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China manipulates currency, more negative-yielding bonds, and Venezuela hit with new sanctions.  Halting slide Chinese authorities reacted to the Treasury Department's currency manipulator tag by halting the decline of its currency overnight. The People's Bank of China set the daily fixing stronger than analysts had expected, and rejected accusations that it manipulates the currency. The move served to ease the worst of the market selloff, with S&P 500 Index futures reversing losses of as much as 1.9% which happened in the wake of the Treasury announcement after U.S. markets closed yesterday. However none of this does anything to solve the wider trade issues between the two countries.  Flight to safety The latest round of market mayhem saw another move toward less risky assets, which pushed the global stock of negative-yielding bonds to a record $15 trillion. Gold also rose, while the yen rallied before giving back some of those gains in the wake of China's yuan fix. Weirdly, sensible people with straight faces are now also talking about Bitcoin becoming a haven, along with other cryptocurrencies. With the original digital token gaining 17% in the last two days, they might well be on to something.  Sponsored by 25 Park Row Introducing 25 Park Row—the top-selling condominium in NYC providing unmatched views over City Hall Park. Featuring abundant outdoor spaces and an impressive suite of amenities, 25 Park Row offers a transcendent lifestyle at the center of the New Downtown. 1-4 Bedrooms from $1.8M to $25M.   New measures President Donald Trump imposed further sanctions on Venezuela, bringing U.S. relations with the country to the same footing as those it has with Iran and North Korea. National Security Adviser John Bolton will detail the new measures at a conference in Lima, Peru today which has been organized by that country's government in order to find a way to restore democracy to Venezuela. The economic collapse there is almost complete, with not even U.S. dollar remittances enough to protect citizens from the ravages of hyperinflation.  Markets hold Overnight the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.8% while Japan's Topix index closed 0.4% lower, ending the session well off its earlier lows. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.6% higher at 5:50 a.m. Eastern Time as China's move helped to ease concerns over an immediate escalation of the trade war. S&P 500 futures pointed to a bounce at the open, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 1.760% and gold was flat.  Coming up… It's a relatively quiet day on the economic data front, with U.S. job openings data for June at 10:00 a.m. the only real number of note. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is the sole central-bank speaker today. The big earnings number to watch will be from Walt Disney Co., while Hertz Global Holdings Inc., LendingClub Corp. and Papa John's International Inc. also report.  What we've been reading This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours. Odd Lots: How science fiction explains that the China-U.S. trade war is here to stay. Central bank rate cuts keep getting closer and deeper. The summer of misery at European banks, by the numbers. There's one metal worrying Tesla and EV battery suppliers.  Iron ore collapses into a bear market.  Biggest wealth fund's bid to dump big oil is now but a whimper. Scientists can now literally see around corners.  And finally, here's what Joe's interested in this morning Markets reacted negatively last Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by just 25 basis points, and Chairman Powell characterized the move as a "mid-cycle adjustment." As I argued prior to the decision, what markets wanted to see was not a modest cheapening in the price of short-term money per se. (Raise your hand if you really think that 25 basis points makes much of a difference to this economy.) Markets actually wanted a change in the central bank's overall posture, one that indicated it was ready to go to battle against any weakness in, or threats to, the U.S. economy. The extraordinary series of events since the decision -- Donald Trump announcing tariffs, China letting USDCNY breach 7, the U.S. designating China a currency manipulator -- demonstrates exactly why investors wanted to see that aggressive new posture. Of course the game's not over. The Fed will have another meeting in mid-September, and markets are already pricing in a decent shot of a greater than a 25 basis-point rate cut. But a lot could happen between now and then, and the bar may be even higher now for the Fed to show that it's getting ahead of economic challenges, as opposed to merely reacting to them. Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more. FOLLOW US SEND TO A FRIEND You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Five Things newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022