The Bank of Japan maintained its interest rates at a policy meeting but unexpectedly announced the start of ETF sales, dragging Asian stock markets lower and halting the record global stock rally.
On Friday, in pre-market trading, Intel fell over 2%. FedEx rose over 5%, with the company's first fiscal quarter performance improving and future growth expected. European stock markets opened higher. The dollar strengthened, and Asian currencies generally weakened on Friday, with the Indian rupee under pressure, once again facing the risk of falling to historical lows. Gold rose, while U.S. Treasury bonds fell.
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In pre-market trading, Intel fell over 2%. FedEx rose over 5%, with the company's first fiscal quarter performance improving and future growth expected.
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The German DAX 30 index opened up 0.24%. The UK FTSE 100 index opened up 0.03%. The French CAC 40 index opened up 0.26%. The European Stoxx 50 index opened up 0.07%.
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The Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.6%, at 45045.81 points. The Tokyo Stock Exchange index closed down 0.4%. The Seoul Composite Index closed down 0.5%.
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The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury rose 2 basis points to 4.131%.
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The yield on Japan's 40-year government bonds fell 7.5 basis points to 3.36%. The yield on Japan's 5-year government bonds rose to its highest level since 2008.
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The dollar index rose 0.23% to 97.59.
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The British pound fell 0.5% against the dollar to an intraday low of 1.34835 USD.
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The Indian rupee's exchange rate against the dollar briefly fell to 88.32, extremely close to last week's historical low of 88.4550. As of the latest quote, the rupee exchange rate is 88.30.
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Asian currencies such as the South Korean won and Indonesian rupiah all fell by 0.5%.
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Spot gold rose 0.25% to 3653.42 USD.
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<h2>Bank of Japan shifts, Japanese stocks and bonds under pressure</h2>
On Friday, the Bank of Japan announced it would initiate an ETF sale plan, similar in scale to the disposal of stocks purchased from banks in the early 21st century. While the decision to maintain interest rates was in line with market expectations, the asset sale plan immediately put pressure on the Japanese market.
The Japanese stock market gave back all earlier gains, and the yield on Japan's 2-year government bonds climbed to its highest level since 2008. Strategist Mark Cranfield analyzed:
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“Japanese government bond futures are being heavily sold, and the 2-year yield is rising, which is a strong signal, indicating that traders are pricing in a rate hike in October. It now seems that the situation is set, and only a significant setback in trade with the U.S. could prevent a 25 basis point rate hike.”
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The Bank of Japan's actions come as investors grow increasingly wary of the sustainability of the global &#34;everything rally.&#34; In recent weeks, as the S&amp;P 500 continuously set new historical highs, concerns about a potential market bubble have intensified, with excessive valuations often seen as a major source of risk
Amy Xie Patrick, the head of earnings strategy at Pendal Group, pointed out that some investors are tending towards &#34;herd&#34; behavior without making independent assessments of the market. She stated:
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&#34;This is a question mark for me, as to how long this round of stock market gains can last.&#34;
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<h2>The Dollar and Yields Both Rebound</h2>
Affected by the market's interpretation of Federal Reserve policy, the dollar index has rebounded from a low of 96.22 on the day of the Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday to 97.46. Meanwhile, the 2-year U.S. Treasury yield, which is highly sensitive to interest rate policy, has risen more than 10 basis points from its intraday low on Wednesday.
Additionally, data released on Thursday showed that the number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell last week, reversing the increase from the previous week. This positive economic data also supported the upward movement of the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields.
Analysts pointed out that although the Federal Reserve announced a rate cut at this meeting and expects more cuts in the future, the overall tone, when combined with Chairman Powell's statements at the press conference, is more hawkish than the market initially expected. This &#34;hawkish rate cut&#34; signal is a key reason for the reversal of market expectations and directly triggered the rebound of the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields.
The dollar index rose 0.23% to 97.59.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/a01b5740-cbd2-4cf5-95c9-6989dde22735.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/a01b5740-cbd2-4cf5-95c9-6989dde22735.png"/>
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose 2 basis points to 4.131%.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/a47872c5-424e-4f2a-8ac7-22a56611ba0a.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/a47872c5-424e-4f2a-8ac7-22a56611ba0a.png"/>
Spot gold rose 0.25% to $3,653.42.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/4e6b608d-bfe4-4cbd-8321-648825dde227.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/4e6b608d-bfe4-4cbd-8321-648825dde227.png"/>

INTC

Before the US stock market opens, Intel is down over 2%. FedEx is up over 5%, with the company's first-quarter performance showing improvement and future growth expected. European stock markets opened higher. The Bank of Japan maintained interest rates at its policy meeting but unexpectedly announced the start of ETF sales, dragging Asian stock markets lower. The US dollar is rising, and spot gold is up 0.25% to $3,653.42

- The Bank of Japan announced an unexpected ETF sale while keeping interest rates unchanged, leading to declines in Asian stock markets and halting a record global stock rally.  
- U.S. pre-market trading saw Intel drop over 2%, while FedEx rose over 5% due to positive earnings forecasts.  
- The dollar strengthened, Asian currencies weakened, and gold prices increased, reflecting market reactions to the Fed's recent policy decisions and economic data.

Intel fell more than 2% in pre-market trading, European stocks rose broadly, the US dollar rebounded, and spot gold increased