Asia markets trade narrowly ahead of Warsh speech

Summary:

• CENTCOM says US forces have cleared sea mines from the Strait of Hormuz's international shipping lanes, though wording suggests not all mines are yet removed; oil prices traded quietly lower.
• Tokyo core CPI rose 1.8% year-on-year in August, beating forecasts and nearing the BOJ's 2% target, with the core-core measure at 2.0%, reinforcing the case for a September hike.
• Japan's Finance Minister Katayama confirmed she will attend next week's G20 meeting in Asheville; BOJ Governor Ueda is also expected to attend, with markets watching for a possible sideline meeting with Bessent following last month's joint yen intervention.
• Major FX traded in limited ranges, with the yen a touch softer and the Australian and New Zealand dollars posting modest gains.
• Regional equities were slightly firmer but gains were capped ahead of Fed Chair Warsh's Jackson Hole speech later today.
• In company news, Bloomberg reports Stripe and Advent have ended their pursuit of PayPal, while the Wall Street Journal reports Nvidia has paused some deals under its AI Compute Partnership financing programme amid internal antitrust concerns.

In a video address, US Central Command's Adm. Brad Cooper said American forces had cleared sea mines from the Strait of Hormuz's international shipping lanes, calling the operation a significant step toward restoring safer conditions in the waterway. Cooper stated that the mines, laid months earlier by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had been successfully cleared from the shipping lanes, though his wording stopped short of claiming all mines in the strait had been removed. Analysts parsing the remarks concluded that some mines likely remain. Oil prices traded modestly lower after the announcement.

Tokyo's core consumer price index rose 1.8% year on year in August, beating the 1.7% forecast and moving closer to the Bank of Japan's 2% target. The core-core measure, which strips out fresh food and energy, rose 2.0%, adding further weight to expectations of a BOJ rate hike in September.

Separately, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama confirmed she will attend next week's G20 finance leaders meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, expressing hope to contribute to discussions on the global economy and international finance. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda is also expected to attend, though the central bank has not formally confirmed his plans; US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he looks forward to meeting Ueda there. Markets are focused on whether Katayama and Bessent will hold a sideline meeting, following their coordinated intervention last month to support the yen.

Currency markets were broadly quiet, with major pairs trading in limited ranges. The yen was a touch softer, while the Australian and New Zealand dollars posted modest gains. Regional equities were slightly firmer, though upside was capped as markets awaited Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's keynote address at the Jackson Hole symposium later in the day.

In company news, Bloomberg reported that Stripe and Advent have ended their pursuit of PayPal. Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia has paused some deals under its AI Compute Partnership financing programme amid internal concerns about potential antitrust scrutiny, a development that comes weeks after the company disclosed $36 billion in related commitments.

Federal Reserve Chair Warsh speaks at 10am US Eastern time.