{"id":52188,"date":"2025-08-22T02:38:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T06:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-grapple-with-german-contraction-japans-record-yields-and-tech-shifts\/52188\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T02:38:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T06:38:38","slug":"global-markets-grapple-with-german-contraction-japans-record-yields-and-tech-shifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-grapple-with-german-contraction-japans-record-yields-and-tech-shifts\/52188\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Markets Grapple with German Contraction, Japan&#8217;s Record Yields, and Tech Shifts"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Germany&#39;s economy contracted by 0.3% quarter-over-quarter<\/strong> in Q2 2025 (seasonally adjusted), indicating a deeper slowdown than anticipated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Japan&#39;s 30-year government bond yield hit a fresh record high<\/strong> since its 1999 debut, amid projections of fiscal year 2026 budget requests totaling around <strong>120 trillion yen<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Activist investor Cevian Capital has acquired a stake of more than 3% in AkzoNobel (<a href=\"\/stock\/AKZOY\">AKZOY<\/a>)<\/strong>, signaling potential pressure for strategic changes at the Dulux paint maker.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nvidia (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVDA\">NVDA<\/a>) has reportedly asked Foxconn to suspend work on its H20 AI chip<\/strong>, a product intended for the Chinese market, raising questions about its supply chain and market strategy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sweden&#39;s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.9% in July<\/strong>, surpassing expectations and indicating a softening labor market.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>European Economic Performance Under Scrutiny<\/h2>\n<p>The German economy experienced a notable contraction in the second quarter of 2025, with <strong>Gross Domestic Product (GDP) falling by 0.3% quarter-over-quarter<\/strong> on a seasonally adjusted basis. This figure was worse than the estimated -0.1%. Key components of the German economy also showed weakness, with <strong>capital investment declining by 1.4% quarter-over-quarter<\/strong>. Private consumption saw only a marginal increase of <strong>0.1%<\/strong>, while government spending rose by <strong>0.8%<\/strong> over the same period. On a year-over-year basis, GDP contracted by <strong>0.2%<\/strong> (non-seasonally adjusted) and grew by <strong>0.2%<\/strong> (working day adjusted). This economic data led to a slight softening of the <strong>EUR\/GBP<\/strong> currency pair, which traded around <strong>0.8650<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Further north, Sweden&#39;s labor market showed signs of weakening, as the <strong>seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 8.9% in July<\/strong>, up from 8.3% previously and exceeding the 8.6% estimate.<\/p>\n<h2>Asia Markets Face Fiscal and Yield Pressures<\/h2>\n<p>Japan&#39;s financial landscape is drawing attention as the <strong>30-year government bond yield reached a new record high<\/strong> since its introduction in 1999. This development comes as Kyodo reported that <strong>Japan&#39;s fiscal year 2026 budget requests are projected to total approximately 120 trillion yen<\/strong>. Ministries and agencies are expected to request 20% more funds for priority policy measures than in the FY2025 initial budget, with total requests likely to exceed <strong>110 trillion yen<\/strong> for the fifth consecutive year.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Taiwan&#39;s president has expressed a goal for <strong>defense spending to reach 5% of GDP by 2030<\/strong>. This follows plans to increase 2025 defense spending by nearly <strong>23% to US$31.1 billion<\/strong>, pushing it to over <strong>3% of GDP<\/strong> for the first time since 2009.<\/p>\n<h2>Corporate and Tech Sector Developments<\/h2>\n<p>In the corporate arena, activist investor <strong>Cevian Capital has acquired a stake exceeding 3% in AkzoNobel (<a href=\"\/stock\/AKZOY\">AKZOY<\/a>)<\/strong>, the Dutch paint and coatings manufacturer. This significant investment by the activist firm could lead to increased pressure on AkzoNobel&#39;s management regarding its strategic direction.<\/p>\n<p>The technology sector saw a notable development with <strong>Nvidia (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVDA\">NVDA<\/a>) reportedly instructing Foxconn to suspend work on its H20 AI chip<\/strong>. The H20 chip is Nvidia&#39;s most advanced product currently permitted for sale in China, and the suspension may be related to managing existing inventory or ongoing discussions with the U.S. government regarding new chip offerings for the Chinese market.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, market participants are also awaiting the <strong>timetable for the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium<\/strong>, a key event where central bankers and economists discuss global monetary policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Germany&#39;s economy contracted by 0.3% quarter-over-quarter in Q2 2025 (seasonally adjusted), indicating a deeper slowdown than anticipated. Japan&#39;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[9147,1008,4472,4945,5072,5127,5588,5671,5822,8844],"class_list":["post-52188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-akzonobel-akzoy-stock-akzoy","tag-gdp","tag-global-economy","tag-monetary-policy","tag-germany","tag-japan","tag-activist-investing","tag-unemployment","tag-nvidia-nvda-stock-nvda","tag-jackson-hole"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}