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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei +0.50%, Hang Seng (0.48%), Shanghai Composite +0.04% as of 04:10 ET

Jun 06 ,2025

  • Synopsis:

    • Asia equities ended mixed again Friday. Japan's Nikkei and Topix benchmarks among the modest gainers alongside Singapore and India, the latter after the RBI surprised with a 50 bps rate cut. Australia, Southeast Asia and Greater China including Hong Kong ended modestly lower, Taiwan was flat. South Korea closed for a holiday. For the week, the region posted solid gains almost everywhere ex Japan. US futures higher, Europe opened flat. US dollar a smidge stronger, yen weaker, other Asia crosses unchanged. Treasuries and JGBs mixed. Crude oil blends lower, precious metals stronger, base metals mixed. Cryptocurrencies a little stronger following the overnight selloff.

    • Asia markets once again drifted amid a lack of strong catalysts everywhere except India, where the RBI slashed base interest rates by more than expected, cut banks' cash reserve ratio by 100 bps to 3.0%, and adjusted its stance to neutral from accommodative. The bank said it was 'frontloading' easier policy economic uncertainty but also warned on the benefit limits to further easing. Elsewhere, markets wait for substantive developments on trade negotiations which for the moment remain elusive with Asia nations, including with China post discussions between Xi and Trump that resulted in little progress beyond the promise of new negotiations.

    • In other developments, Japan household spending unexpectedly contracted as inflation continued to erode purchasing power and exports contracted 3% in first 20 days of May. The PBOC made a CNY1T liquidity injection via outright reverse repos in a probable attempt to avert a liquidity crunch. Thailand CPI was deflationary for a second consecutive month in May.

    • ispace (9348.JP) said its uncrewed moon lander probably crashed onto the lunar surface during its touchdown. Nissan Motor's (7201.JP) corporate family credit rating was cut to Ba2 by Moody's in the latest setback for the company as it attempts to restructure. Nippon Steel (5401.JP) and the US administration have asked a US appeals court to extend a pause in their litigation for eight days to aid in deal negotiations. Pegatron (4938.TT) is in the final stages of evaluating plans for a US-based factory and will announce details next month. Indonesia's new sovereign wealth fund Danantara is in early talks with GoTo (GOTO.IJ) to be a joint owner post Grab's (GRAB) acquisition.

  • Digest:

    • RBI cuts base interest rate 50 bps to 5.50%, changes stance to neutral, slashes CRR to support growth:

      • India's central bank MPC trimmed its repo policy rate 50 bps to 5.50% as expected by small minority of economists with most anticipating 25bps cut. Bank changed stance to 'neutral' from 'accommodative'. Bank also cut cash reserve ratio by 100bp to 3.0% to boost already surplus liquidity in banking system. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said MPC now sees "very limited monetary policy space to support growth". Economic growth remains lower than hoped for amid tough global environment although acknowledged uncertainty had ebbed recently and kept FY growth forecast at 6.5%. Cut FY inflation forecast to 3.7% from 4.0%, below target 4.0%, said near-, medium-term outlook gives confidence of durable alignment in inflation (BusinessStandard). Malhotra said MPC felt frontloading rate cuts to support growth necessary with pace of industrial activity uneven, and despite steady private consumption, stability in prices, financial system and politics. Rupee weakened versus US dollar post decision, bond yields slipped on change of stance, stocks higher (Bloomberg).

    • Trump and Xi agree to new round of trade talks as tensions linger:

      • Presidents Trump and Xi spoke by phone on Thursday in effort to get trade talks back on track following recent flare up in tensions (Bloomberg, Reuters). Trump characterized call as very good with positive conclusion for both countries. However, China offered more cautious take with Xinhua readout noting Xi urged US to end negative measures, reduce misunderstandings, and handle Taiwan issue prudently. Both agreed to hold fresh talks with USTR Greer, Commerce Secretary Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Bessent to lead next round of negotiations shortly. Xi and Trump also invited the other for visits. China's slow walking on easing rare earths export curbs a driver of recent dispute, fueling alarm among auto manufacturers about shortages. However, unclear to what extent call resolved those concerns with Trump nodding to complexity of rare earths issue but did not specify whether China will resume flow of magnets. Also, Commerce Secretary Lutnick signaled no letup in efforts targeting China's tech sector, telling Congressional hearing on Thursday that US should tighten enforcement of export controls (Bloomberg).

    • US's first trade deal with Asia remains elusive:

      • Nikkei discussed the lack of progress towards a US trade agreement with Asia as the 90-day tariff pause is set to expire in little over a month. President Trump agreed with China's Xi on Thursday to begin a new round of talks after both sides accused each other of reneging on the Geneva agreement. India appears to be aiming for a broad agreement by early July, focused on lower India tariffs and increased imports of US weapons, oil and gas. Vietnam scheduled to hold third round of ministerial level talks in early June after agreeing to expand imports of soybean meal and corn in deals potentially worth $2B. Authorities also agreed to work on combatting transshipment of Chinese goods through Vietnam. South Korea negotiations set to resume after this week's presidential election resolved a power vacuum since former President Yoon was impeached. For Japan, Nikkei sources said progress toward a deal being held back partly because of open disagreements, competition and confusion between Bessent, Lutnick and Greer. Yet, Asahi cited multiple sources saying Japan negotiators have proposed lowering US tariffs in a deal as they sensed that exemptions may not be achieved. Meanwhile, Nikkei discussed broader regional impacts from Trump tariffs. Official data showed US trade deficit shrank 46% in April, mostly a reflection of stalling exports from Asia to US. Deficits fell on the month for nearly all Asian countries except for Taiwan and Vietnam.

