The first reading of the day. Later sessions will appear here as they publish. A single number from 0 to 100, worked out from how many of the world's markets are up,
the Fear and Greed index, how jumpy the VIX is, and Bitcoin. It is arithmetic, not an
opinion, so you can compare one session with the next.
Markets never really close. While one part of the world sleeps, another is trading.
This page follows that daily relay in three short briefs: Tokyo opens,
then London, then New York.
Each brief is written in everyday words. If a market term appears, it is explained in the
same sentence. You get what moved, why it moved, and what is coming next, then the live
numbers underneath so you can check any of it yourself on the
Global Markets Dashboard.
This page explains the news. It is not financial advice and it never says what
to buy or sell.
Taiwan surges while South Korea and Australia fall in weekend trading
Stock markets are closed for the weekend, but Taiwan's index jumped 2.71% while South Korea dropped 2.55% and Australia fell 1.61%. Bitcoin and Ethereum gained small amounts overnight. A major cryptocurrency wallet exploit affecting 70 million dollars has prompted warnings about security.
What moved
Taiwan's EWT index climbed 2.71%, the biggest mover across all regions shown. South Korea's EWY fell 2.55% and Australia's EWA dropped 1.61%, leading losses in Asia-Pacific. Switzerland slid 1.19% in Europe while the United States, Brazil and most other major regions gained modest ground. Bitcoin rose 0.45% to 63042.78 and Ethereum gained 0.50% to 1852.36 in weekend trading.
Why it matters
Taiwan's strength stands out against weakness in other major Asian markets, suggesting different economic pressures across the region. The Coldcard wallet security breach has raised alarm about cryptocurrency storage safety, with the founder of Binance now urging investors to spread holdings across multiple wallets. These weekend moves in crypto and currency markets reflect ongoing concerns about digital asset security and regional economic divergence. Major jobs and inflation data arrive Monday in the United States, which will likely shift broader market sentiment.
What to watch next
Monday brings key employment and inflation reports from the United States at 8:30 ET, including non-farm payroll figures, jobless claims, and consumer and producer price indices. These reports typically move stock and currency markets sharply, so look for the direction to change once these figures land and regular stock trading resumes globally.
02
World Markets Now
The main share index of each major market, in the order the trading day happens.
A share index tracks a basket of large companies, so it is a quick way to see whether
a whole market went up or down.
Asia-Pacific
Market
Level
Change
Taiwan EWT
96.55
+2.71%
China MCHI
55.80
+0.54%
India INDA
49.80
+0.20%
Hong Kong EWH
23.08
-0.94%
Japan EWJ
92.39
-0.96%
Australia EWA
29.34
-1.61%
South Korea EWY
157.10
-2.55%
Europe
Market
Level
Change
France EWQ
46.55
+0.17%
Spain EWP
61.48
+0.07%
Germany EWG
42.85
-0.07%
Italy EWI
61.60
-0.10%
United Kingdom EWU
48.41
-0.55%
Switzerland EWL
63.16
-1.19%
Americas
Market
Level
Change
United States SPY
747.03
+0.72%
Brazil EWZ
36.65
+0.33%
Mexico EWW
76.81
-0.39%
Canada EWC
59.39
-0.67%
03
How This Page Works
When it updates. Three times each weekday, at the moment each market
opens for business: 9:00 in Tokyo, 8:00 in London and
9:30 in New York. These are each exchange's own local times, so the brief
arrives with the opening bell all year and moves with the clocks when daylight saving
starts or ends. At the weekend there is a single brief at 10:00 UTC, because share markets
are shut and only crypto and some currencies keep moving.
Who writes it. An AI model, Claude Haiku, writes each brief from a
snapshot of live market data taken at that moment. It is given real figures only, from the
same feeds behind the dashboard, and is instructed never to invent a number or an event.
No human edits the text before it appears.
The temperature is measured, not judged. The bar near the top is a single
score from 0 to 100 for each session, so you can watch the mood pass from Tokyo to London
to New York. It is a weighted average of four things: how many of the world's markets are
up (40%), the Fear and Greed index (30%), the VIX inverted so calm scores high (20%), and
Bitcoin's day change (10%). It is plain arithmetic rather than the AI's opinion, which is
the point: the same inputs always give the same number, so comparing one session with the
next means something.
The same page for everyone. Wherever you open this from, you see the same
briefs and the same numbers. Only the clock adapts: times are shown in your own time zone.
All three regions are always covered, because a story that begins in Tokyo usually ends in
New York.
Where the numbers come from. Index, currency, commodity, bond and crypto
feeds, listed with their update frequency on the data sources
page. For the week in context, see weekly market trends.
This page publishes a short brief at each of the three main market openings: Asia in Tokyo,
Europe in London, and the United States in New York. Each brief says what moved, by how
much, and why it matters. Below them you can see live index moves for every region, so you
can check the numbers yourself.
How often is Markets Today updated?
Three times every weekday, as each market opens: 9:00 in Tokyo, 8:00 in London and 9:30 in
New York, each in its own local time. At the weekend there is one brief at 10:00 UTC
covering crypto and currencies, which keep trading. Every brief is stamped with the exact
time it was published, shown in your own time zone.
Does the page show different content depending on where I am?
No. Everyone sees the same briefs and the same numbers. The only thing your browser changes
is how times are displayed, shown in your own time zone for convenience.
Who writes the market brief?
An AI model, Claude Haiku, writing from a live snapshot of market data. It only ever sees
real figures from the dashboard feeds and is instructed not to invent numbers or events.
It is a summary of what the data shows, not a human analyst's opinion.
How is the market temperature worked out?
It is a weighted average of four measurements, scored from 0 for nervous to 100 for
confident:
Breadth, 40%. The share of the world's tracked share indices that are
up on the day. The most direct answer to whether today is broadly good or broadly bad,
and it counts every region equally.
Fear and Greed, 30%. The well-known sentiment index, already scored
from 0 to 100.
The VIX, 20%. A measure of how much sudden movement traders expect.
Inverted here so calm scores high: 10 or below reads 100, 40 or above reads 0.
Bitcoin's day change, 10%. Crypto never closes, so it is the only live
signal at a weekend.
If a measurement is unavailable it is dropped and the rest are rescaled, so a weekend still
gives an honest reading rather than a gap. The number is worked out by arithmetic and is
not written by the AI: the same inputs always give the same result, which is what makes it
fair to compare one session against the next.
Where does the market data come from?
The same feeds that power the Global Markets Dashboard: indices,
currencies, commodities, government bond yields, crypto, sectors and the economic calendar.
Every source is listed on the data sources page.
Is this investment advice?
No. This page explains what happened and why. It never tells you what to buy or sell and
makes no predictions. For financial decisions, speak to a licensed adviser who knows your
circumstances.
