Category: 3. Business

(Bloomberg) — The rally in Japanese stocks has pushed some market indicators close to levels struck ahead of last year’s meltdown, after a US trade deal propelled equities to a record.

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“When the market starts rising this quickly, I do think we need to be cautious with what happened in August in mind,” said Hisashi Arakawa, director and the head of equities at abrdn Japan Ltd. “This time around, it’s not the yen driving the rally but I’m definitely keeping a close eye on the levels we saw during last summer.”

Japanese stocks crashed last August in the wake of the Bank of Japan’s (8301.T) unexpected interest rate hike, coupled with Governor Kazuo Ueda’s hawkish messaging and economic concerns in the US. The central bank has since managed to raise its policy rate without triggering a repeat of that rout, and the macro environment has shifted, with US tariff policies the main driver of the market.

Still, some technical indicators show Japanese equities are now looking vulnerable like they did just before last year’s selloff, when the Topix index was trading at record highs.

The Topix’s 14-day relative-strength-index was about 79 on Thursday, above the threshold that signals the market may be in overbought territory. The benchmark was in that range last July, less than a month before the selloff.

The Topix index traded more than 5% above its 25-day moving average on Thursday, a level has traditionally preceded a correction, according to Rakuten Securities Inc. Recently in September 2021 and March 2022, the divergence above 5% was followed by a market downturn.

The rally in the Topix index hasn’t been accompanied by rising turnover, similar to last July’s pattern, suggesting there may be a lack of conviction in the market.

The market might face volatility after its rapid gains as we head into the “summer lull” period in August when the trading volume shrinks, said Rieko Otsuka, a strategist at MCP Asset Management Japan.

As Japan enters peak earnings season, some companies may maintain a cautious outlook as they gauge the impact of tariffs, said Otsuka adding that stocks valuation will need to be justified by earnings. The Topix index’s forward price-to-earnings ratio is now close to the levels just before last August’s decline, at 15.7 times versus 15.87 last July, but still cheap in comparison to the US.

Samaritans has announced plans to close at least half of its 200 branches across the UK and Ireland, move volunteers into larger regional hubs and pilot remote call handling, in a shake-up that has left some volunteers dismayed.

The mental health charity told volunteers in a video last week it hoped “within the next seven to 10 years, our branch network will have reduced by at least half” and that it would move to “fewer but bigger regions”.

The charity’s 22,000 listening volunteers answer calls and messages from people in mental health crisis at 201 branches across the UK and Ireland. It says its helplines receive a call every 10 seconds, while some branches also offer face-to-face services.

Julie Bentley, the charity’s chief executive, told volunteers that much of its fundraising income was going into “maintaining bricks and mortar, rather than being used to improve our services”.

The charity wants a “smaller number of larger brick branches” meaning “larger shifts open with more volunteers on duty together”.

It also said it wanted to make sure its buildings and shifts were “accessible to all” and hoped its “volunteer numbers will have increased as we offer more flexibility”, adding it had no plans to reduce the level of service it offered.

Some volunteers have expressed fears the charity is moving to a “call centre-style” model that would remove the “camaraderie” found in smaller branches. There were also concerns that volunteers, many of whom are over 50, would be unable to travel large distances to branches in large towns and cities.

They also raised concerns about the impact of a potential move towards remote volunteering, in which people would answer calls in their homes while in contact with another volunteer via video call. Some said they would feel uncomfortable taking distressing and sensitive calls at home.

One volunteer said: “It does change the absolute basis of how we have worked and the understanding of our need to be in a safe place where we have support as callers. Would the ambulance service suddenly decide to have people take calls in their home?

“The current system has operated very successfully for 70 years. Now they’re thinking of dismantling it, and in a way that I think has upset a lot of volunteers. A lot of us are anxious and worried.

“Almost every single volunteer that I have spoken to have said if they introduce call centres, we’re out. As well as helping others, people volunteer for their own mental health, to go to a safe space and meet like-minded people.”

The charity said remote volunteering would allow people unable to travel to branches to give their time, particularly for night shifts that are more challenging to fill.

Samaritans said it would consult volunteers about its plans before the trustees made a final decision in September, and any proposed changes that are confirmed will take place over a number of years.

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Volunteers said they wanted clarity on how much money the charity spends on branches, and how much it was projected to save by closing half down.

