EUR/USD
1.12237
0.111%
Gold
4133.65
-0.163%
Oil
98.287
0.239%
USD/JPY
158.457
-0.029%
GBP/USD
1.33224
0.140%
GBP/JPY
211.107
0.114%
Real-time News
On October 20th, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reiterated that she would not rely on "deficit-financed debt" to fund the food sales tax cut. This followed previous comments that had sparked speculation of a possible shift in her stance. On Monday evening, Takaichi stated that while she did not rule out issuing government bonds to fund the overall national budget, she would not use deficit-financed debt to fill the revenue gap caused by the temporary sales tax cut. She wrote that the governments position "remains unchanged." Takaichi explained that she clarified this because some media reports seemed to have misinterpreted her remarks made earlier on Monday in the Diet. During a meeting of the House of Councillors Budget Committee, when asked about how to raise funds for the sales tax cut, Takaichi had stated that she did not rule out the possibility of issuing government bonds.On October 20th, Futures News reported that Australian mining company BHP released its production report for the third quarter of 2026 (first quarter of fiscal year 2027). The report showed that copper production in the third quarter of 2026 was 400,700 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 18.8% and a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 18.5%; of which copper concentrate payable was 277,000 tons and cathode copper production was 123,700 tons. In the first three quarters of 2026, the companys cumulative copper production was 1,369,400 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 10.1%. The company maintained its copper production guidance of 1.65 million to 1.8 million tons for July 2026 to June 2027 (fiscal year 2027).The New Taiwan dollar depreciated to 32.588 against the US dollar, its lowest level since April 2025.The Indonesian rupiah strengthened against the US dollar, reaching 18,010.On October 20, according to South Korean sources, the Supreme Court of South Korea issued its final ruling on the case of the "Hwaseong Battery Factory Fire" that killed 23 people in June 2024, sentencing Park Soon-gwan, the representative of the company involved, to four years in prison.
