Top U.S. Stories

  • The death toll from the magnitude-7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on August 10 has climbed to at least 265. The government reported nearly 500 people missing, while civilian-run databases listed more than 4,100 as unaccounted for. Why it matters: the scale of the disaster is still coming into focus as rescue efforts continue in Cali, Pereira, and Quibdó. (AP)
  • Iran’s Supreme National Security Council reaffirmed on August 11 that the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen unless the U.S. ends its naval blockade and hostilities; shipping traffic through the strait is approaching its lowest level since May. Why it matters: the standoff keeps a key oil chokepoint constrained even as Wall Street shrugs off inflation worries. (NHK)
  • U.S. stocks rallied on August 13, with the S&P 500 closing at a record 7,798.99, the Nasdaq Composite up 0.8% to 26,803.03, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1% to 53,839.99. Why it matters: July producer prices were unchanged from June and rose 4.7% year over year, reinforcing bets that the Fed can hold off on further tightening. (BLS, AP)
  • A new heat wave swept across Europe, with more than 135 million people facing temperatures above 35°C in France, Italy, Spain and the UK; parts of France topped 42°C and Paris hit 38°C. (Euronews)

Markets

Oil prices moved against the geopolitical grain on August 13: Brent crude fell 2.1% to $87.07, even as the Strait of Hormuz standoff keeps shipping traffic near multi-month lows (AP). USD/JPY stood at 159.33 per the Frankfurter API (August 13 basis), with the yen still weak against the dollar amid a wide Japan-U.S. rate gap. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 784.53 points to close at 68,308.59 on August 13, its third straight day of gains, though a report that the Japanese government is pushing the Bank of Japan toward an earlier rate hike pushed the 10-year JGB yield up to 2.87% (Bloomberg).

Stocks in Focus

Semiconductor and AI-linked names led gains in both Tokyo and New York on continued AI investment demand, while Japanese bank stocks rose on rate-hike expectations. This is informational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

Compass Insight

Equity markets are reading cooling U.S. producer prices as a green light, and both Tokyo and Wall Street pushed higher on that signal. But the oil market is telling a more complicated story — Brent’s pullback on August 13 came even as the Hormuz standoff keeps a critical chokepoint constrained, a reminder that today’s calm in crude could reverse quickly if the strait situation escalates. For households, a weak yen paired with any renewed oil-price spike would keep import costs and energy bills elevated, while the equity rally mostly benefits those already holding assets. Near term, watch Fed officials’ commentary into the September FOMC and any shift in Hormuz shipping data; further out, whether the BOJ follows through on a rate hike at its September meeting will matter more for variable-rate mortgage holders than any single day’s market move.

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