📊 Morning Market Update | 31 July 2025 🌏 🇯🇵 The Bank of Japan held rates at 0.5% and kept its policy steady, while raising inflation forecasts for FY2025–2027. The BoJ expects prices to rise gradually on the back of higher wages and steady consumption, but warned that trade tensions may weigh on wage growth. Markets took it as a sign of slow normalisation rather than imminent tightening. 💴 USD/JPY dipped below 148.65 after the announcement but quickly rebounded. 📈 Japan’s June data surprised to the upside: – Industrial production: +1.7% m/m (vs -0.6% forecast) – Retail sales: +2.0% y/y 🇨🇳 China’s manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 in July – its fourth straight decline. The services PMI dropped to 50.1, the weakest since November. Weak exports and soft domestic demand continue to weigh on growth. 🇦🇺 Australia’s retail sales jumped +1.2% m/m in June (vs +0.4% forecast), supporting RBA optimism. However, markets still price in a rate cut in August. 🇺🇸 Trump unveiled a trade deal with South Korea: – 🇺🇸 $350B U.S. investment – 🇰🇷 $100B LNG purchases – 15% tariff on Korean exports to the U.S., but U.S. exports will be tariff-free New deals with 🇹🇭 Thailand and 🇰🇭 Cambodia are also in the pipeline. 🇮🇳 Trump threatened India with 25% tariffs over its trade ties with Russia and warned that a deal with 🇨🇦 Canada would be “very difficult” due to its stance on Palestine. 🏦 Goldman Sachs estimates the average U.S. tariff on Brazilian imports now stands at 30.8%. 💳 Visa beat expectations with Q3 revenue of $10.2B and EPS of $2.98. Cross-border volume jumped 12%, and profit hit $5.3B thanks to robust consumer spending. 🤖 OpenAI doubled annual revenue to $12B in just 7 months. ChatGPT now boasts 700 million weekly active users!