Samaritans’ annual accounts for 2023-24 show it has a fund of £7m for fixed assets including branches, a property maintenance fund of £28,000 and a branch support fund of £287,000, while it received £24.6m in charitable income.

In its last set of financial accounts, the charity said its “income was down for the third year running, while costs continue to rise”, and it had been forced to stop or postpone projects owing to lack of funding.

In a statement, Bentley said: “Samaritans provides a life-saving service, day and night, 365 days a year, but the changing needs of our callers and volunteers means thinking differently about the way our services need to work.

“We are engaging with our volunteers on proposed improvements that will mean we are able to answer more calls, have more volunteers on duty, and be there for more people in their darkest moments. Over 200 branches, varying in size from 10 to 300 volunteers, is not sustainable and hinders us providing the best possible service to people who need us.”

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump rattled off a number to shame Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell about the renovation costs of the Fed’s headquarters — and America’s central banker dared to correct him. Live on video.

The exchange occurred Thursday in the plywood-sheathed headquarters of the Fed that are still under construction. Both men wore white hard hats and dark suits. Trump spoke with utter certainty, while Powell skeptically cocked his eyebrows.

Trump claimed the renovation project was over budget at a $3.1 billion price tag, while Powell pushed back and said the president was including an extra building that had been renovated five years ago. The Fed has maintained that renovation costs are $2.5 billion, an increase from $1.9 billion.

“It looks like it’s about $3.1 billion, went up a little bit or a lot,” said Trump.

Powell shook his head in disagreement. “I’m not aware of that, Mr. President,” he responded.

“It just came out,” said Trump, pulling a folded piece of paper from his suit coat’s pocket.

“I haven’t heard that from anybody at the Fed,” Powell said.

“It just came out,” Trump repeated.

After some back and forth, Powell put on his glasses, stared at the numbers on the paper from Trump and asked, “This came from us?”

“Yes,” Trump said.

“Are you including the Martin renovation?” Powell said. “You just added in a third building is what that is. That’s a third building.”

“It’s a building that’s being built,” Trump said.

“No, it was built five years ago,” Powell said.

Trump ended his tour afterward by saying he wanted the renovation to be completed and Powell to aggressively cut benchmark interest rates. The Fed chair has refrained from responding to Trump’s taunts on social media, saying the Fed can afford to be patient to monitor the impact of the president’s tariffs on inflation.

The exchange followed months of criticism by Trump of Powell as being “Too Late” on rate cuts and an accompanying pressure campaign to get the central bank head to step down.

White House deputy chief of staff James Blair later said that Powell was “splitting hairs” on the renovation costs, though in this case it would be a $600 million hair about a building that Trump thought was still under construction.

“There’s no way around it,” Blair said. “The cost overrun is massive.”

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is launching a pilot experiment that aims to use its Community Notes system to identify popular posts from users with differing opinions.

The trial, announced on Thursday via the Community Notes X account, will involve selected contributors rating posts based on why they like or dislike a particular post, with the goal of uncovering the content that resonates across varied perspectives.

The new system will build on the existing Community Notes fact-checking feature, which has been designed to combat misinformation by allowing users to agree on the accuracy of posts, regardless of their usual viewpoints.

Unlike traditional systems that rely on upvotes and downvotes, which could be manipulated by users with similar opinions, the Community Notes “bridging algorithm” seeks consensus between individuals who typically disagree.

If contributors from differing viewpoints agree that a fact-check is accurate, the note becomes public.

While the system has faced criticism for its speed, the concept of bridging differing opinions has been adopted by Meta as an alternative to traditional fact-checking methods.

This new experiment will see a subset of Community Notes contributors able to see when a post is gaining attention through likes.

These contributors will then have the chance to rate the post and provide feedback, helping the platform determine whether the content is well-received by a broad spectrum of users.

The company’s post on the Community Notes X account explained that the initiative aims to “uncover ideas, insights, and opinions that bridge perspectives.” X emphasised that the test is in its early stages, with the hope of gathering feedback to shape the system further.

“People often feel the world is divided, yet Community Notes shows people can agree, even on contentious topics,” the post stated. “This experimental feature seeks to highlight content that resonates widely, with a goal of building a more inclusive conversation.”

X has expressed optimism about learning from this pilot and iterating on it as part of the ongoing development of Community Notes, aiming to uncover shared understanding across diverse users.

