Asia Market Quick Take – 4 May, 2026

Key points:

• Macro: US to guide neutral ships to exit Straits of Hormuz
• Equities: Berkshire misses earnings, record cash; GameStop pursues $56B unsolicited eBay takeover
• FX: Japan intervened, spending $32–35 billion defending JPY near 160
• Commodities: Brent crude fell up to 2.4% to $105.55, down for a third straight day
• Fixed income: Treasuries mixed: long end flat, front end cheaper

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Disclaimer: Past performance does not indicate future performance.

Macro:

• Washington wants Tehran to surrender over 400 kg of highly enriched uranium that it says could be used for a bomb. Iran insists its program is peaceful but is willing to accept some curbs for sanctions relief, as in the 2015 deal Trump quit.
• Trump said the US will start helping neutral ships trapped in the Persian Gulf exit through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reports. He called talks with Iran positive and said the move is meant to help people, companies, and countries that have done “absolutely nothing wrong.”
• US ISM Manufacturing PMI held at 52.7 in April 2026, matching its highest since August 2022 but below the 53.0 forecast. New orders and delivery times rose, production slowed, and employment fell sharply. Prices saw their fastest increase since late 2021 on higher oil and diesel costs tied to Middle East tensions. Sentiment was mostly negative, with many respondents citing the Iran war and tariffs.
• Canada’s Manufacturing PMI rose to 53.3 in April 2026 from 50.0 in March, the strongest improvement since June 2022. Output and new export orders jumped on client stockpiling amid supply and price concerns tied to the Middle East conflict. Input buying, delivery delays, and costs (especially fuel and freight) all increased, while employment edged up and business optimism reached a 16‑month high.

Equities: 

• US: S&P 500 Index futures climbed 0.1% in early trading before trimming gains, with the index closing Friday at 7,230.1, up 0.3%. Over the weekend, Berkshire Hathaway reported Q1 net income of $10.1b, missing estimates of $11.6b, though Warren Buffett said the company has reaped $185b from its Apple bet and cash hit a record $380b on stock sales. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is making an unsolicited offer to purchase eBay for about $56b, or $125 a share in cash and stock, with GameStop having built a roughly 5% stake and secured a commitment letter from TD Bank to provide about $20b of debt financing for a deal. Applied Materials announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with ASMPT Limited to acquire its NEXX business, a leading supplier of large-area advanced packaging deposition equipment for the semiconductor industry.
• EU: European equity markets were impacted by President Trump's announcement on Friday that he would increase tariffs on cars and trucks coming from the EU to 25%, citing what he described as noncompliance with a trade agreement. The move adds pressure to European automakers already navigating elevated energy costs from the ongoing Middle East conflict. France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is urging TotalEnergies to implement a generous cap on pump prices to redistribute excess profits made from rising crude oil prices, with the energy company under pressure as some politicians want it to do more on fuel pricing.
• Asia: South Korea's Kospi Index opened 2.8% higher at 6,782.93 on Monday, building on strong momentum after the index jumped 31% in April, the second best month ever and the best since January 1998. The rally has pushed South Korea's market capitalization above the UK. Asian stocks benefited from business partnerships with Nvidia, with South Korea's LG Electronics, Taiwan's Nanya Technology, as well as China's Huizhou Desay SV Automotive and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai rallying on news of tie-ups and supply-chain participation. Singapore's Straits Times Index closed at 4,912.69 on April 30, up 1.1%, led by gains in DBS Bank which climbed 3.4% after posting record net income for the first quarter.

Earnings this week:

• Monday: Palantir, Grab
• Tuesday: HSBC, Westpac, AMD, Shopify, PayPal, Pfizer, Lumentum, Strategy
• Wednesday: Arm, Disney, Novo Nordisk, Uber, Lyft, Coherent
• Thursday: UOB, Block, Shell, Gilead Sciences, Airbnb, Expedia, McDonald, Cloudflare, Coinbase, IREN
• Friday: Toyota, Sony, NTT, OCBC, Japan Tobacco, Macquarie, Commerzbank

FX:

• USD quoted mixed against G10 peers in early Sydney trading, with USDJPY seen 0.1% lower at 156.84 after sliding 1.5% last week, as prospects of shipping resuming through the Strait of Hormuz lifted sentiment.
• Japan intervened on May 1, 2026, spending about ¥5.4 trillion to stop the yen sliding past 160 per dollar. USDJPY is currently around 156–157.
• AUD edged 0.1% higher to 0.7212 in early trading after Trump's Strait of Hormuz announcement, with the Reserve Bank beginning its two-day policy meeting where a third straight interest rate hike to 4.35% is widely expected.
• NOK has become the best performing G10 currency year-to-date, up 8.52% against the US dollar, while the DKK is the worst performer, down 0.26%.

Commodities:

• Brent crude fell as much as 2.4% to 105.55 dollars a barrel before paring losses, falling for a third day, while WTI was near 101 dollars as Trump's announcement on guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz lifted sentiment, though uncertainty over the plan's implementation later caused oil to erase some losses.
• Gold and the yen strengthened as higher oil prices hit markets where they usually do, with gold benefiting from safe-haven flows amid ongoing Middle East tensions.
• Kuwait oil exports fell to zero for the first time since the Gulf War, highlighting the severe disruption to energy flows from the Iran conflict.

Fixed income:

• The 10-year US Treasury yield edged down 0.1 basis points to 4.37% on Friday, with Treasury futures firmer in early Monday trading as the dollar weakened broadly.
• Yields on Asia investment-grade dollar bonds edged up from a record low on Friday, though credit spreads in the region remain tight despite lingering uncertainty linked to disruptions from the Iran conflict.
• US bond traders will focus this week on the Treasury Department's announcement of borrowing plans for the next three months, an array of Federal Reserve speakers, and a loaded calendar of economic releases crowned by monthly employment data on Friday.

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