Japan's Nikkei ends higher on weaker yen
The Nikkei rose 0.33% to 39,821.28, after swinging between marginal gains and losses during the session.
The broader Topix rose 0.41% to 2,828.16.
'The Nikkei opened higher, supported by the yen's weakness against the dollar. But as soon as the Nikkei rose closer to the 40,000 level, investors sold stocks to book profits,' said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.
'Overall, the market is firm, with the Topix rising. Investors are rotating their targets day to day.'
Automakers rose on the back of the softer yen, with Toyota Motor and Honda Motor up 0.91% and 3.35%, respectively.
The yen weakened 0.2% to 146.96 against the dollar. The greenback extended gains as US President Donald Trump pledged more trade-related proclamations after announcing 25% tariffs on Japan and steps against other trade partners.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
4 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Bitcoin climbs to record $123,000
Bitcoin surpassed $120,000 for the first time on Monday, marking a milestone for the world's largest cryptocurrency as investors bet on long-sought policy wins for the industry this week. Bitcoin scaled a record high of $123,153.22 before pulling back slightly to trade 2.4% higher around $122,000. Later in the day, the US House of Representatives will debate a series of bills to provide the digital asset industry with the nation's regulatory framework it has long demanded. Those demands have resonated with US President Donald Trump, who has called himself the "crypto president" and urged policymakers to revamp rules in favour of the industry. "It's riding a number of tailwinds at the moment," said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore, citing strong institutional demand, expectations of further gains and support from Trump.
Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Express Tribune
End of 'The End of History'
Year 2025 has seen immense turbulence. Since Donald Trump's formal inauguration as President of the United States, 60% of international development funds have been slashed, immigration controls in the West have multiplied exponentially, trade barriers have gone up, AI has wiped out hundreds of thousands of jobs, the Palestinian genocide has entered its final phase, and conflicts involving nuclear powers have intensified. In the words of Antonio Gramsci, "The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters." Following the end of WWII, America experienced 25 years of relatively inclusive growth. Real wages - adjusted for inflation - for both white and blue collar trades rose consistently until 1970. Technological breakthroughs were frequent and significant. The digital computer, data storage devices, microchip technology, and packet-switched networks, which served as precursors to the internet, all entered the fray during the '50s and '60s. In aviation, the sound barrier was broken, the first satellites went into orbit, and rockets landed on the moon. In biomedicine, the DNA structure was mapped, the polio vaccine discovered, and oral contraceptives approved. In media, portable radios and colour TVs were made ubiquitous. Perhaps most significantly, basic amenities like food, clothing, shelter, education, and healthcare were easily affordable for single-earner middle class families. Simultaneously, a comprehensive international development architecture was set up. At the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the World Bank and IMF were formally established to foster macroeconomic stability in 'developing' countries - particularly following decolonisation - via policy formulation, short term credit agreements, and infrastructure-related assistance. The UN was inaugurated a year later to promote trade, sociocultural exchange, and peace/harmony between nations. The WHO was set up in 1948 to address public health crises. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), created in 1961, spearheaded development in the domains of economics, governance, and humanitarian assistance across the world for subsequent decades. During this period, these global institutions played a genuinely constructive role in industrialisation, agricultural modernisation, and institutional strengthening in developing countries. While conflicts (such as the Vietnam War and Korean War) broke out in the context of the Cold War, significant people's movements such as the Civil Rights Movement, Anti-war Movement, Counterculture Movement, first two waves of feminism, and several anti-colonial independence movements also took off and expanded liberties and sovereignties worldwide. The tides began to shift in 1971, when the dollar was unpegged from gold by President Nixon - sending shockwaves across global economies. The US Federal Reserve could now print money to its heart's desire: thus triggering massive inflationary pressures that corroded purchasing power. A couple of years later, the mainstreaming of 'finance capital' was observed. 1973's oil embargo sent prices skyrocketing by almost 300%, following which OPEC countries saw a massive influx of dollars - which they parked in US banks due to limited domestic capacity. These reserves were then recycled into US Treasury securities in exchange for military protection. This fueled a movement away from growth/innovation in tangible goods and services in favor of 'speculative trading' in bonds, stocks, derivatives, etc - a trend that led to greater inequality and declining real innovation. Things took an even worse turn under President Reagan, who kickstarted neoliberalism and aggressive imperialism. The first functioned to empower big corporations via massive reductions in taxation, regulation, trade restriction, etc and widespread crackdowns on organised labour - effectively subverting the state apparatus to the interests of big capital. The 1989 Washington Consensus codified 'privatize, liberalize, deregulate' as global economic orthodoxy, trapping the Global South in debt and resource extraction arrangements that revived colonial dynamics. Second, a series of military and intelligence interventions were launched as part of a broad strategy to lay the pressure on the Soviet Union. While Afghanistan was the major confrontation, the backing of several regimes and militia groups - particularly in Latin America - was a central feature of the 'Reagan Doctrine'. The former included the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Argentina, and Chile; while the latter constituted the Contras in Nicaragua and 'Mujahideen' in Pakistan. This initiated a cycle of violence, with entire economies of arms/ammunition, sex/drug trafficking, and extremist indoctrination projects proliferating across vulnerable communities. Many of these groups were later involved in the 9/11 attacks, triggering decades-long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that killed millions. This pattern - economic precarity at