Top Overnight News
FHFA Director Pulte sent a new criminal referral against Fed's Cook
The Trump administration plans to expand national-security tariffs on steel, aluminum and a variety of other industries in coming months in hopes of redirecting production in these sectors to the U.S. and thwarting potential legal threats in the trade war. WSJ
The EU must be prepared to walk away from a trade deal with the US if Trump acts on his threats to target the bloc unless it waters down its digital legislation, Brussels’ competition tsar Teres Ribera said. FT
The Fed’s Christopher Waller again said he would support a quarter-point rate cut next month and signaled more easing over the next three to six months. Waller said he does not believe a bigger September cut is needed unless the August jobs report shows substantial weakening and inflation stays well contained, while Waller added that he wanted a rate cut in July and feels more strongly about it now. BBG
US VP Vance said interest rates are too high and the Fed is not doing its job: Fox News
Russian oil exports to India are set to rise further in Sept as New Delhi defies the White House. RTRS
Alibaba posted a 3% drop in operating profit after an escalating price-based battle with Meituan and JD.com hurt margins. Separately, Alibaba developed a new chip compatible with the Nvidia platform, meaning engineers can repurpose programs they wrote for Nvidia chips. BBG
Tokyo’s inflation rate excluding fresh food slowed to 2.5% in August as expected, but remained above the BOJ’s target. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell. BBG
Vladimir Putin will meet Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi at a summit in Tianjin, China, this weekend to discuss energy ties. BBG
CPIs from France, Italy, and Spain come in a bit cooler than anticipated in Aug at +0.8% Y/Y, +1.7%, and +2.7% Y/Y, respectively, although German regional CPIs accelerated in Aug vs. Jul. WSJ
U.S. companies have an unwelcome message for inflation-weary consumers: Prices are going up. Companies from Hormel to Ace Hardware forecast prices rising as the costs of Trump’s tariffs are passed on to consumers. Inflation has eased in recent months, but job growth has also slowed, and there are signs shoppers worry that tariffs could further increase prices. WSJ
HFs have aggressively net bought EM stocks so far in August, led by Chinese equities, EM EMEA, and to a lesser extent Taiwan, while EM Latin America has seen little net activity. Despite this month’s large net buying, Net allocation in Chinese equities does not look extended and is inline with 5-year average. Goldman Prime
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