Japan’s 30-year government bond auction Thursday saw demand that was stronger than the 12-month average, as investor appetite remained robust despite escalating tensions in the Middle East. The bid-to-cover ratio was 3.66, compared with 3.64 at the previous sale, and a 12-month average of 3.34. The tail, or gap between average and lowest-accepted prices, was 0.12, compared with 0.11 last month. Tr...
Japan’s 30-year government bond auction Thursday saw demand that was stronger than the 12-month average, as investor appetite remained robust despite escalating tensions in the Middle East. The bid-to-cover ratio was 3.66, compared with 3.64 at the previous sale, and a 12-month average of 3.34. The tail, or gap between average and lowest-accepted prices, was 0.12, compared with 0.11 last month. Traders are gauging the inflationary impact from rising oil prices tied to the conflict in Iran, a particular concern for Japan as a major net energy importer. Persistent yen weakness is compounding the risk as it pushes up import costs. A sale of 10-year government bonds earlier this week passed smoothly , though it failed to lift the broader market. The 30-year yield remains elevated and was last trading around 3.4%. It remains to be seen how Middle East tensions will feed into the Bank of Japan’s policy path and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s fiscal agenda. Higher energy costs could renew pressure for additional support measures if household purchasing power comes under strain. Governor Kazuo Ueda on Wednesday warned that the Middle East conflict could have a significant impact on Japan’s economy, reinforcing expectations that the central bank may keep policy steady when it meets later this month. Overnight index swaps imply roughly a 60% probability of a rate hike by April, with a 25-basis-point increase fully priced in by July.
Torsten Asmus/iStock via Getty Images Market review The US municipal bond market recorded positive returns for 4Q25, driven primarily by strong performance in October. The US economy showed signs of slowing, as it had in previous quarters, resulting in monetary easing. Additionally, political uncertainty and fiscal policy influenced the market. The municipal market contended with a technical headw...
Torsten Asmus/iStock via Getty Images Market review The US municipal bond market recorded positive returns for 4Q25, driven primarily by strong performance in October. The US economy showed signs of slowing, as it had in previous quarters, resulting in monetary easing. Additionally, political uncertainty and fiscal policy influenced the market. The municipal market contended with a technical headwind of heavy issuance, which was a theme all year. Demand was strong, however, as municipal mutual funds experienced inflows. The Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index returned 1.56%. The intermediate segment of the yield curve outperformed while the investment grade segment outperformed high yield segments. Increased trade tensions between the US and China, giving way to a truce, marked the beginning of the last quarter of 2025. Economic indicators continued to show resilience with 3Q gross domestic product ('GDP') growth tracking close to 3.5%, maintaining the pace of 2Q (based on the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow forecast). Government fiscal deficits and artificial intelligence ('AI') spending remained tailwinds. Investors mostly shrugged off the US government shutdown during the quarter, viewing it as unlikely to significantly impact growth. The lack of important data releases was the larger concern. Labor markets showed some softness with the unemployment rate rising to 4.6%, while inflation appears to be moderating with November's Consumer Price Index ('CPI') reported at 2.7% versus an expected 3.1%. However, the impact of the government shutdown on data quality was visible with some parts of the CPI report in particular reflecting missing October data. The reported disinflation, while welcome, will need to hold up in coming months before the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and investors are convinced that further easing is likely. The economy and the markets were also supported by policy stimulus – deficit spending and Fed easing. The fiscal impulse is widely expected to contin...
March 4 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence startup OpenAI topped $25 billion in annualized revenue as of the end of last month, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the figure. This is a 17% increase from the $21.4 billion in annualized revenue that the company generated at the end of the year, the report said. Reuters could not verify the report. OpenAI did no...
March 4 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence startup OpenAI topped $25 billion in annualized revenue as of the end of last month, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the figure. This is a 17% increase from the $21.4 billion in annualized revenue that the company generated at the end of the year, the report said. Reuters could not verify the report. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI is expanding into the enterprise market by teaming up with four of the world’s largest consulting firms, betting that a more hands-on approach will help corporate clients move beyond pilot projects to full-scale AI deployments. In the enterprise race, OpenAI faces competition from rivals such as Anthropic and giants like Google that are selling AI capabilities to enterprises. Since late 2022, OpenAI has gone from effectively zero revenue to more than $20 billion in annualized revenue in 2025. Its rival Anthropic has followed a similar trajectory, climbing to roughly $9 billion in annualized revenue. OpenAI is targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spending through 2030, as the ChatGPT maker lays the groundwork for an IPO that could value it at up to $1 trillion. (Reporting by Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)
Add Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. In brief Seven major tech companies signed a White House pledge to pay for energy tied to AI data centers. Companies agreed to build or buy a new electricity supply and fund grid upgrades for their facilities. The move comes amid growing concern that AI infrastructure could strain power grids and raise energy costs. Seven o...
