Daily Financial Breakfast 13 November 2026: IRGC Reports Destroying U.S. Radar in Bahrain; Japan Warns Over Yen Moves

Market News Today: Inflation Warnings Persist as Dollar Gains

• A strike destroyed a U.S. military early-warning radar in Bahrain, according to a claim by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported by Reuters.
• With USD/JPY above 160.00 for a second consecutive session, Japan warned against rapid, one-sided movements in the currency market.
• At 0.6%, revised eurozone third-quarter GDP growth was higher than the preliminary estimate of 0.4%.
• Inflation needed to return to 2% through action over time, New York Fed President John Williams said, as Federal Reserve officials highlighted continuing price pressures.
• Inflation risks remained tilted upwards, Bank of Mexico Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath told Reuters, arguing that the central bank’s recent rate cut had delivered the wrong signal.
• Higher U.S. crude inventories weighed on WTI crude, which slipped to around $87.50 per barrel early in Friday’s Asian session.

Dollar Advances as Equities and Gold Weaken

U.S. Equity Futures Retreat

Friday’s European session saw declines of 0.15% in Dow Jones futures to around 52,310 and 0.16% in S&P 500 futures to near 7,600. Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.30%, trading around 28,300.

Dollar Climbs as Tightening Expectations Build

Expectations that the Federal Reserve would tighten policy further gathered pace on Thursday, lifting the U.S. dollar to its highest in 19 months. For AUD/USD, a decline of 0.60% to around 0.6808 in an earlier update gave way to a 0.67% loss later in the session, when the pair reached its lowest since January. Having raised its policy rate to 4.85% the week before, the Reserve Bank of Australia had suggested it might pause.

After reaching 1.1066, then its lowest since May 2025, EUR/USD regained ground to around 1.1087 on Thursday. That recovery did not last: the pair stood around 1.1050 during Friday’s Asian session, taking its run of daily losses to four, and continued to trade lower in Europe against a backdrop of rising U.S. Treasury yields. GBP/USD approached 1.3227 on Friday as it, too, fell for a fourth trading day. The Swiss franc also reached new monthly lows against the dollar.

Gold Slides on Fed Rate Expectations

An increased likelihood of a 50-basis-point Federal Reserve rate rise in December, as priced by market participants, helped drive gold nearly 2.8% lower on Thursday. A fall to $3,852 marked a one-year low before the metal traded at $3,874 per ounce.

Iran Reports Strike on U.S. Radar

Iran’s IRGC Claims Destruction of U.S. Early-Warning Radar in Bahrain

Reuters reported a claim on Friday by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that its strike had destroyed a U.S. military early-warning radar system in Bahrain. No confirmed damage assessment underpinned the account; it remained an assertion by the Iranian military.

Economic Data & Central Bank Signals Shape Markets

USD/JPY Holds Above 160.00 as Japan Signals Response to Volatility

Rapid, one-sided foreign-exchange movements were under observation, according to Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, who said the government would respond appropriately to currency volatility. Engagement with the U.S. Treasury was also planned, she said. Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had issued a warning about intervention.

From just below 160.00 in an earlier Friday update, USD/JPY subsequently traded above the level, doing so for a second consecutive session and leaving the yen near multi-month lows. The warnings came alongside a recovery in U.S. Treasury yields.

Japan’s economic prospects and inflation outlook made the case for the Bank of Japan to raise rates by 25 basis points in December, DBS Group Research argued. AI-related export demand and wage-led consumption underpinned its forecast for third-quarter real GDP growth of 0.8% quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted annualised basis. Its October projections combined export growth of 17% year-on-year with a wider trade deficit of JPY1.2 trillion. Against a backdrop of higher energy costs and yen weakness, DBS expected inflation to remain above 2%.

Eurozone Third-Quarter Growth Upgraded to 0.6%

Third-quarter eurozone GDP growth of 0.6% replaced the preliminary figure of 0.4% in the revised estimates. The region’s initial growth estimate was therefore raised by 0.2 percentage points.

Persistent Inflation Draws Further Fed Warnings

Bringing inflation back to 2% would require action from the central bank over time, according to New York Federal Reserve President John Williams, who judged it still too elevated. Several regional Fed presidents had already raised concerns about the persistence of price pressures.

In an interview with Yahoo! Finance, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said inflation had been “well above target”, describing Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index reading as follows: it “wasn’t a one-off.” For San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, artificial intelligence had clearly fuelled price pressures, despite having only a limited impact on the labour market.

Years of missing the inflation mandate contrasted with the Fed’s good work on employment, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said, expressing support for gradual rate rises. Markets put the odds of a December rate increase at 87%.

Banxico Rate Cut Misleads Markets on Inflation, Heath Argues

The central bank’s recent rate cut drew criticism from Bank of Mexico Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath in comments to Reuters. He argued that it “confuses and sends the wrong message” to financial markets, with inflation risks still skewed to the upside.

Energy & Commodities Face Inventory Pressure

Rising U.S. Crude Stocks Push WTI Towards $87.50

An increase in U.S. crude oil inventories put West Texas Intermediate crude under pressure early in Friday’s Asian trading, leaving it around $87.50 per barrel. Prices moved lower even as attention remained on geopolitical risks in the Middle East.