Key points:

The Asian rice export markets were subdued this week, with rates in Thailand at their lowest level in 18 years due to subdued demand and ample supply from the new season's crop, with fears emerging that the persistent low prices might lead farmers to grow less rice.

Thailand's 5% broken rice (RI-THBKN5-P1) was quoted at $335 per tonnes on Thursday, slightly down from $338 quoted last week, to its lowest since October 2007.

"Buyers have been purchasing only little amount due to news that India will be releasing more rice that is cheaper than Thai variety," a Bangkok-based trader said, adding that farmers are now going to grow less rice due to the persisting low prices.

The supply situation also offers little relief in Thailand with more rice entering the market as the rainy season winds down.

India's 5% broken parboiled variety (RI-INBKN5-P1) was quoted this week at $344-$350 per ton, unchanged from the last week, while its 5% broken white rice was priced at $350 to $360 per ton.

"Supplies from the new season's crop are starting to push local prices down, though the government's been buying up stocks pretty aggressively," said a New Delhi-based dealer with a trade house.

Vietnam's 5% broken rice (RI-VNBKN5-P1) was offered at $415-$430 per ton, unchanged from a week ago, according to the Vietnam Food Association.

Sales are very slow due to weak demand, despite offering lower prices, said a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam's rice exports are forecast to be 8.8 million tons this year, state media on Thursday cited the association chairman Do Ha Nam as saying.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has approved a proposal to import 50,000 metric tons of parboiled rice at $355.59 per tonne through a tender. The move aims to strengthen food security and ensure sufficient stock as the government struggles to control rising prices of rice.

Source: TradingView

Risk assets have been yo-yoing since mid-October, with fundamentals turning increasingly obscure amid the absence of US data, leaving investors hesitant to take on new risk.

Cryptocurrencies have also been flashing mixed signals following the early-October rallies in Bitcoin, Solana, and Ethereum.

Despite ongoing market cap outflows, the crypto space has made solid progress this year.Screenshot 2025-11-13 at 11.15.59 AM

Crypto Total Market Cap Weekly Chart, November 13, 2025 – Source: TradingView

Still, with prices now down roughly 32% from the $4,950 August peak, the hype in ETH has cooled substantially.

Yet, it's often when fewer people are watching that true opportunities emerge—though the question remains: is this a dip to buy or a reason to panic?

Overstretched tech valuations continue to weigh on markets, as reflected in today's weakness across stock indices, and crypto is facing similar pressure.

From an investment standpoint, the long term will reveal its truth—but for those without a crystal ball, a prudent approach is Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA), which involves gradually building positions over time.

For traders, the focus should stay on support and resistance levels—spotting trends between them and reacting when those levels break.

Let's now look these levels through a multi-timeframe Ethereum analysis.

Daily overview of the Crypto Market, November 13, 2025 – Source: Finviz

Ethereum (ETH) Multi-timeframe technical analysis

Ethereum (ETH) Daily Chart, November 13, 2025 – Source: TradingView

Having broken its April 2025 explosive upward channel, the picture for ETH is tilting more bearish, as strong flows have brought the second-Crypto below its $3,500 momentum pivot.

Multiple attempts to break resistances have been met with consequent selloffs, leading to the formation of lower-highs.

A balancing rebound last Tuesday (Nov 4) marked a temporary bottom at $3,053 – the rest will be to see if the bottom holds in an eventual double bottom or if its breaks, but for now these prices are still 8% from here (But never underestimate Crypto volatility!).

4H Chart and levels

Ethereum (ETH) 4H Chart, November 13, 2025 – Source: TradingView

Levels of interest for ETH trading:

Support Levels:

Resistance Levels:

1H Chart

Ethereum (ETH) 1H Chart, November 13, 2025 – Source: TradingView

ETH is oscillating in a shorter timeframe descending channel which serves as immediate momentum indicator:

Breaking below its support line ($3,300 to $3,330) points at more aggressive selling

Bouncing at the lows of the channel points to a short-term revisit of the $3,500 Pivot Zone.

Further upwards, a break above $3,700 (with preferably a session/weekly close), points to a more stable rebound that may serve for future rallies.

