Seoyong Choi [email protected] Global PR Strategy & Planning · Hyundai Motor Company
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About the Royal College of Art
Founded in 1837, the Royal College of Art is the world’s leading university of art and design. Specialising in teaching and research, the RCA offers degrees of MA, MPhil, MRes and PhD across the disciplines of architecture, arts & humanities, design and communication. Based in the heart of London, the RCA provides 2,500 students with unrivalled opportunities to deliver art and design projects that transform the world. Its approach is founded on the premise that art, design, creative thinking, science, engineering and technology must all collaborate to solve today’s global challenges. For more information about the Royal College of Art, please see: www.rca.ac.uk
About the Intelligent Mobility Design Centre (IMDC)
The Intelligent Mobility Design Centre leads design research at the intersection of people, mobility and technology within a complex and changing urban and global environment. The IMDC provides a platform which brings together designers, artists, scientists and engineers to question and reimagine the way we move goods and people. The Centre incorporates the Intelligent Mobility MA programme, bringing together researchers and students to cultivate excellent research and design outputs and pioneer new teaching in a subject area traditionally focused on design skills, rather than research focused. For more information about the IMDC, please see: www.rca.ac.uk/research-innovation/research-centres/intelligent-mobility-design-centre
About Hyundai Motor Group
Hyundai Motor Group is a global enterprise that has created a value chain based on mobility, steel and construction, as well as logistics, finance, IT and service. With about 250,000 employees worldwide, the Group’s mobility brands include Hyundai, Kia and Genesis. Armed with creative thinking, cooperative communication and the will to take on any challenges, we strive to create a better future for all.
More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at:
http://www.hyundaimotorgroup.com or Newsroom: Media Hub by Hyundai , Kia Global Media Center (kianewscenter.com) , Genesis Global Newsroom
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street’s selloff in tech heavyweights dragged down global markets on Wednesday, as investors cashed in gains from the leaders of the post-April rally.
Europe’s Stoxx 600 dropped 0.1% after closing within a whisker of an all-time high on Tuesday. Technology stocks fell as much as 0.9% before paring the loss. Investors took shelter in defensive sectors, with real estate and utility stocks among the biggest gainers. Asian stocks retreated 0.7%.
In the US, contracts for the Nasdaq 100 retreated 0.3% after the gauge suffered its second-worst drop since April. US Treasuries dropped across the curve, with the 10-year yield rising two basis points to 4.32%. The dollar was little changed.
Investors pared back positions in big tech amid growing concern that the rally since April has advanced too far and too quickly. That momentum will get a further test this week as focus turns to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak on Friday with traders firming up bets on a September cut in interest rates.
“As valuations get pushed to a historical high, traders and hedge funds tend to pull back,” said Anna Wu, cross-asset strategist at VanEck in Sydney. “Today’s fall is pre-Jackson Hole caution and profit-taking.”
In the UK, money markets kept wagers on Bank of England interest-rate cuts broadly steady, seeing around a 40% change of a quarter-point cut this year after inflation climbed for a second month in July. The pound rose 0.1%.
Meanwhile, traders are positioning ahead of Powell’s remarks, with Treasury markets treating a quarter-point rate cut next month as a near certainty and pricing in at least one more before year-end.
Investors are waiting to hear whether Powell will validate current market expectations or counter them by stressing that fresh economic data arriving before the next policy meeting could alter the outlook. They’re also scanning for hints about how the Fed foresees the pace of rate cuts extending into next year.
“If we get an indication that they are more inclined to cutting interest rates, that will be more supportive again,” HSBC Head of APAC Equity Strategy Herald van der Linde said in a Bloomberg TV interview.
What Bloomberg Strategists Say…
“The selloff for Nvidia ahead its earnings next week is the biggest factor for global tech investors. Given that Nvidia is coming off a huge rally since April it looks like being a headwind for stocks in the days ahead.”
