Asia Market Quick Take – 10 April, 2026

Key points:

• Macro: Israeli PM mentions Lebanon is outside of US-Iran ceasefire
• Equities: Stocks extend gains for seventh day; Amazon added 5.6% on CEO optimism
• FX: Dollar slides on Iran optimism; G-10 FX, especially NZD and NOK, outperform
• Commodities: Oil on track for biggest weekly loss since June, down >10%
• Fixed income: US Treasury curve steepened with US$22bn 30‑year bond auction

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Disclaimer: Past performance does not indicate future performance.

Macro:

• Netanyahu said Israeli operations in Lebanon are outside the US–Iran truce, even as Washington pursues broader ceasefire talks. Trump warned Iran over Hormuz transit fees while the strait remains mostly shut. Saudi Arabia reported a 600,000 bpd capacity loss and damage to a key bypass pipeline.
• US PCE prices rose 0.4% month-on-month, the fastest in a year, as goods prices jumped 0.7% and services slowed to 0.2%. Core PCE also increased 0.4%. Year-on-year, headline PCE hit 2.8% and core held at 3.0%.
• US personal income fell 0.1% in February 2026, the first drop since May 2025 and below expectations for a 0.3% gain, as dividend income and transfer receipts declined. Wages, salaries, and farm income rose, but nominal and real disposable income still fell 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.
• US personal spending rose 0.5% in February 2026, up from a revised 0.3% in January, led by stronger goods and services outlays, but inflation-adjusted spending increased only 0.1%.
• US initial jobless claims rose 16,000 to 219,000 in the week ending April 4, the highest in a month but still below late-2025 averages. Continuing claims fell 38,000 to 1.794 million, the lowest in nearly two years, indicating a still-strong labor market.
• US GDP grew at a 0.5% annualized rate in Q4 2025, revised down from 0.7% and 1.4% on weaker investment and softer consumer spending. Government spending dropped sharply amid the shutdown, subtracting about 1 percentage point from growth. Full-year 2025 growth was 2.1%.

Equities: 

• US - Wall Street extended gains for a seventh straight day on Thursday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.6% to 6,824.66, notching its longest winning run since October. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.7% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%. Consumer discretionary stocks led gains, with Amazon surging 5.6% after CEO Andy Jassy's shareholder letter lifted optimism around the company's artificial intelligence efforts. Brown-Forman jumped 12.9% after reports that Sazerac expressed interest in a deal. Texas Pacific Land dropped over 10%, on track for its largest percent decrease since April 2025. Meta expanded its AI cloud computing agreement with Coreweave to $21b, with Coreweave gaining 3.5% and Meta adding 3.4%.
• EU - European stocks fell on Thursday with the Stoxx 600 Index declining 0.1% to 612.59, following the previous session's 3.9% surge. The Euro Stoxx 50 Index ended 0.29% lower at 5,896.29. Germany's DAX fell 1.1% to 23,806.99, the biggest decline since falling 1.4% on March 27, with SAP dropping 6.8%. The FTSE 100 closed down 5.40 points, or 0.1%, at 10,603.48. Industrials and financials posted the most new highs among stocks hitting record levels, with Subsea 7, SBM Offshore and Nordnet among 18 stocks in the Stoxx 600 that set record highs.
• Asia -Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.5% to 25,752.40 on Thursday, with Alibaba declining 2.9% and the Hang Seng Tech Index falling 2% to 4,823.81. South Korea's Kospi Index fell 1.6% to 5,778.01 on Thursday, ending a 4-day gain, with Samsung Electronics down 3.1%. However, early Friday trading showed the Kospi opening 1.7% higher at 5,876.12, then rising 2.1% to 5,896.59. Mainland Chinese investors bought a net HK$12.6 billion of Hong Kong shares through the stock connect program on Thursday. Fast Retailing is up 8.8% to a record high in Tokyo after the company boosted full year operating income guidance to 700b yen, beating estimates.

FX:

• USD fell for a fourth straight session to its weakest level since March 2, with the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index down 0.16% on the day and 1.34% for the week, as President Trump’s optimism over an Iran deal boosted risk sentiment and weighed on the greenback.
• USDJPY edged up 0.3% to 159.04, while all other G-10s advanced, led by the NOK and NZD. NZDUSD rose 0.64% to 0.5859, its fourth straight gain, after RBNZ Governor Anna Breman said the bank would “act decisively” and raise rates if core inflation accelerates.
• EURUSD climbed 0.3% to 1.1696, breaking above its 200-day moving average at 1.1673, while EURGBP was steady around 0.8708.
• USDSGD is drifting toward its lows as markets price in a modest MAS tightening next week. Given past multi-step tightening cycles, elevated oil prices, sticky inflation and SGD’s growing haven appeal.

Commodities:

• Oil rose a second day with WTI climbing above $98 a barrel after Saudi Arabia said its production capacity has been reduced due to attacks on energy infrastructure, though futures remain on track for their biggest weekly loss since June, down more than 10% this week after the US and Iran announced a ceasefire.
• Gold advanced with Comex Gold settling 0.90% higher at $4,792.20, up for four consecutive sessions and gaining $140.70 or 3.02% over the last four sessions.
• Copper retreated from a three-week high as sporadic fighting threatened to derail the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran, with Comex Copper settling 0.20% lower at $5.7480.

Fixed income:

• The US Treasury's $22 billion sale of 30-year bonds was awarded at 4.876%, the highest monthly result since July, versus a 4.871% when-issued yield at the bidding deadline, reflecting weaker-than-expected demand and tailing by about half a basis point.
• The 30-year Treasury yield rose 0.011 percentage point to 4.897%, with the price falling 6/32 to 97 23/32.
• High-yield bond funds saw $807.5 million in inflows for the week ended April 8, marking the first week of net inflows after eight consecutive weeks of outflows, while Treasury funds saw $8.87 billion in inflows.

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