Asia Market Quick Take – 29 April, 2026

Key points:

• Macro: US data show steady jobs, strong retail; BOJ holds rates in split decision
• Equities: US market drops on OpenAI worries; BYD profit plunges amid China weakness
• FX: Dollar strengthens as oil surge curbs Fed cut bets; yen, G-10 weaken
• Commodities: Oil surges on Hormuz disruptions, UAE quits OPEC; silver hits multiweek low
• Fixed income: Treasury yields hit multiweek highs as oil lifts inflation

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Disclaimer: Past performance does not indicate future performance.

Macro:

• US private payrolls rose an average of 39,250 per week in the four-week period ending April 11, according to ADP Research and the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
• US same-store sales rose 7.7% year-over-year in the week ended April 25, according to Johnson Redbook, with sales benefiting from an extra selling day this year compared to last year due to the timing of Easter.
• UAE announced it will quit OPEC and OPEC+, as of the 1st of May. They will also bring additional production to the market, in a "gradual and measured manner, aligned with demand and market conditions”.
• The Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.75% in a split 6-3 vote, with Governor Kazuo Ueda refraining from giving a decisive signal about the timing of a rate hike.

Equities: 

• US: US stock futures declined on Tuesday as a Wall Street Journal report that OpenAI recently failed to meet its goals for new users and sales fueled worries about artificial intelligence spending. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.4%, while S&P 500 Index futures fell 0.7% as of midday in New York. Magnificent Seven stocks were hit hard, with Nvidia falling 3.4%, Amazon down 1.6%, and Tesla declining 1.4%. OpenAI partners such as CoreWeave and Oracle also tumbled, with CoreWeave down 7% and Oracle off 7%. General Motors rallied after raising its profit outlook for the year by $500 million, saying its pickups and sport utility vehicles continue to sell even as gasoline prices rise. In after hours, Starbucks gained 5% after raising annual forecasts after growing 6.2% in Q2. Visa also beat expectations, gaining 6% as it grew saw a steady rise in payment volume despite macroeconomic uncertainty.
• EU: European stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with the Stoxx 600 index down 0.4% in London, testing its 50-day moving average. The tech subindex dropped 1.8%, the worst-performing sector, dragged down by the OpenAI report, with ASML declining over 3% and BE Semiconductor dropping 5.1%. Energy shares provided some support, with BP advancing 2.8% after earnings beat expectations as spiraling energy prices and market turmoil caused by the Iran war boosted profits from oil trading. Shell and TotalEnergies also climbed more than 2%. The FTSE 100 nudged higher by 0.1% to close at 10,332.79, while the DAX fell 0.3% to 24,018.26, its seventh consecutive day of decline and the lowest closing level since April 13. Qiagen tumbled 10.8% after lowering its full-year 2026 net sales outlook.
• Asia: Asian equity markets were mixed on Tuesday, with South Korea's Kospi rising 0.4% to close at a fresh all-time high of 6,641.02 as investors looked forward to first-quarter earnings of key US-based technology companies. The rally has pushed South Korea's total market capitalization above that of the UK, driven by demand for high-bandwidth memory and chips used in data centers. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.9% to 25,679.78, its lowest closing level since April 13, with Alibaba down 2.8% and Contemporary Amperex Technology falling 6.9% after disclosing a HK$39.2 billion equity offering. The Hang Seng Tech Index slumped as much as 2.2%, with Xiaomi, SMIC, and Alibaba among the biggest drags. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 619.90 points or 1% to 59,917.46 as traders sold off AI- and semiconductor-related issues. China's Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.2% to 4,078.64. BYD Q1 2026 net profit slumped 55% to 4.08B yuan on weaker China demand, FX loss and rising financing strain; revenue fell 12%. Singapore's STI and other regional exchanges also declined as traders booked profits on tech-sector issues and weighed Middle East outlooks.

Earnings this week:

• Wednesday: AbbVie, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Amazon, Microsoft, Qualcomm, ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, PetroChina, China Construction Bank, Bank of China
• Thursday: Samsung Electronics Merck, ConocoPhillips, Mastercard, Caterpillar, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Apple, Tokyo Electron, DBS Group
• Friday: Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, ANZ, Marubeni

FX:

• USD rose as surging oil prices damped expectations for Fed rate cuts, pushing all G-10 currencies, including the yen, lower. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2%, with traders seeing the Fed on hold on April 29. Oil markets were unsettled by Trump’s comments that Iran had asked the US to lift a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and by news that the UAE will leave OPEC next month.
• JPY weakened, with USDJPY at 159.61, despite the BOJ keeping rates unchanged in a “hawkish hold” that suggests a possible June hike.
• CAD slipped as USDCAD rose to 1.3684 ahead of the Bank of Canada’s expected hold at 2.25%.
• EURUSD dipped to 1.1714 amid rising euro-area inflation expectations, while GBPUSD fell to 1.3520 as UK bonds sold off on higher oil prices and political risks.

Commodities:

• Brent crude rose 2.8% on Tuesday to trade near $111 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate climbed above $99, as the near-closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz prolonged disruptions that have upended global markets and President Donald Trump said Iran has asked the US to lift a naval blockade.
• Comex silver settled 2.40% lower at $73.205 per troy ounce, marking its second consecutive session of declines and the lowest settlement value since April 7, 2026.
• The United Arab Emirates announced plans to withdraw from OPEC from the start of May, a shock decision that blindsided its partners of six decades and threatens to shake the cartel's grip on oil markets.

Fixed income:

• Treasury yields rose to the highest levels in several weeks, with the two-year note's yield topping 3.85% for the first time since late March and the 10-year yield climbing about 2 basis points to near 4.36%, as climbing oil prices drove up inflation expectations and curbed expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
• The US Treasury's $44 billion seven-year note auction was awarded at 4.175% versus its 4.170% when-issued yield at the bidding deadline, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.51, above the previous auction's 2.43 ratio, though the auction tailed by around half a basis point.
• Bond traders ramped up wagers hedging for 5% yields as a rally in oil prices continued unabated, with a flurry of demand emerging for options hedging a bigger bond market selloff over the coming days, pushing yields higher.

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