Asian Stocks Point Higher

Oil jumped 2.7% as U.S. government data showed the biggest crude stockpile drop since 2016, adding momentum to a market already rallying on the standoff between Washington and Tehran. U.S. stocks edged downwards, Treasuries fell and the dollar was broadly lower against its G-10 counterparts.  Gold dropped for the first session in seven. Bitcoin surged as much as 22%, topping $13,000 for the first time since January 2018, before plunging in late trading. Asian equity futuresare headed for a mixed start.

Iran Scorns Talks With U.S.

Iran rejected talks with the Washington after the latest round of U.S. levies. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said plans to sanction him demonstrate that the White House’s claims of wanting negotiations with the Islamic Republic are a lie. Iran is set to breach the 2015 nuclear deal that the U.S. walked away from for the first time on Thursday, which could strain European ties.

Hong Kong

Thousands of peaceful protesters rallied in Hong Kong ahead of the G-20 summit, seeking democracy and the full withdrawal of a proposed extradition law. Some demonstrators later moved on to blockade police headquarters for the second time in a week. Meanwhile, Hong Kong graftbusters arrested Eugene Yeoh, an official responsible for vetting IPOs at the city’s stock exchange, people familiar said. He’d retired in May, citing family reasons. The ICAC announced the detention earlier, without identifying the target by name, along with two of his associates on suspicion of corruption and misconduct related to two listings. The SFC is conducting a review.

Singapore’s Not-So-Sanguine Forecast

Singapore’s heading for a recession. According to Maybank Kim Eng Research, the city-state’s economy will probably experience a “shallow technical recession” in the third quarter as the global trade outlook worsens. Maybank downgraded its projection for Singapore’s economic growth for this year to 1.3% from 1.6%, below the government’s forecast range of 1.5% to 2.5%. A report on Wednesday showed manufacturing contracted 2.4% in May from a year ago, worse than expected. A recession increases the chance of the central bank easing monetary policy in October, Maybank economists said.