—Mark Cranfield, MLIV
Corporate News:
Swedish startup Mindler AB has acquired Ieso Digital Health UK for an undisclosed sum as it seeks to build out its footprint in the online therapy market. Xiaomi Corp. intends to sell its first electric vehicle in Europe by 2027, declaring plans to take on Tesla Inc. and BYD Co. globally after gaining traction with its year-old Chinese EV business. SBB, the firm at the center of Sweden’s property crisis two years ago, reported better-than-expected rental income in the second quarter thanks to growth in its residential segment. Temasek Holdings Pte is mulling one of its biggest overhauls in years, potentially reorganizing the firm into three investment vehicles in a bid to boost returns and efficiencies, according to people familiar with the matter. Shares of Chinese pop toy maker Pop Mart International Group Ltd. rose to a record after founder and Chief Executive Officer Wang Ning said the company could easily surpass its annual sales projection and announced plans to launch a new mini Labubu. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed as of 9:06 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.3% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.8% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1645 The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.57 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1803 per dollar The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3505 Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin was little changed at $113,476.51 Ether rose 0.9% to $4,195.8 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.32% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.75% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.74% Commodities
Brent crude rose 1% to $66.46 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,323.28 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
Panel remarks by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum
Geneva, 20 August 2025
The global economy is at a challenging juncture. But despite recent trade tensions and substantial uncertainty, global growth has remained broadly steady so far.
This resilience has been mainly driven by tariff-induced distortions of economic activity. In the first quarter of the year, for example, we saw strong global frontloading as importers boosted their inventories in anticipation of higher tariffs.
That has led to stronger than expected growth. The International Monetary Fund finds that global growth for the first quarter of 2025 was 0.3 percentage points higher than it had projected back in April – with international trade and investment driving activity.[1]
Recent trade deals have alleviated, but certainly not eliminated, global uncertainty, which persists on account of the unpredictable policy environment. One index of global trade policy uncertainty has fallen by roughly half from its peak in April, but remains well above its historical average.[2]
The euro area economy proved resilient earlier this year in the face of a challenging global environment. This has largely been due to two factors.
First, Europe’s export-oriented economy has benefited from the global frontloading, growing by more than expected in the first quarter of the year.
Sectors with higher export exposure to the United States – such as pharmaceuticals, which account for over one-fifth of euro area exports to the United States – recorded strong output growth during this time.
Of course, with tariff hikes now being implemented, this effect is now reversing and the expected slowdown in euro area growth was already evident in the second quarter of this year.
The second factor underpinning the economy has been stronger private consumption and investment, which have contributed positively to growth. Moreover, the labour market remains robust. The unemployment rate – standing at 6.2% in June – has changed little over the past year, while the labour force has continued to grow.
Looking ahead, according to the Eurosystem’s June projections, growth is expected to slow in the third quarter as frontloading unwinds. The recent trade deal agreed between the European Union and the United States imposes higher tariffs on euro area goods relative to the US tariff regime before April.
The trade deal establishes an effective average tariff estimated to lie between 12% and 16% for US imports of euro area goods. This effective average tariff is somewhat higher than – but still close to – the assumptions used in our baseline projections last June.[3]
It is worth noting that the outcome of the trade deal is well below the severe scenario for US tariffs of over 20% for euro area goods envisaged in the June projections. At the same time, uncertainty persists as sector-specific tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors remain unclear.
ECB staff will factor the implications of the EU-US trade deal for the euro area economy into the upcoming September projections, which will guide our decisions over the coming months.
While the United States is – and will remain – an important trading partner, Europe should also aim to deepen its trade ties with other jurisdictions, leveraging the strengths of its export-oriented economy.
Europe has a strong track record to build on. As the number one trading partner for 72 countries, the EU already has the largest network of trade agreements in the world.[4]
XAU/USD remains in a bid tone; however, the fundamental environment calls for bulls to exercise caution before setting up for further gains
Written by:
Olumide Adesina
• Wednesday, August 20, 2025 • 2 min read
• Last updated: Wednesday, August 20, 2025
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Quick overview
XAU/USD shows a bid tone, but bulls should be cautious due to mixed technical indicators and resistance levels.
The US Dollar reached a weekly high while gold fell to a three-week low amid shifting expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Diplomatic efforts between Russia and Ukraine are intensifying, potentially reducing demand for safe-haven assets.
Traders anticipate insights from the Federal Reserve’s upcoming minutes and Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium.
XAU/USD remains in a bid tone; however, the fundamental environment calls for bulls to exercise caution before setting up for further gains. Despite the increasing consensus that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will resume its rate-cutting cycle in September, the US Dollar (USD) is unable to capitalize on the day’s gains.
The safe-haven precious metal benefits from this, as well as a minor decline in the global risk sentiment.
Bulls looking to position themselves for potential short-term appreciation should exercise caution, especially if the 4-hour or daily charts show slightly negative technical indicators. An upward movement is likely to encounter strong resistance near the 200-period Simple Moving Average (SMA) on the 4-hour chart, currently situated in the $3,347 to $3,348 range. The next level of interest is the overnight swing high, which is approximately $3,358. If the XAU/USD pair surpasses this level, it may rise to the $3,372 to $3,374 region. Should momentum continue, the gold price could recover to the $3,400 mark before attempting to test the monthly peak, located in the $3,408 to $3,410 range.
