Top stories for the morning: EU prepares response to Trump's duties, bitcoin tops $120,000

The value of bitcoin set a new record. The European Union is intensifying contacts with Canada, Japan and other countries affected by the U.S. trade policy, and is preparing retaliatory measures. The Bank of Japan, in turn, has completed a nearly 20-year program to sell off shares bought during the crisis years from national banks. About these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of July 14.

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, has crossed the $120,000 mark for the first time in history, reports Bloomberg. The digital currency, up more than 29 percent since the beginning of the year, was adding 1.6 percent at $120,990 on Monday morning.

After surging on the back of Trump's re-election to a second US presidential term, bitcoin has been hovering around the $100,000 mark for several months. Concerns about Trump's political and economic direction tempered optimism surrounding his administration's pro-cryptocurrency agenda. However, now that other risk assets such as stocks are back near record highs, bitcoin has also resumed its rise.

The EU is preparing to step up engagement with other countries hit by Donald Trump's new duties, sources told Bloomberg. It is about contacts with such countries as Canada and Japan. 

The move comes amid protracted negotiations between the EU and the U.S., which remain deadlocked on a number of issues including auto and agricultural duties. On Sunday, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would extend the suspension of trade countermeasures against the U.S. until Aug. 1 to allow the dialog to continue. The measures were in response to steel and aluminum duties imposed by Trump, were later suspended, but were due to automatically resume at midnight Tuesday.

"At the same time, we will continue to prepare additional countermeasures in order to be fully prepared," von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels, while stressing that the EU still favors a "negotiated solution."

Currently, the list of planned countermeasures includes goods from the United States worth about €21 billion ($24.5 billion). In addition, an additional package of measures for another €72 billion, as well as export restrictions, has been prepared. According to sources, they will be presented to the EU countries as early as Monday.

Meta has acquired Play AI, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to create voices that sound like human voices, reports TechCrunch.

As reported by Bloomberg, a Meta spokesperson confirmed the deal. In a memo, the company told employees that "the entire PlayAI team" will join Meta next week.

The note says PlayAI's developments in creating natural-sounding voices, as well as their platform for a simple voice generator, "fit perfectly with our goals and roadmap - from AI characters and Meta AI to wearable devices and audio content creation."

Meta has been actively investing in AI, including aggressive hiring of OpenAI employees and a partnership with Scale AI. As part of the deal, Scale AI CEO Alexander Wang joined Meta to lead a new group focused on developing superintelligence.

Financial terms of the deal are not disclosed. Earlier Bloomberg reported about negotiations between the two companies on a possible acquisition.

LG Electronics Inc. shares rose in Seoul after local media reported that the company is developing advanced tools to make memory chips that work in tandem with AI processors from Nvidia and other manufacturers, wrote Bloomberg.

According to Seoul Economic Daily, citing sources, the Korean company plans to start mass production of hybrid bonders for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips in 2028. LG Electronics confirmed that it is conducting technical research in this area, but the exact timing of the start of mass production has not yet been determined.

South Korea is home to SK Hynix Inc. - one of the key suppliers of HBMs, which are multilayer stacked DRAM chips. Hybrid bonders play a critical role in HBM production as they allow for thinner stacks by directly connecting electrodes of neighboring layers, the agency explains.

Other Korean companies already producing hybrid bonding equipment include Hanmi Semiconductor Co., Semes (a unit of Samsung Electronics Co.) and Hanwha Semitech (part of Hanwha Vision Co.). Amid the news, shares of Hanmi Semiconductor fell 6.5 percent on Monday, Hanwha Vision fell 4.7 percent and Samsung Electronics fell 1.3 percent.

"The threshold for entry into the bonder market is quite high, and the real advantage right now is with those who have spent years honing the craft," said Greg Roh, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities Co. - Exploring new lines of business is logical amid market growth, but with established players, LG will need validation."

 The Bank of Japan has finalized the sale of millions of dollars worth of shares purchased from banks during the domestic banking crisis in the early 2000s and the subsequent collapse of Lehman Brothers, wrote Bloomberg. That marked the end of a nearly 20-year process and drew market attention to the fate of a much larger portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) held by the regulator.

None of those shares remained on the BOJ's balance sheet as of July 10, up from ¥2.5 billion ($17.4 million) 10 days ago, according to Monday's balance sheet. The sale process was completed well ahead of the regulator's own deadline of March next year. However, this outcome was expected, given the steady decline in the portfolio of about ¥10 billion a month in recent years.

The sale of shares suggests that the process of normalization of the Bank of Japan policy in general can be implemented without a sharp impact on financial markets, although it will take considerable time. These assets were initially purchased as an anti-crisis measure - long before the launch of a large-scale monetary stimulus program, which is now being gradually phased out by the board under the leadership of Kazou Ueda.

Between 2002 and 2010, the Bank of Japan bought about ¥2.4 trillion ($16.3 billion) of shares from private banks in two stages to stabilize the financial system. At the time, this was considered an extraordinary measure for a central bank.

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors assess the impact of the 30 percent duties on the European Union and Mexico announced by Donald Trump over the weekend. The U.S. president said on social media site Truth Social that the duties would begin on Aug. 1. EU and Mexican leaders have said they intend to continue talks with the Trump administration this month in an attempt to negotiate a lower rate.

- Japan's Nikkei 225 index and the Topix index were down 0.2 percent.

- South Korea's Kospi was adding 0.4 percent, while the Kosdaq small-company index was losing 0.5 percent.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed.

- Futures on the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were down 0.4 percent.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor