Ahead of U.S. jobs data that may affect Federal Reserve plans for additional interest rate hikes to curb soaring inflation, Asian stock markets were neutral on Friday. Tokyo and Hong Kong withdrew while Shanghai and Seoul moved forward. Over $1.50 per barrel extra was paid for oil. In order to gauge how the economy is responding to four previous hikes to reduce inflation, which is at a four-decade high, investors were looking forward to U.S. statistics on hiring in August. A positive number would support Fed policymakers' claims that higher interest rates are necessary to restrain economic growth and relieve pressure on consumer prices to rise. A rate hike of up to 0.75 percentage points at this month's Fed meeting, according to IG's Yeap Jun Rong, would "likely reinforce further lean towards" the finding that more than 300,000 jobs were gained in August. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.2% to 27,604.37, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.1% to 3,189.09. Ho...

(Reuters) - The euro briefly sank below parity versus the Swiss franc for the first time in seven years on Monday and held at a  22-month   low  versus the dollar as soaring oil prices stoked fears of a  stagflationary  shock that could hammer Europe. The conflict in Ukraine and harsh international  sanctions  on Moscow have sent Russian assets  tumbling  while prices of the country's exports such as precious  metals, oil, and gas  have soared at a time when the global economy was already grappling with inflationary pressures. Europe is the most vulnerable as it imports as much as  40%  of its natural gas consumption from Russia and the single currency has become increasingly  correlated  with oil prices --  the higher oil climbs, the more the euro falls  as investors fret about higher inflation and the blow to the economy. 🎩 Top THREE  Award-Winning   Brokers  in 2022 🎩 LiteFinance ...

Investing.com – The dollar was down on Tuesday morning in Asia, while the  euro was stuck  near a 22-month low. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to dim  Europe’s economic  outlook, but a week-long rally in commodity currencies showed signs of a pause. The U.S. Dollar Index Futures that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies edged down  0.16% to 99.135  by 10:30 PM ET (3:30 AM GMT). The  USD/JPY  pair edged up  0.13% to 115.44 . Japanese data from earlier in the day showed the largest current account deficit since the start of 2014, with the current account at  JPR1.189 trillion  ( $10.33  billion) and the adjusted current account at  JPY0.19 trillion  in January 2022. 🎩 Top THREE  Award-Winning   Brokers  in 2022 🎩 LiteFinance  |  IC Markets  |  Avatrade The AUD/USD pair inched up  0.10% to 0.7324 , with Australia’s National Australia Bank business co...

  BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping may not have been able to stop   Nancy Pelosi's visit  to Taiwan, but he ordered his country's military to rehearse a much more aggressive step: a blockade crucial to taking the island by force, security experts say. China's military planners have long discussed a blockade of Taiwan, but until now most likely saw practicing such a move as too provocative, security experts say. But after U.S. House Speaker Pelosi's visit, China's military for the first time fired missiles over Taipei, flew waves of drones over Taiwan's offshore islands, sailed warships across the median line of the Taiwan Strait and surrounded the self-ruled island in what Taiwan's military said amounted to a practice "blockade." 🎩 Top THREE  Award-Winning   Brokers  in 2022 🎩 LiteFinance  |  IC Markets  |  Avatrade "These first actions in effect changed the status quo of Taiwan's security," said  Li Mingjiang , a...

  Australian Bitcoin miner  Iris Energy  said it had increased its hash rate to more than 2.3 exahashes per second following the completion of phase two of its operations in Mackenzie, Canada. In a Monday announcement, Iris Energy said it had brought 41 megawatts of operating capacity in the British Columbia municipality online roughly two months ahead of schedule, adding 1.5 EH/s to its existing hash rate. In addition, the  Bitcoin  (BTC) miner expects to bring another 50 MW online in Prince George by the end of the third quarter of 2022, increasing its operating capacity to 3.7 EH/s. 🎩 Top THREE  Award-Winning   Brokers  in 2022 🎩 LiteFinance  |  IC Markets  |  Avatrade Iris Energy co-founder and co-CEO  Daniel Roberts  said the firm had energized the facility on schedule “despite the current market backdrop and ongoing international supply chain challenges.” The firm planned to deploy additional miners in August...