Logitech is hoping to attract all the keebheads out there with its latest Alto Keys K98M. While this keyboard has been available in Asian markets for a while, Logitech finally brought its customizable work keyboard to the US. It may appeal to a…
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US Stock Futures Drop After Palantir, Dollar Gains: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — US stock futures extended losses along with Asian shares as Palantir Technologies Inc.’s earnings and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook weighed on sentiment.
Contracts for the S&P 500 fell 0.4%. The underlying index posted a modest gain Monday even as more than 300 of its members retreated. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.6%, with Palantir declining more than 4% in extended trading on concerns about the company’s lofty valuation after a record run-up. Asian shares dropped 0.4% as the South Korean benchmark lost more than 2%.
A gauge of the dollar extended its gains to a fifth day after the greenback strengthened against all other Group-of-10 currencies, trading at levels last seen in August. The advance has come amid mixed signals from Fed officials, following Chair Jerome Powell’s warning last week that a rate cut in December isn’t a foregone conclusion.
A flurry of central bank officials offered contrasting views on the outlook for further rate cuts, with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee saying he’s more concerned about inflation than the job market. Even as US factory activity contracted for an eighth straight month in October, global stocks hovered near record highs, driven by technology heavyweights and stoking calls for broader-market consolidation.
“It’s the Fed again,” said Anna Wu, a cross-asset strategist at Van Eck. “The inflation comment startled the markets and weighed on sentiment.”
Economists and policymakers are relying more on private reports such as the ISM survey for clues on the economy and job market in the absence of official data because of the US government shutdown. Friday’s scheduled employment report is also poised to be delayed as a result.
The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index eased 0.4 point to 48.7, according to data released Monday. Readings below 50 indicate contraction, and the measure has been stuck in a narrow range for most of this year.
“With US data softening and Fed officials keeping policy optionality alive, investors are reassessing positioning rather than chasing risk,” said Billy Leung, an investment strategist at Global X Management.
Gold edged lower for a third consecutive session. Treasuries steadied, while oil fell as the market weighed OPEC+’s decision to pause output hikes.
Meanwhile, Fed Governor Lisa Cook said she sees the risk of further labor-market weakness as greater than the chance that inflation will pick up. She stopped short of endorsing another interest-rate cut next month.
“Looking ahead, policy is not on a predetermined path,” Cook said. “We are at a moment when risks to both sides of the dual mandate are elevated. Every meeting, including December’s, is a live meeting.”
Her comments echoed remarks from her colleagues who were equally noncommittal about whether the central bank should deliver a third straight rate reduction when policymakers convene in December.
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said officials should “keep an open mind” about the possibility of a December cut. Governor Stephen Miran noted policy remains restrictive.
Elsewhere, shares in Australia fell ahead of a central bank rate decision later Tuesday, when policymakers are expected to stand pat.
Back to Palantir, the company raised its annual revenue outlook to $4.4 billion and outpaced analyst estimates for third-quarter sales.
Investors have sent the firm’s shares up more than 150% so far this year, closing Monday at a record $207.18. The company had a price-to-sales ratio of 85 as of Friday — the highest in the S&P 500 Index.
Mandeep Singh, senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said that investors likely wanted more guidance about the following year.
Palantir gave a forecast for the current quarter, Singh said, but “I think everyone wanted some sense of 2026.”
Corporate Highlights:
Starbucks Corp. is selling a majority stake in its China unit to private equity firm Boyu Capital for $4 billion to help accelerate its coffeehouse business in the country. Grab Holdings Ltd. raised its earnings forecast for the year after quarterly profit topped estimates, signaling robust demand for the Southeast Asian ride-hailing and food delivery firm’s new products. Netflix Inc. is in talks to license video podcasts distributed by iHeartMedia Inc. as it looks to compete head on with YouTube, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures fell 0.4% as of 12:01 p.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix rose 0.4% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1513 The Japanese yen was little changed at 154.10 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1271 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $106,566.26 Ether rose 1% to $3,638.41 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.10% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 1.675% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.35% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $60.87 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.3% to $3,988.85 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi and Winnie Hsu.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
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Inconsistent labels and risky doses found in turmeric supplements worldwide
An new study reveals major gaps in the regulation and transparency of turmeric supplements, highlighting how weak oversight and unclear labeling may put consumers at risk, despite turmeric’s generally healthy reputation.
