Gold Price: How Rupee vs Dollar Moves Drive The Precious Metal in India

U.S. President Donald Trump launched criticism at South Korea on Monday, just hours before a summit with its new President, Lee Jae Myung, as conflict over defense spending and trade tests the two countries' decades-old alliance.

The leaders were gearing up for their first talks when Trump said on social media, without evidence, that there "Seems like a Purge or Revolution" in South Korea and that "We can't have that and do business there."

The remarks cast a dark mood over what, for Lee, are high-stakes talks. He took office in June following a snap election called after his conservative predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, feted in Washington for his hard line on North Korea, was removed for his December attempt to impose martial law.

South Korea's economy relies heavily on the U.S., with Washington underwriting its security with troops and nuclear deterrence. Lee hopes to chart a balanced path of cooperation with the U.S., while not antagonizing top trade partner China.

The source of Trump's complaint was not immediately clear. But, for months, supporters of former President Yoon have hoped Trump would intercede in what they say is communist persecution of the impeached ex-president.

Yoon is now on trial on charges of inciting an insurrection. His wife is facing possible indictment on corruption and bribery cases.

South Korea has long come under targeted criticism from Trump, who has called it a "money machine" that takes advantage of American military protection.

South Korea's presidential office told local media they were looking into the matter. The White House did not immediately respond to emailed questions about Trump's post.

Source: Reuters

China’s financial hub of Shanghai eased home-buying rules in the latest attempt by authorities to contain the nation’s prolonged property crisis.Eligible residents, including those from outside Shanghai, can now buy an unlimited number of homes in the outer suburbs, according to a statement Monday. Non-residents who have paid pensions for three years can now purchase new homes in urban areas, instead of only being allowed to buy existing residences there.

Shares of Chinese developers rallied earlier Monday on speculation that policymakers will unveil more steps to support the housing market. Stimulus measures unveiled last September have done little to arrest the four-year slump, which has dragged on growth in an economy that’s now facing fresh threats from US tariffs.“Shanghai’s easing will definitely be an incremental positive,” said Jeff Zhang, a property analyst with Morningstar Inc. “We estimate property sales in the suburban areas make up more than half of the city’s total.”

Additional measures could come as early as September, with authorities preparing to speed up urban renovation projects to bolster the property market, the Securities Daily reported, citing an industry expert.

A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of Chinese property shares rose as much as 3%, the biggest intraday move in a month. China Vanke Co jumped as much as 16% — even after it announced a wider first-half loss last Friday. Sunac China Holdings Ltd climbed as much as 13%.Premier Li Qiang last week reiterated the need for action to stop the decline in the real estate market at a meeting of the State Council, or China’s cabinet. The central government flagged broad support during the National People’s Congress in March, when it vowed to “fully unleash” demand from buyers who need homes or seek to improve their housing conditions.

Shanghai’s move follows similar easing by the capital city Beijing in early August, which also allowed eligible residents to buy an unlimited number of homes outside the fifth ring roads, widely considered suburban areas.

Cutting inventory

The easing is a “targeted” move aimed at lowering Shanghai’s home-buying threshold and reducing inventory in suburban areas, which have about 80% of the city’s unsold homes by units, said Song Hongwei, research director at Tospur Real Estate Consulting Co.The city is also removing the distinction between first and second homes when it comes to mortgage rates, which will likely trim borrowing costs on existing homes by about 40 basis points, said Yan Yuejin, vice president of Shanghai E-house’s research arm. The rule may help to spur demand from homeowners seeking to upgrade to a better property, Yan added.

In other changes, to help lower-income households afford properties, Shanghai increased the amount that can be borrowed for mortgage loans backed by the housing provident fund, China’s government savings programme used to help people buy homes. Quotas for such mortgages, which are 45 basis points cheaper than loans for first homes, will be raised to as much as 2.16 million yuan (US$302,000 or RM1.27 million). Shanghai also allowed residents to withdraw their deposits in the scheme to fund downpayments.

Source: Theedgemarkets

Wall Street's main indexes dipped on Monday, retreating from gains made in the previous session after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted that an interest-rate cut could be considered at next month's central bank meeting.

Recent economic data suggesting labor market weakness has boosted investor confidence that the central bank could switch to a dovish stance in September, despite a majority of policymakers warning that U.S. tariffs could add to inflationary pressures in the coming months.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price index - the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - is due to be released on Friday, while official nonfarm payrolls data is expected next week. The reports will be crucial, especially after Powell said a dovish verdict was not a certainty.

"The most important report between now and September is not the inflation numbers, rather the jobs report," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital, New York.

"As long as we show continued cracks in the labor market, the cut in September will happen, barring some egregiously high inflation numbers."

