Equity markets were sold off heavily again following the lead from a weak Wall Street on Thursday. Indeed, US equity index futures slid further in Thursday evening Globex trade.

But Japan, wow, Japan. The Nikkei and Topix indexes were down 5% within only minutes of cash trade opening and they have barely recovered. We have heard plenty of supportive comments from Japanese officials, finance minister Suzuki, chief cabinet secretary Hayashi and industry minister Saito amongst them. Details in the bullets above.

USD/JPY hit lows circa 148.88 but surged just under a big figure as wild moves persisted. As I post, USD/JPY is around 149.50. Other major FX was relatively subdued (except against JPY of course).

Gold has rallied back towards USD2455, while Bitcoin has been above USD65K and back under 64K. Its around 64.4K as I post.

Data flow was lower-tier only. News flow was light apart from the barrage from Japanese officials.

A People’s Bank of China adviser called for heftier stimulus efforts.

10 minute candles, Nikkei:

nikkei chart update 23 02 August 2024 2