from China Recall, HP, Dell, Acer, Asus were said to consider using Chinese chips for first time amid the chip shortage that threatened product launches [Nikkei report from Feb 4th] - -More details have surfaced about possible US government stakes in AI companies. - -Meanwhile, SoftBank has yet to receive its margin loan backed by its stake in OpenAI. The firm is said to have, however, renewed talks with lenders on securing a $10B margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake and repayment guarantee [press] - -Biotech and AI continue to collide.

HK drug maker InSilico Medicine Cayman announced a $600M ‘AI drug discovery’ deal with Japans’ Takeda. - -Trade-sensitive Chinese names have seen gains after recent figures. BYD has rallied on monthly sales figures, while JL Mag Rare-Earth sees strong H1 and Q2 results, - - Berkshire continues to raise exposures to the trading companies in Japan, despite the firm’s leadership transition, - -Weaker demand seen at 10-year JGB auction after recent soft 20-year auction; JGB yields rise. - -Forward Guidance became the focal point on the last day of the ECB conference with the discussion driven by remarks from Warsh.

The ECB Forum on Central Banking held in Portugal [attended by US Fed Chair Warsh, ECB Chief Lagarde, BOE Governor Bailey, and Bank of Canada Governor Macklem] reflected on previous interest rate decisions and recent economic metrics within respective economies highlighting inflation rates. ECB Chief Lagarde said she had ‘given up on forward guidance’. BOE Governor Bailey also noted ‘forward guidance becomes quite problematic after a while’, reflecting Warsh’s previous insights on moving away from forward guidance and dot plots. - - Meanwhile, Japan’s FX policy might become more unpredictable.

Japan might shift away from telegraphing intervention risks in advance, according to a recent press report. ’ This news is particularly interesting ahead of Friday’s NY holiday. - - Japan’s PM Takaichi is currently visiting India. 00T.

Prior reports suggested that the two countries could collaborate on ammonia and hydrogen production. Both sides are also said to be considering direct yen-rupee settlements [Nikkei from Jun 30th]. IN] on a ¥100B syndicated loan. S.

6T vs. 53x prior - -(JP) Berkshire continues to raise stakes in the Japan trading cos. - update - -(JP) Japan shifts away from telegraphing intervention risks in advance, focusing on hitting speculators - US financial press [citing sources] - -(JP) Japan's [final] tax revenue for last fiscal year expected