Add Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. In brief Seven major tech companies signed a White House pledge to pay for energy tied to AI data centers. Companies agreed to build or buy a new electricity supply and fund grid upgrades for their facilities. The move comes amid growing concern that AI infrastructure could strain power grids and raise energy costs. Seven of the leading companies behind the AI boom have agreed to pay for the electricity it requires. On Wednesday, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI signed the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, committing to cover the cost of electricity generation and grid upgrades needed to power new AI data centers. During a press conference at the White House, President Donald Trump said the agreement is intended to prevent AI infrastructure from raising electricity costs for households and address concerns that expanding AI infrastructure could increase power costs. “First, these companies are committing to provide or pay for all power generation and electricity needed for their AI projects,” Trump said. “Second, they'll cover the costs of upgrading existing power delivery infrastructure.” The pledge comes as local opposition to new AI data centers grows across the U.S. over concerns about electricity demand, water use, and the public costs of expanding the infrastructure needed to power them. While Trump did not link the pledge to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it comes as global energy markets tighten following U.S. strikes on Iran, which controls the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for global oil supplies. Rising oil prices have renewed attention on energy affordability as electricity demand grows alongside AI development. Under the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, companies must build, bring, or buy the electricity needed for their AI data centers, pay for transmission lines, substations, and other grid upgrades, and cover those costs whet...
The US-Israel war on Iran has entered a sixth day, with US forces reportedly ready to provide air support to Kurdish fighters if they enter the conflict. Kurdish officials told the Associated Press that Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq were preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the US has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them. Intense waves of ai...
The US-Israel war on Iran has entered a sixth day, with US forces reportedly ready to provide air support to Kurdish fighters if they enter the conflict. Kurdish officials told the Associated Press that Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq were preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the US has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them. Intense waves of airstrikes have hit dozens of military positions, frontier posts and police stations along northern parts of Iran’s border with Iraq in what appears to be preparation by US and Israel for a new front in their war. Experts predicted that backing armed groups from Iran’s ethnic communities would “open up a hornet’s nest”, aggravating divisions within the diverse country and increasing the risk of a chaotic civil war if the current regime collapses. Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the assassinated Ali Khamenei, is being heavily tipped to succeed his father as supreme leader of Iran, which would pitch a hardliner into the task of steering the Islamic republic through the most turbulent period in its 48-year history and offer a powerful signal that, for now, it has no intention of changing course. A torpedo fired by a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the south coast of Sri Lanka. At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack on the Iris Dena on Wednesday. The frigate was sailing in international waters as it returned from a naval exercise organised by India in the Bay of Bengal. The torpedo strike prompted questions from former US officials about whether Washington’s aim of eliminating all of Iran’s military breached international law. Iran launched missiles at Israel early Thursday. Air sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem shortly after the Israeli military said it had begun new strikes in Lebanon targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Air traffic appeared to be picking up slightly, even as travel across the reg...
(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trimming its early gains in mid-market trading on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to a tad below the 8,500 level, with gains in gold miners and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in iron ore miners and technolo...
(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trimming its early gains in mid-market trading on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to a tad below the 8,500 level, with gains in gold miners and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in iron ore miners and technology stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 8.50 points or 0.10 percent to 8,491.30, after touching a high of 8,515.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 11.60 points or 0.13 percent to 8,759.20. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday. Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 4 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each. Oil stocks are higher. Origin Energy is gaining 1.5 percent and Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Appen and WiseTech Global are losing more than 1 percent each, while Xero is up more than 1 percent and Zip is advancing almost 3 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources is surging almost 5 percent, Newmont is gaining almost 4 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is edging up 0.5 percent and Evolution Mining is advancing more than 6 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. In other news, shares in Seven West Media Ltd., SGH Ltd. and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd. are gaining 6.1, 5.2 and 10.9 percent, respectively, after the media companies reported their half-yearly results. Shares in Charter Hall Social Infrastructure are surging 7.8 percent after reporting its half-yearly results. In the currency ...