'Could Resonate Globally': Korea Sparks Market Chaos With 'AI Tax' Threat

European Rearmament Efforts Snuffed By Chinese Control Of Critical Materials Yesterday we reported that, in a tit-for-tat move, China announced it is targeting US rare earths firms in response to a Pentagon list of Chinese firms: this, as Rabobank noted, is largely a symbolic move, but it still underlines the tensions in this area. So does the Nikkei reporting that ‘China minerals control threatens EU rearmament, as bloc seeks new sources’: because, as Rabo's Michael Every notes, even if you can afford a dagger, you can’t make it without rare earths, and...

What's Behind The Plunging Won And Sudden Liquidity Collapse In Korean Markets South Korea’s won weakened for a fourth day as overseas investors accelerated their relentless sales of local stocks. In response, USD/KRW rose 0.1% to 1,552.60, extending its four-day gain to 1.2% (i.e. KRW drop). According to Barclays, pressure from both resident outflows and more recently in the case of Korea, heavy foreign outflows, could pose further headwinds even as exports performance remains robust and domestic equities extend their bubble.  Let's take a closer look at what's driving the key moves in...

The US Treasury Department has relaxed its sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, allowing American companies to engage in certain transactions with the country’s state-owned energy firm. In a general license issued on Wednesday, the Treasury outlined broad exemptions for the US oil sanctions, which had prohibited most trade with Caracas’s state-run oil company, Petróleos de […]