Powell's comments nudged major brokerages to revise their expectations, with Barclays, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank currently seeing a 25-basis-point reduction in borrowing costs next month.

Traders now see a 79.6% chance of a Fed rate cut in September, according to data compiled by LSEG.

At 09:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab fell 117.50 points, or 0.26%, to 45,514.24, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab lost 13.20 points, or 0.20%, to 6,453.71, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab lost 40.29 points, or 0.18%, to 21,457.09.

Friday's optimism helped the blue-chip Dow close at a record high for the first time since December 2024 and the benchmark S&P 500 log its strongest daily gain since May.

On Monday, Jefferies became the latest brokerage to raise its year-end target for the S&P 500, at a time when companies have tempered tariff-related forecasts.

Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sub-sectors edged lower, with consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD), opens new tab leading losses with a 0.5% drop.

Traders are awaiting AI darling Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab earnings on Wednesday to see if its $4 trillion valuation is justified.

The potential impact on Nvidia's forecasts from its recent revenue-sharing deal with the U.S. government will be closely watched. The chip major's shares were flat in early trading.

In deals-related moves, beverage company Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP.O), opens new tab slid 8% after saying it would buy JDE Peet's (JDEP.AS), opens new tab for $18.4 billion in cash.

Furniture retailers RH (RH.N), opens new tab and Wayfair (W.N), opens new tab declined about 7% each after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday his administration would conduct a tariff investigation on furniture imports.

Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab dipped after Trump said the U.S. government was taking a stake in the chipmaker, which the company said could limit its international sales and future government grants.

Trump also said that he would make more deals similar to the one with Intel.

Remarks from New York Fed President John Williams, later in the day will be scrutinized to see if he shares Powell's policy outlook.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.72-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.75-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 13 new lows.

Source: Reuters

Source: reuters

Major brokerages, including Barclays, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank, now expect a 25-basis-point U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut in September following Chair Jerome Powell's shift in tone at Jackson Hole toward rising risks in the labor market.

Powell's remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium emphasized a change in the Fed's reaction function, with greater weight now placed on labor market risks."This unusual situation suggests that downside risks to employment are rising," Powell said, warning that such risks could materialize quickly in the form of layoffs and a spike in unemployment.In notes released on Friday after Powell's speech, Barclays pulled forward its previously expected September 2026 cut to September 2025, saying his speech introduced "an easing bias" and raised the bar for not cutting.

"Powell made (it) clear that the Fed intends to deliver a 'fine-tuning' rate cut in September unless the data dictates otherwise," wrote BNP economists, led by Calvin Tse. They reversed the brokerage's long-standing call for the Fed to stay on hold, forecasting cuts in both September and December.

Meanwhile, both Macquarie and Deutsche Bank revised their expectations of a cut in September and December, respectively, to a 25-bp cut each in those two months.Bank of America, which expects no rate cuts this year, said "barring further deterioration of the labor market, we think that the Fed would risk a policy error if it were to cut rates," and pointed to signs of a rebound in economic activity and persistent inflation pressures.

Morgan Stanley also does not expect a September cut yet, but said such a move is likely if incoming labor and inflation data confirm further softening.

Markets are now pricing in an 87% chance of a quarter-point rate cut at the September policy meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, up from 75% before Powell's speech.

The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to meet again on September 16 and 17.

Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, meanwhile, reaffirmed their expectations for a September cut, aligning with the broader market view that softening data may warrant policy easing.

Source: Kitco

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin sellers emerged again on Monday as the drop to $111,000 resulted in a large liquidation of leveraged long positions across the cryptocurrency market.

BTC/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Across the board, a total of $806.95 million was wiped out of the market in short and long positions, as shown in the figure below.

Crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

The Bitcoin liquidation heatmap showed buy orders in the $110,500-$109,700 range in the weekly time frame. More bid orders were building down to $108,000 as shown in the chart below.

BTC/USDT liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass

How low can Bitcoin price go?

“Would really prefer price holds in this area, or we'll fall back into the previous range which would open us up to another retest of $100K.”BTC/USD chart. Source: Jelle

Fellow analyst Captain Faibik said the support around $111,800 was “getting weak,” and if broken, could trigger a fresh downward leg toward the $107,000 and $108,000 zone.

Several crypto industry participants remain optimistic for higher prices in spite of the drawdown. Analyst Gert van Lagen said on Monday that Bitcoin’s parabola remained intact, targeting $350,000, but warned that an invalidation of the structure could see the price drop toward 95,000.

BTC/USD chart depicting a parabola. Source: Gert van Lagen

Source: Cointelegraph