Source: MarketPulse by OANDA Group

In Australia, the week's dataflow kicked off with a bang as Westpac-MI Consumer Sentiment surged 12.8% in November to 103.8, the first reading above the optimist / pessimist divide since the economy reopened after the 'delta' outbreak. A calmer geopolitical backdrop following the de-escalation of US-China trade tensions and a more assured domestic recovery look to be behind the result.

While respondents showed some renewed concerns over inflation and the interest rate outlook, these negatives were offset. It is interesting to note that responses received after the RBA's November decision were positive, suggesting the Board's decision and communications were construed as measured rather than outright hawkish.

On balance, these factors led to a significant improvement in views on the economic outlook for one year (+16.6%) and five years (+15.3%). The 'time to buy a major household item' sub-index also jumped (+14.9%); together with less-restrained intentions for Christmas spending, this outcome suggests the foundation for the consumer recovery is firming. Positive wealth effects associated with the housing upswing are arguably also at play, as evinced by strong investor-led growth in home lending and Westpac-MI house price expectations moving to a new cycle high.

While consumers have grown more anxious on the jobs outlook, this week's labour force data confirmed that the labour market is only softening at a very gradual pace. Employment was firmer-than-expected in the month, rising +42.2k, keeping annual growth steady at 1.5% on a three-month average basis. The unemployment rate also fell from a 'thin' 4.5% in September to a 'fat' 4.3% in October (–0.1ppt from 4.45% to 4.34%). Looking through the noise, the steady-but-modest uptrend in the unemployment rate in place throughout 2025 remains intact. At its current level, the unemployment rate is broadly consistent with full employment – indicative of a labour market in good health but which poses little-to-no risk to inflation via wages.

The rebalancing of employment growth from the 'jobs-rich', public-funded care economy to the less 'jobs-intensive' market sector is a key driver of the softening employment trend. The latest NAB business survey suggests this transition remains in good stead, the business conditions index rising to its highest level since March 2024. Confidence is re-emerging but remains fragile. Given the weak starting point for investment, businesses might hold off on capacity expansion.

The main development offshore this week was US Congressional approval to end the government shutdown in place since the beginning of October. While a welcome development, another partial shutdown from the end of January is a distinct possibility, with only the Departments of Agriculture and Veteran's Affairs, the Food and Drug Administration, military construction projects and Congress funded through to end-September. There is no guarantee a vote on extending the Obamacare subsidies will pass over year end, and so debate is likely to remain highly politicised over funding the remainder of the Government from February.

In coming weeks, US statistical agencies will attempt to bring the dataflow back up to date, though the market has already been told some upcoming releases will be incomplete. FOMC members, by and large, continue to focus attention on inflation risks, viewing these as more significant and immediate than the labour market's ongoing deceleration. Arguably then, it will take a material deterioration in conditions for the Committee to ease again at the December meeting.

Source: ACTIONFOREX

South Korea's government said on Friday it would boost subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) by 20% next year as part of a package to help the country's auto industry weather risks caused by U.S. tariffs.

The government said in a statement passenger EV subsidies would be increased to 936 billion won ($658.47 million) in 2026, up from 780 billion won this year, in a bid to stimulate local demand.

The package will also include support to help auto parts suppliers, with the government pledging to supply policy finance at levels above the 15 trillion won it provided in 2025.

South Korea will also strengthen guarantee programmes for auto parts makers operating overseas, such as in the United States and Mexico, to offer long-term, low-interest loans.

The Asian country's auto industry shipped exports worth $70.8 billion in 2024, accounting for more than 10% of the country's $683.8 billion in total exports.

Hyundai Motor, which together with its affiliate Kia Corp is the world's third-biggest automaking group by sales, has been hit by a 25% tariff for exports to the United States, its biggest market generating about 40% of revenue.

That tariff rate was lowered to 15% after Washington and Seoul reached a trade agreement last month.

However, the 15% rate has not been applied to South Korean autos and parts makers as the countries have yet to issue a joint fact sheet outlining the agreement on trade and security issues struck last month.

More than two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea's Lee Jae Myung announced they had resolved months of negotiations over tariffs and security matters, the two sides have yet to release any written agreement.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun asked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to work for the swift release of a joint fact sheet on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Canada, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday.