home, violence overseas - continued throughout the 2000s and 2010s. The 2008 financial crash, Obama's drone warfare, the rise of ISIS, turmoil in Afghanistan, Israel's continued occupation, and the abysmal handling of Covid-19 were all indications of terminal decline. Even in tech, progress almost ground to a halt during the two decades: reduced to marginal annual improvements in consumer electronics (like the iPhone) with hardly any groundbreaking discoveries. Large language models in recent years have admittedly been the major breakaway from this uneventful pattern, but even these potentially revolutionary tools have been deployed to advance military, surveillance, and immigration control systems - accelerating the movement towards fascism. Having withdrawn from the WHO, drastically reduced contributions to UN agencies, ignored directives from the International Criminal Court, and shut down USAID, it is all but evident that the 'rules based international order' led by the US following WWII is drawing to a close. The recent '12 Day War' with Iran only laid bare US vulnerabilities, as the former was able to preserve uranium stockpiles, give Tel Aviv a pounding, and launch attacks on Gulf airbases. Domestically, New York City - the capital of the 'American Dream' - recently voted for a staunchly anti-corporate and pro-Palestine candidate as Democratic nominee for mayorship, thus rejecting two central ideological tenets of Western hegemony, i.e. Capitalism and Zionism. In 1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, political theorist Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the 'End of History', asserting liberal capitalism's final triumph. Three decades on, his claim sounds laughable. What comes next is difficult to predict, but two possibilities have been proposed. One is nuclear armageddon, where nations blow each other up following tit-for-tat engagements in 'World War 3'. The other is the ushering in of a 'globalist' order, one premised upon total control and subjugation: an Orwellian nightmare. There is a third path: a break from endless war, exploitation, and despotism. Its name is Socialism.
Express Tribune
8 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Trump sends weapons to Ukraine, gives Russia 50 days to stop war
Listen to article US President Donald Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine on Monday, and threatened to hit buyers of Russian exports with sanctions unless Russia agrees a peace deal in 50 days, a major shift in policy brought on by frustration with Moscow. Sitting side-by-side with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin. Billions of dollars in weapons would be distributed to Ukraine, he said. "We're going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to NATO," Trump said, adding that Washington's NATO allies would pay for the weapons. The weapons would include Patriot air defence missiles, which Ukraine has urgently sought to defend its cities from Russian air strikes. "It's a full complement with the batteries," Trump said. "We're going to have some come very soon, within days... a couple of the countries that have Patriots are going to swap over and will replace the Patriots with the ones they have." Some or all of 17 Patriot batteries ordered by other countries could be sent to Ukraine "very quickly", he said. His threat to impose so-called secondary sanctions on Russia, if carried out, would be a major shift in Western sanctions policy. Lawmakers from both political parties in the United States are pushing for a bill that would authorise such measures, targeting other countries that buy Russian oil. Throughout the more than three-year-old war, Western countries have cut off most of their own financial ties to Moscow, but have held back from taking steps that would restrict Russia from selling its oil elsewhere. That has allowed Moscow to continue earning hundreds of billions of dollars from shipping oil to buyers such as China and India. Also Read: N Korea offers Russia full support on Ukraine "We're going to be doing secondary tariffs," Trump said. "If we don't have a deal in 50 days, it's very simple, and they'll be at 100%." A White House official said Trump was referring to 100% tariffs on Russian goods as well as secondary sanctions on other countries that buy its exports. Grace period Still, Trump's announcement of a 50-day grace period was greeted with relief by investors in Russia, where the rouble recovered from earlier losses and stock markets rose. "Trump performed below market expectations. He gave 50 days during which the Russian leadership can come up with something and extend the negotiation track. Moreover, Trump likes to postpone and extend such deadlines," said analyst Artyom Nikolayev from Invest Era, a financial information firm. Trump, who returned to power this year promising a quick end to the war, said his shift was motivated by increasing frustration with Putin, who, he said, had talked about peace but continued to strike Ukrainian cities. Read More: China,Russia discuss US ties and Ukraine war, says Moscow "We actually had probably four times a deal. And then the deal wouldn't happen because bombs would be thrown out that night and you'd say we're not making any deals," Trump said. Since returning to the White House, Trump has sought rapprochement with Moscow, speaking several times with Putin. His administration has pulled back from pro-Ukrainian policies such as backing Kyiv's membership in NATO and demanding Russia withdraw from all Ukrainian territory. But so far, Putin has yet to accept a proposal from Trump for an unconditional ceasefire, which was quickly endorsed by Kyiv. Recent days have seen Russia use hundreds of drones to attack Ukrainian cities. Trump vented his frustration last week, saying: "We get a lot of bullshit, opens new tab thrown at us by Putin." Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks with Trump's envoy Keith Kellogg. Zelenskiy said he had discussed "the path to peace and what we can practically do together to bring it closer", including "strengthening Ukraine's air defence, joint production and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe." An air-raid alert was declared in Kyiv shortly after Zelenskiy's talks with Kellogg took place. Separately on Monday, Zelenskiy said he would replace his long-serving prime minister Denys Shmyhal with Shmyhal's first deputy, Yulia Svyrydenko, in "a transformation of the executive branch". Her appointment will require parliamentary approval. Svyrydenko, 39, is an economist and has previously served as minister of economic development and trade and as deputy head of Zelenskiy's office. She played a key role in negotiations between Kyiv and Washington on a minerals deal. Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, holds about one-fifth of Ukraine. Its forces are slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine and Moscow shows no sign of abandoning its main war goals.