The US dollar reached its highest level in over a week, while gold dropped to a 3-week low.
This movement occurred as traders continued to dismiss the likelihood of a significant interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September. This shift followed the release of the US Producer Price Index last Thursday, which indicated a rise in price pressures, showing the fastest monthly increase since 2022
This week, diplomatic efforts to resolve the long-running conflict between Russia and Ukraine have intensified, seemingly weakening the demand for safe-haven currencies. Preparations are underway for a bilateral meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as reported by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday. Additionally, Zelensky, along with EU and UK leaders, was previously invited to speak with US President Donald Trump.
Later today, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its July policy meeting. The speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Symposium may offer further insights into the central bank’s policy position.
The FedWatch Tool from the CME Group indicates that traders are pricing in a higher likelihood that the Fed will begin its rate-cutting cycle in September and reduce borrowing costs by 25 basis points twice by the end of the year. Trump, meanwhile, called on the Fed to immediately cut borrowing costs and again chastised Powell on Tuesday for being too late in reducing rates. Trump asserted that the housing market was now at risk due to Powell’s reluctance to lower rates.
Olumide Adesina
Financial Market Writer
Olumide Adesina is a French-born Nigerian financial writer. He tracks the financial markets with over 15 years of working experience in investment trading.
The dollar has quietly gone a little bid this week. We’re not sure what’s driving it, but we wouldn’t read too much into it at this stage. Perhaps it’s just that sitting short dollars is expensive with one-week dollar rates still well above 4.00%. There hasn’t really been that much progress on Ukraine this week, despite European leaders hailing a ‘breakthrough’. Let’s see whether any more details emerge about the level of support the US is prepared to offer Europe in defending Ukraine, and also whether President Putin is prepared to accept European boots on the ground in Ukraine – the threat of which (under NATO) prompted Russia to invade Ukraine in the first place. EUR/CHF is trading lower in a slightly disappointed fashion over progress on a ceasefire/peace, but CEE FX seems happy to hold onto gains.
In terms of the calendar today, we have prospective Fed Chair front-runner Christopher Waller speaking at 17CET, though the subject here is payments. More interesting will be the FOMC minutes released at 20CET, which will air more of the views of the two dissenters (Waller and Bowman) who voted for a rate cut in July. Market moves, however, may be limited given that the July jobs report was released a few days later. A much better read on the Fed situation should emerge on Friday afternoon during Chair Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole. In all, we don’t see the need for big DXY moves today and struggle to see it breaking above 98.50/60 resistance.
Where there have been big moves, however, is in New Zealand. While delivering the much-anticipated 25bp cut to 3.00%, the RBNZ seriously debated a 50bp cut – for which two of the six committee members voted. NZD/USD fell 1.1% and the terminal rate for the easing cycle was marked some 20bp lower, close to 2.50%. Despite acknowledging that CPI would increase to and possibly breach the top of its 1-3% target range in the next quarter, the RBNZ felt that the spare capacity, both in labour and business, meant that inflation wouldn’t stick and would be lower next year. The backdrop is that the New Zealand unemployment rate has risen to 5.2% from 3.2% over the last three years. The RBNZ also felt that US tariff uncertainty might be reducing the effectiveness of rate cuts, where uncertainty continues to depress business investment.
We mention all this because of the battles being faced by both the Fed and the Bank of England in terms of how to react to higher short-term inflation. Certainly, neither has the same spare capacity in labour markets as New Zealand does. But the reaction in NZD FX and rates markets today serves as a reminder that if the labour market shows serious signs of softening, doors open for central banks to cut rates back to neutral or even below neutral. That’s why we’re bearish on the dollar and, to a lesser degree, sterling in 2026.
We considered four states transitions, including cured, uncured, PD and death, in cancer clinical trials as shown in Fig. 1. Dotted lines represent the patient transitioning to a specific state with a certain probability (indicated by the characters on the dotted line). Initially, the study population consists of two heterogeneous subgroups as uncured and latent cured states with the cure probability of π. For a specific patient, his cure status can only be one of the two types, which will not change thereafter nor exist in an intermediate state. Patients who are cured will be no longer at risk of PD and subsequent treatment switching. They face a death hazard (shown as ({h}_{14})) similar to the general healthy population. For the uncured subgroup, they are exposed to a mortality risk as ({h}_{24}), or progress to PD (({h}_{23})) and then to death (({h}_{34})). The patients randomized to the control group can switch to the experimental group with a probability of p, and those who experience later PD are assumed with a lower probability of switching [23]. When estimating the long-term treatment effect (i.e., OS), we adopted hypothetical strategy within estimand framework and proposed a novel multistate transition model which is a continuous-time discrete-state Markov process in essence [24].