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Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Nov. 4
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
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BrainSTEM Atlas Maps the Developing Brain, Revealing Clues to Parkinson’s
Credit: KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/ Getty Images Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School have developed a detailed single-cell atlas of the developing human brain, offering a new reference point for evaluating lab-grown…
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Public welfare project aims to spread awareness ahead of peak flu season
Experts, officials, and corporate representatives pose for a picture during a public welfare project on the eighth World Influenza Day on Nov 1. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
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Whispers of war – Pakistan Observer
Waqas Shahnoor
MAKE no mistake, no power on earth can undo Pakistan.
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Dollar at 3-month high as traders pare near-term rate cut wagers
The dollar was steady on Tuesday, hovering near a three-month high as a divided Federal Reserve spurred traders to rein in interest rate cut wagers.
Javier Ghersi | Moment | Getty Images
The dollar was steady on Tuesday, hovering near a three-month high as a divided Federal Reserve spurred traders to rein in interest rate cut wagers while investors awaited an Australian policy meeting where the central bank is likely to stand pat.
The yen was softer at 154.38 per U.S. dollar in early Asian hours, just shy of the eight-and-a-half-month low it touched last week, leading to some jawboning from Tokyo and stoking intervention jitters.
Fed officials continued pressing competing views of where the economy stands and the risks facing it in the absence of economic data suspended due to the federal government shutdown.
The Fed cut rates last week but Chair Jerome Powell suggested that might be the last cut of the year. Traders are now pricing in a 65% chance of a rate cut in December, compared with 94% a week earlier, CME FedWatch showed.
That shift in near-term expectations has boosted the dollar. The euro eased 0.11% to $1.1506, near a three-month low, while sterling last fetched $1.312, down 0.13%.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six other units, was 0.1% higher at 99.99, at a three-month high.
Data Gap leaves investors in the Dark
With government economic data missing due to the second-longest U.S. shutdown, investors this week are eyeing non-government sources of economic data, including ADP employment data, to gauge the health of the U.S. economy.
On Monday, accounts from manufacturers in the Institute for Supply Management survey painted a dire picture of the factory sector, showing U.S. manufacturing contracted for an eighth straight month in October as new orders remained subdued.
“There is no end in sight to the shutdown and the longer this drags on the bigger the economic implication will be,” MUFG strategists said in a note.
“Powell likely wants to avoid appearing as though markets are forcing the Fed to cut. We still argue that the labor market warrants more rate cuts, but the risk is the Fed skips meetings ahead.”
Powell’s hawkish pivot has come at the wrong time for the yen as the Bank of Japan held rates steady last week. While Governor Kazuo Ueda last week sent the strongest signal yet that a rate hike was possible as soon as December, markets remained underwhelmed by the central bank’s gradual approach.
The yen is approaching levels at which Japanese authorities intervened in markets in 2022 and 2024 to support the currency.
“Right now, it seems as though the yen is very weak on almost any metric,” said Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia Pacific at Capital Economics.
“Investors are also still pricing in some chance of a hike at the next meeting. So, unless the BOJ do tighten policy before the end of the year, and they probably won’t, the most likely path for the yen is even weaker in the near term.”
Spotlight on RBA
The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6535 ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia policy meeting. The Aussie is up nearly 6% this year.
The central bank is widely expected to hold rates steady after a surprisingly hot reading on third-quarter inflation showed building and services costs were not slowing as hoped.
The stronger-than-expected inflation reading has effectively shut the door on any near-term rate cuts and cast doubt on how quickly the RBA can start easing. Markets have sharply scaled back expectations, now pricing in only one cut by mid-2026.
Kristina Clifton, a senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, expects the RBA to pivot to a more hawkish tone after last week’s stronger inflation data.
“Hawkish commentary from the RBA and/or an upward revision to the inflation forecast will cause markets to unwind some rate cut pricing. An unwind of rate cut pricing will support AUD/USD.”
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