Asia Market Quick Take – 23 April, 2026

Asia Market Quick Take – 23 April, 2026

Key points:

• Macro: Iran restricts SoH and US continues blockade of Iran ships
• Equities: SP500 trades to new high and Tesla beats earnings
• FX: Norwegian krone rallied, leading G-10 
• Commodities: Brent futures settled above $101, +3.5%, a two-week high
• Fixed income: Yields are higher and long end muted after solid $13bn 20Y reopening

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Disclaimer: Past performance does not indicate future performance.

Macro:

• Tehran continues to control the Straits of Hormuz, restricting most international traffic and reportedly firing on commercial ships, while the US maintains a blockade of Iranian ports that Tehran calls a ceasefire violation. Trump said the truce will remain in place indefinitely as Washington awaits a revised peace proposal, but Iran has signaled it does not plan to hold talks soon.
• South Korea’s GDP grew 1.7% QoQ in Q1 2026, rebounding from a 0.2% contraction and beating the 1.0% forecast, the strongest since Q1 2021. Growth was driven by a 5.1% rise in exports (especially semiconductors), solid investment, and modest consumption gains. Annually, GDP rose 3.6%, up from 1.6% and above the 2.7% forecast, the fastest since Q4 2021.
• Australia’s S&P Global Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.0 in April 2026 from 49.8, signaling a return to expansion. Output fell more slowly, while new orders, jobs, and inventories slipped modestly amid weak demand. Middle East–related disruptions lengthened delivery times the most since mid-2022, and higher fuel and freight costs drove the fastest input inflation in nearly four years.
• US crude inventories rose 1.93 million barrels to 465.7 million in the week to April 17, against expectations for a 1.2 million draw, with Cushing stocks up 806,000. Refinery runs and utilization edged lower, while gasoline and distillate stocks posted larger‑than‑expected draws. Net crude imports increased by 1.21 million bpd.
• Euro Area consumer confidence fell 4.3 points to -20.6 in April 2026, the lowest since December 2022, amid economic uncertainty and higher energy costs. In the wider EU, sentiment dropped 4.2 points to -19.4, with confidence in both regions still well below long-term averages.

Equities:

• US: S&P 500 climbed 1.0% to a fresh all-time high of 7,137.90 on Wednesday, placing the index on track for its best month since 2020, as strong corporate results and the ceasefire extension revived risk appetites after a two-day retreat. Nasdaq 100 jumped 1.7% to also set a closing peak, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7%. Chipmakers climbed for a 16th straight day, the longest-ever winning streak. Boeing surged on solid first-quarter deliveries. In after-hours trading, Tesla jumped as earnings beat estimates, reporting profits of $477 million, up 17% from the year-ago period, while revenues jumped 16% to $22.4 billion. Intel shares gained 3% after Tesla CEO Musk stated plans to use Intel's 14A process. IBM and CSX also moved higher in late trading.
• EU: The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell for the third day, dropping 0.3% to 613.88, the lowest closing level since April 9. Deutsche Telekom contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.8% after Bloomberg News reported it's discussing a potential merger with its T-Mobile US arm. Bureau Veritas had the largest drop, falling 10.6%. The DAX fell 0.3% to 24,194.90 in Frankfurt, while the FTSE 100 dropped 0.2% to 10,476.46 in London. Technology stocks rose against the broader market decline, with ASML rallying after giving a strong forecast. An investor frenzy for photonics companies producing optical components essential to AI datacenters continued, with Germany's LPKF Laser & Electronics rising 14% and up 200% since the start of the year.
• Asia: Asian equity futures were primed for advances Thursday after robust US corporate results lifted Wall Street to a record. Equity-index futures for Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea all climbed. On Wednesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.2% to 26,163.24, while the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped around 2% to 4,963, dragged lower by major Chinese tech firms including Alibaba and JD.com on concerns over near-term profitability due to regulatory pressure. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.2% to 8,843.60 at close. The Kospi Index in Seoul rose 0.5% to 6,417.93, with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries contributing the most to the index gain. SK Hynix reported a five-fold jump in quarterly profit to a record 40.3 trillion won, underscoring surging prices of AI memory chips. Nikkei futures were flat at 59,755 on the SGX as investors monitored developments in the Middle East.

Earnings this week:

• Thursday - Lockheed Martin, American Express, Intel
• Friday - Procter & Gamble 
• Sunday - Verizon

FX:

• The Norwegian krone rallied, outperforming all Group-of-10 peers against the greenback.
• USDJPY slipped less than 0.1% to 159.27, inching closer to 160 per dollar as oil prices rose, with the yen gaining as much as 0.2% to 159.11 per dollar earlier in the session.
• GBPUSD fell 0.1% to 1.3498, with the pound sterling climbing against the euro as rate hike bets held firm.
•  Morgan Stanley analysts see EURUSD longs with an approximately 6- to 9-month horizon looking attractive with a target between 1.20 and 1.25.
• AUDUSD remains choppy and upside beyond the 17 April high looks limited with stochastics still overbought.
• NZDUSD is consolidating after a bullish break above resistance from a downtrend from the 12 February high.

Commodities:

• Brent crude futures settled above $101 a barrel, gaining 3.5% to $101.91, the highest in two weeks, amid conflicting reports about plans to reschedule peace talks between the US and Iran which have ultimately failed to materialize. WTI futures settled up 0.9% at $92.96.
• Comex silver settled 1.9% higher at $77.893 per troy ounce, snapping a two-session losing streak.
•  Exchange-traded funds added 10,007 troy ounces of gold to their holdings in the last trading session, marking the sixth straight day of growth, the longest winning streak since January 28.

Fixed income:

• Treasury futures edged lower into the $13 billion 20-year bond auction, before losses faded in late session to leave yields marginally cheaper on the day across the curve. The 20-year bond was awarded at 4.883% versus the WI yield trading around 4.892% at the bidding deadline, a solid auction result.
•  The 10-year Treasury yield remained unchanged at 4.293%, while the 30-year yield was little changed at 4.901%.
• Treasury yields bounced back from early declines and settled roughly unchanged as Iran fired on three ships and President Trump extended the ceasefire but kept the US blockade of Iranian ports.

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