Fig. 1
Proposed multistate transition model in which the cured fraction (bold) is innovatively considered
Specifically, let (c=1) or 0 representing the latent cured patient or uncured patient, respectively. The probability of being cured (denoted by π) is expressed as
where (g=1) or 0 denotes the experimental treatment or the control treatment.
For the cured subgroup, their baseline hazard aligns with the general healthy population, while situation of the uncured subgroup is more complicated. Suppose ({M}_{PD},{M}_{S},{M}_{D}) to be the state of PD, treatment switching and death when these indicators = 1, and ({t}_{PD},{t}_{D},{t}_{PPD}) be the time from randomization to PD, to death, and the time from PD to death, respectively. For patients who have experienced PD, there is ({t}_{D}={t}_{PD}+{t}_{PPD}). We convert ({t}_{PD}) to an ordinal categorical variable ({Q}_{{t}_{PD}}) according to the four quantiles of ({t}_{PD}) for convenience. A logistic model can be employed to establish the probability of treatment switching (denoted by p) as
Let (gamma) denote the patient-specific shared frail and follow a gamma distribution with mean one and variance θ, i.e., (Galeft({theta }^{-1},{theta }^{-1}right)) [25], which reflects the correlation between PD and the death hazards for each patient. That is, patients with higher PD risk tend to face greater death hazard, and those who experience later PD would have longer survival time. Based on similar studies [14, 21], we elucidate the transition hazards between states 1–4 as follows.
Therefore, the first equation ({h}_{14}) expresses just the baseline hazard similar to the general healthy population. The second and third equations describe the risk of PD (({h}_{23})) and death for the uncured subgroup (({h}_{24})), respectively. While the last equation ({h}_{34}) indicates the hazard of death after PD for the uncured subgroup with the coefficient β34,1 and β34,2 for the treatment effects of non-switchers and switchers, respectively. The main parameter estimates and their interpretation are listed as Table 1.
Table 1 The main parameter estimated in the multistate transition model
Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) of the treatment effect
Suppose a trial with N patients, the possible observed status scenarios for each patient can be listed as Table 2. Patients with observed PD are undeniably uncured as in statuses A-D ((c=0)), while patients without observed PD could belong to either the latent cured or the uncured subgroup. Since patients in the control group are allowed to switch to the experimental group only after the occurrence of PD, the switching indicator is not applicable in statuses E and F.
Table 2 Observed status indicator and likelihood contribution corresponding to six possible scenarios during the trial
Based on the observed data, the MLE method can be employed to estimate the parameters. Firstly, the likelihood functions ({f}_{1}sim {f}_{6}) are the marginal distributions with respect to the distribution of shared frailty ((gamma)), i.e., ({f}_{k}left(tright)=int {f}_{k}left(t|gamma right)dgamma,k=1,…,6). Moreover, the likelihood functions ({f}_{5}sim {f}_{6}) should be marginalized with respect to the distribution of c. Let ({P}_{(c)}) and ({P}_{({M}_{S})}) denote the certain state probability of cured and treatment switching, and (Ileft(gright)) be the indicator function for the treatment group or control group, where the values and meanings are consistent with the definitions above. For example,({P}_{left(c=0right)}) represents the uncured probability, ({{P}_{({M}_{S}=1)}}^{I(g=0)}) represents the probability of the uncured control group patients switching to the treatment group. Consequently, the corresponding conditional distributions can be calculated as follows,
where ({S}_{24}left(tright)=mathit{exp}left[-{int }_{0}^{t}{h}_{24}left(u|gamma right)duright]), ({S}_{23}left(tright)=mathit{exp}left[-{int }_{0}^{t}{h}_{23}left(u|gamma right)duright]),({S}_{34}left(tright)=mathit{exp}left[-{int }_{0}^{t}{h}_{34}left(u|gamma right)duright]), and ({S}_{14}left(tright)=mathit{exp}left[-{int }_{0}^{t}{h}_{14}left(u|gamma right)duright]).
