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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Hang Seng (0.76%), Taiex +0.16%, ASX (-0.19%) as of 04:10 ET

May 05 ,2026

• Synopsis:

  • Asia equities ended mostly lower Tuesday. Hong Kong saw the biggest losses despite an afternoon rally while there were declines in Australia, Singapore, India and much of Southeast Asia . Taiwan ended slightly higher. Japan, mainland China and South Korea markets all closed. US futures now firmly higher, Europe higher in the first hour. US dollar marginally higher, AUD lower post dovish interpretation of the RBA rate hike decision; yen and yuan unchanged; rupiah, rupee and peso all at record lows. Treasury yields higher at the short end, lower at the long, JGBs mixed. Crude blends consolidating overnight gains with Brent at $113/bl. Precious metals offsetting some of last night's losses, base metals gaining. Cryptocurrencies adding to recent gains.

  • Asia equities fell Tuesday amid a sharp increase in oil futures following overnight reports of a flare up in hostilities in the Persian Gulf. Several oil tankers and an oil terminal in the UAE were hit by Iranian missiles while the US reportedly sank several small Iran-flagged vessels. This was enough to send Brent crude prices to $113/bl and WTI back to $105/bl, and natural gas prices higher too. The cost of the war showing up increasingly in Asia economic data with the Philippines today posting monthly CPI at 7.2% y/y for April, joining high prints in several other Southeast Asia nations. Today, the ADB lowered developing Asia's economic growth forecast due to the war and warned over structural economic risk in the region.

  • Elsewhere, the RBA raised interest rates, raised inflation forecasts and lowered FY GDP forecasts, largely as expected, with Australia's finance minister Chalmers blaming the Iran conflict for the rate hike. The bank said following three recent rate hikes, policy was well placed to respond to developments despite inflation risks being tilted to the upside. Elsewhere, Indonesia's Q1 GDP growth print beat expectations with the performance enough to allow its central bank to intervene in the forex markets again to support the rupiah. Singapore April retail sales rose 4.8% to ease from March's level; Thailand's April PMI fell to a still-expansive 52.7 with input costs rising steeply.

  • CK Hutchison (1.HK) is to sell its stake in the UK's VodafoneThree to Vodafone in a cash deal worth $5.8B. HSBC (5.HK) missed quarterly earnings estimates because of an unexpected fraud write down and warned over rising economic risks from the middle east conflict. Nanya Technology (2408.TT) reported 40% m/m increase in April revenue underpinned by surging memory prices. Grab (GRAB) Q1 earnings beat estimates on strong ride-hailing demand and food-delivery services following several promotions. OCBC (039.SP) is to buy HSBC's Indonesia wealth and retail units, increasing its AUM by S$6.6B at a stroke.

• Digest:

  • US and Iran trade fire in Strait of Hormuz, shaking ceasefire:

    • Middle East tensions flare up on Monday after US and Iran traded fire in Strait of Hormuz (Reuters, Bloomberg, link).US launched 'Project Freedom' on Monday with destroyers escorting US-flagged vessels through the waterway. Iran responded with drones, missiles and fast boats and claimed it struck a US vessel (denied by White House). Trump said US shot down Iranian fast boats while South Korean cargo ship was hit. Trump warned of strong response against Iranian forces if they targeted US ships while in later remarks to ABC News stopped short of declaring Iran violated ceasefire.

    • Markets also unnerved by Iranian strikes against UAE's Fujairah port, which terminates at end of key oil pipeline that bypasses Strait of Hormuz. ADNOC oil tanker also reported to have been hit. Trump acknowledged attacks on UAE though downplayed severity. Developments underlined fragility of ceasefire with two sides still no closer to an agreement to end hostilities. On weekend Iran submitted revised 14-point plan that was mostly rehash of previous demands already rejected by US, leaving weeks-old status quo intact. Iranian Foreign Minster Araghchi warned US against getting dragged back into conflict while mentioning talks making progress.

  • RBA hikes cash rate as expected, sees higher inflation and lower growth due to Iran war:

    • RBA raised cash rate by 25 bp to 4.35% as expected. Vote count 8-1 in favor, contrasting with previews anticipating a split vote.

    • Signals RBA moving to sidelines after statement pointed out cash rate has been raised three times and policy is well placed to respond to developments. Governor Bullock also noted board now in position to be on alert to risks on both sides (growth and inflation), having hiked interest rates to curb inflation pressures prior to the conflict.

    • Middle East developments adding to inflation pressures prevalent prior to conflict. RBA upgraded CPI forecasts, now sees higher peak and lower trough. Underlying inflation expected to remain above 3% until mid-2027 but trough at 2.5% in Jun-2028 (vs prior 2.6%), reflecting economic drag from higher assumed path for interest rates. Forecasts conditioned on one more rate hike after May's increase.

    • Board assessed inflation likely to remain above target for some time and risks remain tilted to upside, including to inflation expectations. Indications higher fuel prices likely to have second-round effects on prices for goods and services. Bullock said this could lead to even higher and persistent inflation, requiring more tightening.

    • GDP growth forecasts downgraded through mid-2028, reflecting combined impact on household consumption from higher energy prices and interest rates. Labour market conditions expected to ease by little more than expected in February.

    • Baseline forecasts assume resolution to conflict before end of 2026, though forecasts subject to uncertainties about duration and severity of conflict. Two adverse scenarios see inflation higher and activity lower than envisaged, though more severe scenario could see inflation returning target sooner via dampening effect on growth.

