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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei (0.98%), Hang Seng +0.00%, Shanghai Composite (1.52%) as of 04:10 ET

May 14 ,2026

  • Synopsis:

    • Asia equities ended mixed Thursday with the MSCI Asia Pac ex Japan index higher but Japan's Nikkei and Topix, and mainland China's benchmarks seeing some losses. Singapore and New Zealand also fell slightly while Australia and Hong Kong traded flat. More outperformance in South Korea and Taiwan while India is rallying and outperforming the region. US futures trading higher after Cisco traded 20% up after hours, Europe opened with some gains. US dollar consolidated at overnight highs, Asia currencies quiet. Treasuries and JGBs mixed. Crude futures trading higher, reversing early declines. Precious and industrial metals mixed. Cryptocurrencies higher.

    • Asia equities continue to trade in their respective medium-term trajectories as tech-orientated boards in South Korea and Taiwan gained but Hong Kong, Australia and Southeast Asia all stuttered amid a stalemate in the Iran conflict and stubbornly high oil prices. The Nikkei 220 also pared early gains to end lower. Newsflow Thursday dominated by Trump's visit to China. No surprise developments in the statements so far following two hours of talks; both leaders began with optimistic comments, emphasizing collaboration over divisions, but Xi also warned Trump of conflict if Taiwan was mishandled. No trade deals or corporate agreements announced so far.

    • Asia's earnings season continued: among the notable results were those from Alibaba and Tencent late Wednesday with both seeing lower profits amid a surge in AI investment. Alibaba stock rose Thursday while Tencent underperformed the Hang Seng slightly. SoftBank (9984.JP) net profit beat expectations, driven largely by Vision Fund's OpenAI investment gain, while Nissan Motor (7201.JP) said it expected a FY operating profit in an early sign that cost-cutting efforts were showing progress. In macro developments, India's April wholesale inflation spiked very sharply to 8.3% y/y on a surge in fuel prices. Bloomberg data showed India's forex reserves had fallen sharply since the start of the Iran war alongside holdings in Indonesia and the Philippines as authorities defended their currencies.

    • Fanuc (6954.JP) said it was to team up with Google to build a new AI system for industrial robots using Google's Cloud and Gemini Enterprise. Alibaba core quarterly profit fell 84% but AI and cloud revenue gained 38%, highlighting the company's AI investment; results largely in line with consensus, stock sharply higher. Tencent (700.HK) reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth in six, missing estimates, as it ramped up investment in its AI business, and its games and advertising units showed signs of aging. BYD (1211.HK) is in discussions with Stellantis and other European carmakers about taking over underutilized factories in Europe. Qantas (QAN.AU) CEO said it will add capacity to its New Zealand routes to take advantage of its struggling rival Air New Zealand (AIR.NZ).

  • Digest:

    • Largely positive tones from Trump-Xi meeting while Xi warns of Taiwan issue:

      • Xinhua published readout of Trump-Xi summit on Thursday morning which President Xi emphasized US-China economic ties are "mutually beneficial" and "win-win" in nature. Said two countries should be partners instead of rivals. Meanwhile President Trump said US and China will have "a fantastic future" and bilateral relations "going to be better than ever before" (Bloomberg), setting positive tone for first US presidential visit to the country in nine years. Trump highlighted high-profile business leaders that accompanying him on the trip as US looks forward to trade and doing business with reciprocity. Xi told US CEOs that China's doors to the world "will only open wider" and believes "US enterprises will enjoy even broader prospects in Chinese market". Reuters reported US has cleared around ten Chinese companies, including Alibaba (9988.HK), Tencent (700.HK) and ByteDance, to buy Nvidia's (NVDA) H200 chips. Although it is unclear yet if China would greenlight such purchases.

      • Xi emphasized importance of issue of Taiwan and warned of potential conflict if mismanaged, warning Washington must handle it with "extreme caution"(Bloomberg). Early takeaways pointed to Xi's tone as "notably blunt" while Chinese state media released Xi's Taiwan remarks before the meeting had concluded as Beijing keen to shape narrative. Trump later ignored questions from reporters on the issue.

      • China's readout said two leaders also discussed situation in Middle East, Ukraine and Korea Peninsula without giving details.

    • BOJ board member Masu urges to resume rate hikes as soon as possible if data holds up:

      • In a speech, BOJ board member Masu noted US tariff risks appear to be winding down without causing any economic disruption in Japan, as attention is eclipsed by the Iran situation which stands to have far broader repercussions. Described the historical context for Japan's dependence on Middle East fuel sources. While largely qualitative, warned that widespread use of plastic products may impact daily life more seriously than the first oil shock in 1973. Inflation discussions focused on the causes for upward pressures and declared the economy has fully transitioned into inflation. Recent softening explained by easing rice prices and government policies. With negative real rates no longer necessary in an inflationary environment, highlighted the need to address this as soon as possible and guide the policy rate to well within the estimated neutral range, which is +1.1% to 2.5% after adding the 2% price stability target to the natural rate range of -0.9% to +0.5%. Only briefly mentioned underlying inflation, though suggested momentum is drawing very close to the 2% target. On policy, Masu suggested that with Japan clearly now in inflation, it is vital going forward to ensure underlying inflation does not exceed 2% through timely and appropriate rate hikes. While Iran war effects may turn out to be a temporary shock, the bigger concern is that higher fuel prices could further exacerbate mounting distribution costs driven primarily by labor shortages translating to more enduring pressures. Noted he did not judge the need to rush into a rate hike at the April MPM, though called for action at the earliest stage possible if the macro data do not indicate clear signs of economic downturn.