Assume the transitional baseline hazards (lambda) are constant, with marginal distributions of the conditional distributions above, the observed data likelihood for (Phi =left({a}_{0},{a}_{1},{b}_{0},{b}_{1},{lambda }_{14},{lambda }_{23},{beta }_{23},{lambda }_{24},{beta }_{24},{lambda }_{34},{beta }_{text{34,1}},{beta }_{text{34,2}},theta right)) is
Then, the goal is to find (Phi) that maximize (Z(Phi )) in Eq. (5).
Particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm
Although Laplace transformations-based approaches has be utilized by some researchers [26], we employed a simple and easily implemented PSO method in this study. The PSO algorithm is a population-based stochastic optimization technique developed by Kennedy and Eberhart [27] with the operational principle shown as Fig. 2. The globally optimal likelihood value is obtained via stochastic searching and optimization of candidate parameter estimate (denoted by particles). Once maximum number of iterations is reached or the change of the estimated likelihood falls below a certain threshold, the algorithm converges. Therefore, it is easily applied without complex formula derivations and widely applicable for optimization problems without the requirement of the concavity property of objective functions [28]. Given the simple iterations with low computational complexity, the PSO algorithm is theoretically fast -converging to meet the practical requirement. The step-by-step descriptions of PSO and more details of the initial particle setup are provided in Appendix 1.
A battery-powered train has broken the world record for the longest railway journey on a single charge.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) train, a specially adapted former District Line train, travelled overnight along a 200-mile (322km) route from Reading and back again via London Paddington and Oxford.
It reached 140 miles (225km), breaking the record on Brunel Maidenhead Bridge at about 04:00 BST.
The previous record of 139 miles (224km) was set by German train company Stadler Deutschland in Berlin on 10 December 2021.
The Rail Performance Society was on board to verify the record attempt.
Vice chairman Nigel Smedley said: “We can confirm that, subject to final checks, the Great Western Railway Class 230 train travelled 200 miles on a return journey from Reading Train Care Depot without charging its batteries from any external energy source.”
Great Western Railway (GWR) made the attempt to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the railways.
GWR engineering director Dr Simon Green said: “Today’s record attempt has been a bit of fun, but it also underlines a serious point: investment in battery technology is essential as we look to replace our ageing diesel fleet.”
GWR is exploring if battery trains could replace its diesel fleet as it goes out of service over the next seven to 10 years.
TOKYO, Japan, August 20, 2025 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda) today announced the recent establishment of a new company in India, Honda Finance India Private Ltd., (“Honda Finance India”) that will offer customers retail sales financing services including loans and lease sales options for Honda products in India.
In India, where further growth of the motorcycle and automobile markets is expected, the number of customers using loans to purchase motorcycles and cars is also expected to increase. Until now, retail sales financing services in the Indian market have mainly been provided by local financial institutions. However, in light of market trends, Honda will further strengthen its business in India by offering its own sales financing services through a local subsidiary in India.
Honda Finance India Private Ltd. will apply for a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) license to conduct financial services business in India. After obtaining the license, the company will begin offering retail sales financing services to help customers finance their purchase of motorcycles, automobiles and services provided by Honda.
Financial services business has been one of the main business areas of Honda, and the company has established local subsidiaries specializing in retail sales financing services in Japan and various countries in key regions such as North America, and Europe. With the establishment of the new company, India became the ninth country where Honda has a local subsiary to offer financial services.
Honda will work to establish long-term relationships with customers by offering flexible financial services tailored to the specific needs of customers in each region. Moreover, in anticipation of the global expansion of software-defined vehicle (SDV) sales in the future, Honda is looking into opportunities to offer new financial services designed to increase customer satisfaction and the value of the customer experience using various data from Honda SDVs. With such new services, Honda will further strengthen its financial services business not only in India but across the globe.
Prices in the UK rose by 3.8% in the year to July, driven mainly by a jump in the price of air fares coinciding with the school summer holidays.
That means inflation is at its highest level for 18 months and still far above the Bank of England’s target of 2%.
A rise in the cost of eating out, as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages more generally, also helped to push up prices.
The Bank’s latest forecast expects inflation to peak at 4% in September.
ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner said the “hefty” increase in air fares was the “largest July rise since collection of air fares changed from quarterly to monthly in 2001”. He said the jump was “likely due to the timing of this year’s school holidays”.
“The price of petrol and diesel also increased this month, compared with a drop this time last year. Food price inflation continues to climb, with items such as coffee, fresh orange juice, meat and chocolate seeing the biggest rises,” he added.