  • Asian economies grapple with economic pains caused by Iran war:

    • Reuters and FT discussed how Asian economies are grappling with more pain from the worst of energy crisis triggered by Iran war. Came as ADB cut growth outlook for developing Asia compared with forecasts made just a month ago. It now sees 4.7% expansion this year and 4.8% in 2027, down from 5.1% for both years previously. Meanwhile lifted inflation outlook to 5.2% for this year, rising from 3% in 2025. ADB President Kanda called it "a deepening crisis" that caused systemic and long-lasting disruptions to global energy and trade networks. Noted overall oil imports to Asia dropped 30% y/y in April, lowest in more than a decade, while many governments have moved to limit fuel use, crack down on hoarding, curbing exports and looking for alternative sources. Some have tapped fiscal resources to absorb initial shock amid mounting fiscal strains while private sector economists said even region's richer countries could have to be more frugal with resources. HSBC added Asia's central banks are also becoming more focused on risks to growth, which would have bigger impact than initial shock of inflation.

  • Indonesia Q1 GDP jumps, central bank intervenes in forex market amid heightened volatility:

    • Indonesia's economy grew 5.6% y/y in Q1 versus FactSet consensus 5.3% and marginally above Q425's 5.4% (Reuters). Statistics agency said economy supported by domestic demand as households increased spending during Eid, aided by fiscal stimulus as government spending rose 22% y/y. Household consumption grew 5.5% while agricultural production, manufacturing also expanded. Industrial production clusters all grew except mining while oil & gas benefited from higher commodity prices. Economists said resilient GDP data gave central bank (BI) room to support rupiah. Tuesday, BI intervened again in forex markets to stop rupiah weakening which had fallen to another record low at 17,432 per dollar in early trading after latest flare up in middle east conflict (Bloomberg). Separately in Southeast Asia Tuesday, Philippine peso also fell to retouch record low following three-year high inflation print, rupee declined to record low 95.4 per dollar despite months-long measures by RBI to support currency.

  • China aims for 70% of advanced silicon wafers to be domestically produced in 2026:

    • Nikkei noted China is aiming for more than 70% of silicon wafers used by its chipmakers to be made locally by this year, making one of its most extensive efforts to domesticate strategic chip supply chain. Sources said Beijing's target has become "unspoken mandate" among industry players to use domestically made 12-inch wafers, as it is one of the most achievable targets for its self-sufficiency push as some other goals have fallen short. Added local silicon wafers can already meet demand for mature and legacy chips while imports still needed for some Chinese chipmakers aiming to produce more advanced chips. Article highlighted several Chinese silicon wafer producers that are expanding capacity, including Xi'an Eswin Material Technology (688783.CH), National Silicon Industry Group (688126.CH), TCL Zhonghuan (002129.CH) and Hangzhou Lion Microelectronics (605358.CH). Eswin said its locally made wafers have become default for any new domestic chip plant expansions and Berstein Research said China was able to meet about half of its 12-inch wafer demand last year while local companies catching up fast in the market previously mainly dominated by Japan and Taiwan. Developments fit with national priorities set by Chinese authorities. Recall China's Politburo emphasized need to boost its tech self-reliance and control over industrial supply chains at its April meeting.

  • Notable Gainers:

    • +10% 2354.TT (Foxconn Technology): Nvidia CEO reportedly predicts robots with reasoning capabilities will become mainstream within 1-3 years

    • +8.2% 2408.TT (Nanya Technology): reports April revenue NT$25.49B, +717.3% y/y

    • +6% 544028.IN (Tata Technologies): reports Q4 results; sales beat seen driving recovery expectations

    • +5.3% 2317.TT (Hon Hai Precision Industry): Nvidia CEO reportedly predicts robots with reasoning capabilities will become mainstream within 1-3 years

    • +5.2% 2005.HK (SSY Group): reports Q1 results; revenue +8% y/y

    • +4.1% 1.HK (CK Hutchison Holdings): agrees to buyout of 49% stake in VodafoneThree for £4.30B (HK$45.58B) in cash

    • +2.3% 1876.HK (Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC): reports Q1 results; normalized EPS ahead of StreetAccount estimates

  • Notable Decliners:

    • -4.9% 5.HK (HSBC Holdings): reports Q1 earnings; EPS misses consensus estimates

    • -1.5% 1787.HK (Shandong Gold Mining): materials in Asia lower as gold price declines

    • -1.1% 2330.TT (TSMC): Apple reportedly looking at options beyond TSMC to make main processors for its devices

• Data:

  • Economic:

    • Australia March

      • Household spending +1.6%m/m vs consensus +1.8% and +0.3% in February

        • Household spending +6.3% y/y vs consensus +6.1% and +4.6% in February

    • Singapore

      • March Retail Sales Nominal NSA Y/Y +4.8% versus +8.3% in prior month

  • Markets:

    • Nikkei: Closed

    • Hang Seng: (197.27) or (0.76%) to 25898.61

    • Shanghai Composite: Closed

    • Shenzhen Composite: Closed

    • ASX200: (16.60) or (0.19%) to 8680.50

    • KOSPI: Closed

    • SENSEX: (236.12) or (0.31%) to 77033.28

  • Currencies:

    • $-¥: (0.00) or (0.00%) to 157.2470

    • $-KRW: (3.41) or (0.23%) to 1472.9000

    • A$-$: (0.00) or (0.20%) to 0.7152

    • $-INR: +0.09 or +0.10% to 95.3442

    • $-CNY: (0.00) or (0.01%) to 6.8293