Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. In today’s newsletter:
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Asian countries defend struggling currencies
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China cracks down on ‘bone ash’ burials
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Private capital: what are the risks of a 2008-style meltdown?
We begin with foreign exchange markets, as many Asian countries struggle with pressure on their currencies caused by the energy shock.
What to know: The yen and the rupee rose yesterday as Japan stepped up its verbal intervention and India forced banks to unwind positions in the foreign exchange markets. The yen strengthened by 0.4 per cent against the US dollar to trade close to ¥159.7. The rupee jumped at the open, climbing more than 1.4 per cent, but gave up almost all of its gains to trade close to 94.6 to the dollar.
Yen intervention threats: Atsushi Mimura, Japan’s top currency official, warned that “decisive action” by the government might soon be necessary. His remarks were seen by traders in Tokyo as amounting to a final warning that intervention was imminent. The Japanese currency started the week trading at close to ¥160.30 against the dollar — its weakest point since 2024 and below a line where the government has previously intervened to provide support.
Yujiro Goto, chief FX strategist at Nomura, warned investors not to rule out the risk that, after weeks of verbal efforts, the Japanese authorities would finally resort to direct yen-buying intervention this week.
Meanwhile, the rupee got its first chance to react to curbs on currency dealers by the Reserve Bank of India, which ordered dealers to limit open positions in the currency to no more than $100mn at the end of each business day. The curbs could force banks to wind down positions worth billions of dollars. Read the full story.
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News from Washington: The White House raised the prospect that President Donald Trump could ask Gulf states to help pay to cover the costs of the US and Israel’s war with Iran. And on Sunday, the US president told the FT he wanted to “take the oil in Iran” and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island.
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War insurance: Emirates is paying far less for “war risk” cover than rival airlines, according to multiple insurers with direct knowledge of its policy.
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Wealth management: Wealth managers are increasingly helping their clients evacuate the Middle East as part of a widening suite of services to rich investors.
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Opinion: Iran aims to set up a toll booth on the Strait of Hormuz. It may succeed, writes Gideon Rachman.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:
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Economic data: Japan publishes Tokyo consumer inflation for March and February industrial production and retail sales.
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Macron’s Asia trip: French President Emmanuel Macron begins a four-day trip to Japan and South Korea.
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Monetary policy: The Reserve Bank of Australia releases minutes from its most recent meeting, where it raised interest rates.
Five more top stories
1. China is cracking down on families who opt to bury their dead in empty high-rise properties — known as “bone ash apartments” — rather than pay skyrocketing costs for cemetery plots. A new law will come into effect today to outlaw the practice, which has grown as rapid ageing meets a property bust.
2. Israel’s parliament has passed a controversial bill that seeks to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis in acts of terror, but not on Jewish Israelis who kill Palestinians in similar circumstances. The legislation has been denounced by Israel’s European allies and some Israeli opposition lawmakers as racist, flawed and in breach of international law. Here are more details.
3. The Trump administration is poised to sink $1.6bn into a mining company that aims to extract rare earths and make high-tech magnets in the US, even though the lossmaking company has yet to do either commercially. Camilla Hodgson reports on a string of similar deals struck over the past year with unproven groups.
4. Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau will step down later this year after provoking a political uproar over his failure to speak French in a video message addressing a fatal New York plane crash. Canada is officially a bilingual nation and his message sparked condemnation from senior political leaders.
5. Hungary recovered and handed over just 18 per cent of funds flagged by Brussels for potential fraud between 2015 and 2024, according to data from EU anti-corruption watchdog Olaf. The issue has been costly for the country and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is trailing in the polls ahead of next month’s election.
The Big Read
Once little more than a cottage industry, private capital has grown into a giant part of the financial system, holding $22tn in assets, largely outside the purview of banking regulators. But a stampede of redemptions has caused many private credit funds to “gate” or limit investors’ ability to exit, drawing scrutiny and comparisons with the 2008 market meltdown.
We’re also reading . . .
Chart of the day
The near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz has left thousands of ships stuck in the Gulf with limited protections for crew as the Iran war rages. One Indian seafarer serving on a ship stuck in a Gulf port recounted the “very scary” first few days of the conflict.
Take a break from the news . . .
The discovery of an old airstrip in Chad’s far north opens the door for an adventure deep into the Sahara in search of mysterious rock paintings, writes Sophy Roberts.