    • PBOC announces CNY1T outright reverse repo operation for Friday:

      • Latest PBOC actions extend focus on liquidity provisions, announcing a CNY1T ($139B) outright reverse repo operation with a three-month term to be conducted Friday (Xinhua). Article noted this a new tool introduced in Oct-24 to manage interbank liquidity, as part of efforts to bolster the monetary policy toolkit. Follows CNY700B injection in May using the same instrument though constituted a net drain of CNY200B given CNY900B was due for expiry (Reuters). Yet, PBOC also conducted a CNY500B MLF operation on 23-May. Liquidity injections have drawn limited attention following the suite of monetary easing measures announced by Governor Pan earlier last month including a 10 bp cut to the 7-day reverse repo policy rate, followed up by corresponding reductions to LPRs, as well as a 25 bp RRR cut. General focus on PBOC has died down since recent announcements generally satisfied easing expectations for Q2, though market discussions continued to look for more down the line. LPR fixings were preceded by deposit rate cuts among major banks, alleviating some NIM pressures. Talk of FX headwinds have receded as yuan has trended firmer since early April. Main dynamic now seen to be policy responses to US tariffs/trade frictions. Economists suggested better than expected Q1 GDP data may have reduced policymaker urgency for fresh stimulus in the near term though may well resurface given uncertainties over the outlook from H2.

    • US Treasury finds no currency manipulators, singles out China's lack of transparency, recommends further BOJ rate hikes:

      • US Treasury's semiannual report on FX policies of major trading partners concluded that no country manipulated its currency for the purposes of distorting balance of payments or competitive advantage in 2024. Statement highlighted Trump administration will no longer accept persistent trade deficits and noted some progress in reversal among some trading partners. Treasury Secretary Bessent pledged to continue strengthening analysis of currency practices and increase the consequences of any manipulation designation. Treasury will use all available tools at its disposal to implement strong countermeasures against unfair currency practices. According to the report, nine countries were included in the "Monitoring List": China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland. Added that while China has not been designated as a currency manipulator amid yuan depreciation pressure, China stands out in its lack of transparency around its exchange rate policies and practices. Clarified this lack of transparency will not preclude Treasury from designating China if available evidence suggests that it is intervening through formal or informal channels to resist yuan appreciation in the future. Section on Japan concluded with a recommendation for BOJ to continue policy tightening which will support normalization of yen weakness vs dollar and a much-needed structural rebalancing of bilateral trade.

    • Notable Gainers:

      • +9.9% 8923.JP (Tosei Corp): holder Dalton Investments discloses 5.00% stake

      • +8.4% 1024.HK (Kuaishou Technology): Kling AI reports May subscription bookings of more than CNY100M

      • +2.3% 285A.JP (Kioxia Holdings): releases mid to long-term growth strategy for AI

      • +0.3% 1299.HK (AIA Group): chairman Edmund Sze-Wing Tse to retire, effective 1-Oct; Mark Tucker appointed as successor

      • +0.2% O39.SP (Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.): to support delisting proposal for Great Eastern Holdings shares with conditional exit offer at SG$30.15/share

    • Notable Decliners:

      • -11.2% 9627.JP (Ain Holdings): reports FY results; operating income ¥16.87B vs guidance ¥19.36B and FactSet ¥19.31B

      • -4.7% 489.HK (Dongfeng Motor Group): reports May vehicle production 132,813 units vs year-ago 138,853 units

      • -3.3% 9866.HK (NIO Inc): China officials reportedly warn major carmakers in meeting to self-regulate on issues including unreasonable price cuts

      • -0.5% 2379.TT (Realtek Semiconductor): reports May revenue NT$10.28B, (1.0%) y/y

  • Data:

    • Economic:

      • Japan April

        • Household spending (0.1%) y/y vs consensus +1.5% and +2.1% in prior month

          • Spending (1.8%) m/m vs consensus (0.8%) and +0.4% in prior month

    • Markets:

      • Nikkei: 187.12 or +0.50% to 37741.61

      • Hang Seng: (114.43) or (0.48%) to 23792.54

      • Shanghai Composite: 1.26 or +0.04% to 3385.36

      • Shenzhen Composite: (2.44) or (0.12%) to 2007.69

      • ASX200: (23.20) or (0.27%) to 8515.70

      • KOSPI: Closed

      • SENSEX: 665.35 or +0.82% to 82107.39

    • Currencies:

      • $-¥: +0.38 or +0.27% to 143.9300

      • $-KRW: +0.71 or +0.05% to 1355.9400

      • A$-$: (0.00) or (0.20%) to 0.6493

      • $-INR: (0.09) or (0.10%) to 85.7409

      • $-CNY: +0.01 or +0.11% to 7.1838

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