Market Commentary: Friday 25th October

China and Hong Kong shares rallied, while American equities are mixed—S&P +0.21%, Dow Jones -0.33%. Elections are in focus, with Japanese by-elections set for this Sunday. Overnight, Governor Kazuo Ueda signaled that the central bank won’t hike interest rates next week, with almost all BOJ watchers already expecting no policy shift this month. Ueda spoke after the yen slid to its lowest level since July 31 against the dollar earlier this week (153.18), and we open at 151.80, sitting above the 200-day moving average at 151.40.

On a different note, the trader who spent more than $45 million on Polymarket bets that Donald Trump will win the upcoming U.S. presidential election has been identified as a French national, using the username Freddi9999. This was revealed following an investigation by the cryptocurrency-based prediction markets platform. I’m not sure how useful this information is, but it's out there.

Back to the day ahead, we have U.S. durable goods and University of Michigan consumer sentiment data. Will the yield story continue? The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.17% overnight.

In other markets, Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $67,711.01, Ether dropped 1.7% to $2,491.82, and domestically, the UK 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.24%. In commodities, spot gold fell 0.3% to $2,728.20 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $70.36 a barrel.

**For professional investors only** Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices, or other information contained in this blog is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute (and should not be construed as containing) investment advice or an investment recommendation, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Some of this information may have been provided by third-party sources and, although believed to be reliable, it has not been independently verified and its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. No representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made or given by or on behalf of iSAM Securities or its directors or any other person as to the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the information or opinions contained in this blog, and no responsibility or liability is accepted for any such information. As a result, any person acting on any information does so entirely at their own risk. iSAM Securities will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.