Source: Investing

Asian shares joined a global selloff on Friday as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials doused hopes for a US rate cut next month, while a still messy data calendar added to the angst, hitting bonds, the dollar and even gold.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.8% on Friday, Australia's resources-heavy shares slid 1.5%, while South Korea plunged 2.3%.

China will report its monthly activity figures later in the day, after weak lending data flagged concerns from households and businesses to take on more debt amid economic uncertainties.

Overnight, Wall Street tumbled with steep losses in Nvidia and other artificial intelligence heavyweights on valuation concerns, while Treasuries retreated as investors scaled back expectations of a rate cut from the Fed in December to just 51%, down from 63% a day earlier.

The dollar failed to get a lift on higher yields, losing ground to the likes of the yen and Swiss franc.

"The drawdown seen across assets was pronounced, and looking across the suite of investible markets there were few places to hide," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

"With the US government open for business, traders now await the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) schedule for key economic data... So far, positioning has been set largely on Tier 2 data, and that will need to be reconciled against the headline data that truly drives the Fed's decision-making process."

The White House, however, dashed hopes for a clearer view of the US economy any time soon, saying that the US unemployment rate for October may never be available. Adding to the downbeat mood and pointing to worries about high inflation, a growing number of Fed officials overnight signalled caution about further rate cuts.

Alberto Musalem, who runs the St Louis Fed Bank, said there was limited room to ease further without becoming overly accommodative, while Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said interest rate policy should remain restrictive in order to put downward pressure on inflation.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari told Bloomberg that he opposed a rate cut last month and is on the fence about December.

Treasuries fell overnight as investors pared back bets for a Fed cut next month. Two-year Treasury yields held at 3.597%, having risen three basis points (bps) overnight, while the 10-year yield rose 1 bp to 4.125%, after gaining three bps overnight.

The rise in yields, however, failed to support the US dollar, which was down 0.2% against its major peers overnight and was at 99.254, close to the lowest level in two weeks.

The yen got some much-needed respite and last traded at 154.7 per dollar, just a touch above a nine-month low of 155.05 per dollar. The Swiss franc jumped 0.6% on the dollar.

Sterling, however, lost 0.3% to US$1.3153 on Friday after the Financial Times reported Prime Minister Keir Starmer and finance minister Rachel Reeves have ditched their manifesto-busting plan to increase income tax rates.

Oil prices rose in early trade but were set for the third straight week of declines. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.4% to US$58.91, but were down 1.4% this week.

Spot gold prices rose 0.3% to US$4,183 per ounce, having lost 0.6% overnight to snap a four-day winning streak. It remained well off its record top of US$4,381.

Source: Theedgemarkets

The downturn in Britain's labour market abated slightly last month as recruiters reported the first increase in demand for temporary staff in over a year, a survey showed on Friday.

The monthly Report on Jobs from accountants KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), a trade body, showed permanent job placements contracted in October at the slowest rate since July last year.

While the readings still fitted with a subdued picture of the labour market, they pointed to a stabilisation ahead of finance minister Rachel Reeves' November 26 budget.

"Today's data reflects the more positive outlook we have been hearing from recruiters since the start of the autumn," said Neil Carberry, REC chief executive.

Carberry added that recruiters held similar optimism ahead of last year's budget, dashed by large tax increases on employers that resulted in higher unemployment and redundancies.

Official data earlier this month showed the unemployment rate hit 5.0% in the third quarter, which some economists linked to the tax hikes that took effect in April.

"As we go into Budget 2025, there can be no repeat. If Government cares about growth, as it claims, measures must stoke business investment, not deter it," Carberry said.

Reeves is widely expected to raise income tax later this month, which would break a manifesto promise not to raise taxes on working people. On Monday she said sticking to the pledges would mean harmful cuts in capital spending.

The KPMG/REC survey's gauge of permanent staff starting salaries rose to a three-month high, but still indicated only tepid growth.

The survey is watched by Bank of England interest rate-setters as a gauge of employment and private sector wage growth, which cooled in the three months to September as the central bank had expected.

Source: Investing