Asia Market Quick Take – 06 May, 2026

Asia Market Quick Take – 6 May, 2026 

Key points:  

• Macro: US concludes offensive operations against Iran 
• Equities: Intel surges 13% on Apple partnership; AMD +16% in after-hours on strong server chip sales 
• FX: AUD gains on RBA hikes and pause signal; yen weak as USDJPY climbs 
• Commodities: Oil down again; WTI near $100; cocoa near 3‑month high 
• Fixed income: US long bonds rebounded, with the 30‑year yield slipping back below 5% 

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Disclaimer: Past performance does not indicate future performance.  

 Macro:  

• Trump signals progress toward a final Iran deal, saying the US will briefly pause efforts to move ships through the Strait of Hormuz, while keeping the naval blockade in place. Washington is shifting focus to reopening the strait amid foreign pressure and rising domestic opposition to the war, but US–Iran talks remain deadlocked as Tehran insists negotiations depend on lifting the US naval blockade.
• The ISM Services PMI slipped to 53.6 in April 2026 from 54, roughly in line with expectations and still above last year’s average. Activity rose to 55.9 as firms worked through backlogs while new orders fell to 53.5. Employment increased but stayed below 50. Prices jumped to 70.7, the highest since 2022, on higher energy, metals, freight, and tariff-driven aluminum and lumber costs.
• US job openings slipped by 56,000 to 6.87 million in March 2026, above expectations. Openings fell in professional and business services but rose in finance and insurance, and declined in most regions except the Northeast. Hires rose to 5.6 million, while separations held near 5.4 million, with quits and layoffs little changed.
• Australia’s Ai Group manufacturing index ticked up 0.7 points to -27.9 in April 2026 but remained deeply contractionary, as firms struggled with rising input costs they could not fully pass through, export disruptions, and production cuts. Minerals and metals hit a record low on weak exports and shortages, while food and beverage producers saw margins squeezed by higher costs and limited pricing power.
• The RealClearMarkets/TIPP Economic Optimism Index slipped to 42.6 in May 2026 from 42.8, its lowest since June 2024 and below 50 for a ninth month. The Six-Month Economic Outlook fell to 37.8, while the Personal Financial Outlook was steady at 50.3 and Confidence in Federal Economic Policies held at 39.8.

Equities:  

• US - US equity markets closed at record highs on Tuesday. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.8% to 7,259.22, the Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.3%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.7%. Intel surged 13% to reach a market capitalization of $547 billion, surpassing Oracle, on enthusiasm over a reported Apple partnership. Micron Technology soared approximately 11% after an IDC report suggested the memory market could break from historical cyclical patterns. Super Micro Computer jumped in extended trading after reporting improved margins and strong profit guidance while Shopify fell 15% on weaker than expected revenue guidance. In after-hours trading, Advanced Micro Devices rose 16.5% following strong quarterly results. PayPal and Palantir fell despite upbeat earnings, with analysts citing disappointing guidance and lagging international commercial business respectively.
• EU - European stocks rebounded on Tuesday with the Stoxx 600 gaining 0.7% as resilient earnings helped temper Middle East concerns. Anheuser-Busch InBev rallied 9%, the most since 2021, after posting its first volume expansion since 2023 driven by demand for Michelob and Corona. The DAX rose 1.7% to 24,401.70, its largest gain since April 17, with Infineon Technologies climbing 6.5%. HSBC Holdings fell 5.9%, contributing the most to index declines. UniCredit jumped 5.9% after reporting record quarterly profits. The FTSE 100 fell 1.4% to 10,219.11, its largest loss since March 20, weighed down by HSBC and Entain, which dropped 6.5%. The Swiss Market Index rose 0.4%, while the OMX Stockholm 30 Index gained 1.2%.
• Asia - Asian equities retreated from record highs on Tuesday amid holiday-thinned trade as renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz rattled investors. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 0.6%, with markets in Japan, South Korea, and mainland China closed for holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished down 0.8% as traders weighed Middle East developments and eschewed tech issues. Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.1% to 4,920.61, mirroring regional losses despite upbeat retail data showing total retail sales rose 4.8% year-on-year in March. Looking ahead to Wednesday's session, an overnight jump of more than 4% for the SOX semiconductor index sets up a strong return for the Kospi after Tuesday's holiday, with Samsung Electronics ADRs in London jumping more than 8% after reports of exploratory discussions with Apple about producing processors in the US. SK Square surged 20% and SKC Co jumped 15% to a 14-month high.

Earnings this week: 

• 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 was little changed on Tuesday as the US downplayed the risk of wider conflict with Iran, keeping the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index little changed. US services growth slowed, with the ISM index easing to a five-month low of 53.6 in April amid cooler orders and still-elevated input costs.
• In G-10 FX, the JPY lagged as USDJPY rose 0.4% to 157.88, its third straight gain.
• AUDUSD climbed 0.2% to 0.7183, near its highest since 2022, after the RBA’s third consecutive rate hike and a signal to pause. 
• GBPUSD inched up 0.1% to 1.3540 despite UK long-term borrowing costs hitting a 28-year high amid political and energy concerns.
• EURUSD was just below 1.17, while USDCHF dipped 0.1% to 0.7831 as Swiss inflation hit a 16-month high on higher energy costs.

Commodities: 

• Oil fell for a second day with WTI dropping toward $100 a barrel after sliding 3.9% on Tuesday, while Brent closed near $110. WTI fell 2.5% after Trump announced the pause of Project Freedom. Saudi Arabia cut the price of its main oil grade for Asia next month from a record-high in May, though it remained near historic levels.
• Comex copper settled 2.55% higher at $5.9430 per pound, the largest one-day gain since April 8, as the market digests conflicting signals between Middle East tensions and upbeat factory data in China.
• Cocoa prices approached a three-month high, with New York cocoa futures rising 2.7% to $3,987 after briefly topping $4,000, on concerns around the impact of an El Nino weather system on global supply and irregular rainfall in Ivory Coast weighing on crop expectations.

Fixed income:  

• US long bonds rebounded with the 30-year yield falling as much as four basis points to 4.98%, back below 5%, as investors looked to lock in long-term interest rates trading around multi-year highs. The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.4%, notably higher than roughly two months ago at 3.94%. Washington is now spending roughly $1.22 trillion a year servicing its debt, equivalent to over 4% of GDP.
• Most major US bond dealers expect the Treasury Department to begin laying the groundwork this week for a seemingly inevitable round of increases in Treasury auctions at some point in the next year, though auction sizes are expected to remain unchanged for the May-to-July quarter.
• The US high-yield primary market saw two issuers selling a combined $1.75 billion of new bonds, with six more borrowers expected to raise capital later this week. The average US high-yield corporate bond spread is just 17 basis points above a multi-decade low, while yield-to-worst has climbed 28 basis points over the past 11 days from its April low of 6.75%.

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