MANILA, Philippines — Asian shares retreated on Friday after Wall Street inched to more records as gains for Alphabet and artificial-intelligence stocks helped offset a steep tumble for EV-maker Tesla.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% to 41,511.09 after two days of gains following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a trade deal that would place a 15% tax on imports from Japan. That’s lower than the 25% rate that Trump had earlier said would kick in on Aug. 1.

Data released on Friday showed the inflation rate in Japan’s capital Tokyo rose 2.9% year-on-year in July, down from 3.1% in June. Japanese government efforts to moderate inflation are working, though underlying Tokyo price pressures remain elevated, ING Economics said in a commentary. It expects the Bank of Japan to hold interest rates steady at its July 30-31 meeting, but said the central bank would likely raise its forecast for inflation.

In the Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.1% to 25,383.07 and the Shanghai Composite index slid 0.3% to 3,593.38.

On Thursday, China and the European Union issued a joint call to action on climate change during an otherwise tense bilateral summit in Beijing riven with major disagreements over trade and the war in Ukraine.

Next week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he will meet with Chinese officials in Stockholm, Sweden, to work toward a deal with Beijing ahead of a tariff truce that expires on Aug. 12. Trump has said a China trip “is not too distant” as trade tensions ease.

“One big question for markets is whether the tariff ceasefire is extended. We expect that an agreement will be attainable, but, in the interim, markets will watch closely to see if there are adjustments to current tariff rates in either direction,” ING Economics said.

In South Korea, the Kospi picked up 0.3% to 3,199.91, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% to 8,673.80.

Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 0.1% and in India, the Sensex fell 0.1%.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to its all-time high set the day before, closing at 6,363.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7% to 44,693.91, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% to a record 21,057.96.

Alphabet climbed 1% after the company behind Google and YouTube delivered a fatter profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It’s leaning more into artificial-intelligence technology and said it’s increasing its budget for AI chips and other investments this year by $10 billion to $85 billion.

That helped push up other stocks in the AI industry, including a 1.7% rise for Nvidia. The chip company was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500 because it’s the largest on Wall Street in terms of value.

But an 8.2% drop for Tesla kept the market in check. Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle company reported results for the spring that were roughly in line with or above analysts’ expectations, and Musk is trying to highlight Tesla’s moves into AI and robotaxis.

The focus, though, remains on how Musk’s foray into politics is turning off potential customers, and he said several rough quarters may be ahead as “we’re in this weird transition period where we’ll lose a lot of incentives in the U.S.”

Stocks have broadly been rallying for weeks on hopes that President Donald Trump will reach trade deals with other countries that will lower his stiff proposed tariffs, along with the risk that they could cause a recession and drive up inflation.

In other dealings on Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 13 cents to $66.16 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 12 cents to $68.48 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar edged higher to 147.21 Japanese yen from 147.00. The euro fell to $1.1737 from $1.1748. ___

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

This agreement benefits from the support of the European Union and the European Investment Fund (EIF) under the InvestEU program, enabling the establishment of more favorable conditions for both parties and delivering a financing solution tailored to the company’s specific needs.

“Roadsurfer represents the type of company BBVA wants to support: digital, innovative, and committed to fostering more sustainable ways of traveling and consuming. Its growth reflects the dynamism of the European entrepreneurial ecosystem and our commitment to providing flexible financial solutions to internationally ambitious companies,” said Donatella Callegaris, Head of Venture & Growth Lending at BBVA in Europe.

“These financing rounds reflect our partners’ confidence in our business model. The collaboration with BBVA was marked by constructive dialogue and a shared understanding of long-term value creation,” noted Markus Dickhardt, co-founder and CEO of Roadsurfer.

Founded in 2016, Roadsurfer has established itself as one of the most recognized brands in the camper van rental sector. It currently operates a fleet of nearly 10,000 vehicles and is present in more than 90 locations across 16 countries, including Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, the U.S., and Canada. Its offering includes rental, subscription, and sales services for camper vans, in addition to its “Roadsurfer Spots” platform, which connects travelers with private landowners for camping.

A complementary transaction aligned with its financing strategy

The financing provided by BBVA complements a previous €60 million asset-backed securitization (ABS) operation led by Macquarie Group, bringing Roadsurfer’s total financing capacity to over €500 million.

Both transactions reflect the company’s comprehensive capital strategy, focused on strengthening its fleet, consolidating key markets, and continuing to develop digital solutions that make camper travel more accessible, sustainable, and appealing.

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