    • SoftBank earnings beholden to OpenAI, Nissan sees light at end of tunnel:

      • In key post-close earnings, SoftBank (9984.JP) posted blow-out FY net profit, quadrupling on the year to a record high JPY5T ($31.6B). All the attention was on OpenAI valuations which contributed almost the entirety of Vision Fund investment profit of JPY6.99T (Nikkei). OpenAI reportedly targeting an IPO seen valued at up to $1T this year, which would boost SoftBank's ~13% stake to around JPY20T, generating gains of about JPY10T. LTV ratio fell to 17% in March from 20.6% in December. Competitive threats to OpenAI leaves SoftBank vulnerable, adding to broader concerns about over-exposure to tech. CFO Yoshimitsu Goto did not rule out investment in OpenAI rivals though noted their generative AI plays are centered on OpenAI.

      • Nissan (7201.JP) Q4 metrics were broadly better than StreetAccount consensus, including a smaller than expected net loss and operating earnings unexpectedly in the black. Focus was on FY guidance; while lower than expected, company projects to turn a net profit for the first time in three years as restructuring impairments diminish. Car sales projected to turn up 5% to 3.3M units -- North America +2%, Japan +8% -- through new and refreshed models. However, sales haven't met targets since FY16 due to a lack of compelling offerings (Nikkei). CEO Espinosa targeting slashed new product development times from 55 to 30 months. Outlook includes JPY15B drag in H1 from Middle East effects via vehicle sales and materials costs.

    • Alibaba and Tencent anticipate payoff from AI investment:

      • Alibaba's (9988.HK) narrow top line miss was overshadowed by bullish outlook for cloud revenue growth. Rising demand for Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) and deployment of T-head chips supporting expectations of higher margins. Street bullish on MaaS as a growth driver with Bailian ARR surging more than tenfold since late 2025 and forecast to increase to CNY30B by end-2026 from CNY10B in current quarter. Improvement in Quick commerce unit economics (UE) another highlight with management anticipating positive turn by end FY27. Talked up expected returns from investment, flagging upgrade to planned CNY380B AI capex over next three years.

      • Tencent (700.HK) top and bottom broadly line in-line with domestic gaming revenue light, though this was partially due to LNY timing. Management talked up GenAI in accelerating gaming content creation and driving incremental revenue growth. Acceleration in AI-driven ad revenue growth another highlight. Company positive on Hunyuan 3 integration with token usage more than 10x Hunyuan 2, and plans to accelerate integration across products and Weixin workflows. Flagged significant increase in capex as chip supply improves, which was seen underpinning cloud growth.

    • Retail flows underpinning Kospi's rally as strategists revise up index targets:

      • South Korean equity rally showing no signs of slowing down amid recent pickup in talk about market overheating, narrow breadth, and overbought technical signals. Kospi up 6% week-to-date, nearing the key 8K level. Index continues to race past strategist targets, prompting firms to frequently revise projections with JP Morgan forecasting new base case of 9K by year-end and bull case of 10K. Some Korean brokerages see 10K as base case, underpinned by compelling valuations and expectation of almost 50% increase in combined operating profit by two memory giants next year (Yonhap).

      • Rally has masked continued exodus of global investors with net foreign outflows totaling $11.5B month-to-date, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Foreign outflows have risen to ~$48B in 2026, tracking for record outflow on an annual basis. That has been balanced in part by a big rise in retail participation with some $25.3B in domestic inflows so far in 2026 (Bloomberg). Proliferation of stock tips through social media encouraging sense of FOMO, accelerating market rally. That dynamic is also giving rise to concerns about speculative excess leaving market vulnerable to sudden sharp swings. Margin balances up 32% so far this year to record high and account openings by individuals under 18 up 10-fold y/y in Q1.

    • Notable Gainers:

      • +11.1% 003230.KS (SAMYANG FOODS): reports Q1 headline figures ahead of FactSet estimates; results supported by broad-based growth across key overseas markets

      • +4.9% 4004.JP (Resonac Holdings): reports Q1 results; revises H1 guidance on the back of strong growth in AI-related materials

      • +4.6% 6954.JP (FANUC Corp.): forms strategic collaboration with Google for physical AI robot system

      • +3.5% 9988.HK (Alibaba Group): reports Q4 results with headline figures below FactSet estimates; reported signals capex may exceed initial CNY380B plan due to AI infrastructure costs

      • +2.8% 1910.HK (Samsonite Group): reports Q1 results; revenue ahead of StreetAccount estimates

    • Notable Decliners:

      • -12.1% 5711.JP (Mitsubishi Materials): reports FY results; headline guidance misses FactSet estimates

      • -11.3% 7912.JP (Dai Nippon Printing): reports FY results; formulates mid-term plan; offers to acquire Austriacard Holdings at €10/share in cash

      • -5.4% 4042.JP (Tosoh Corp): reports FY results; revenue and operating profit miss FactSet estimates; company leaves forecast undetermined

      • -4.0% 9984.JP (SoftBank Group): reports FY results; shares fall despite net profit quadrupling on year to record high ¥5T

      • -0.6% 700.HK (Tencent Holdings): reports Q1 results; non-IFRS EPS beats FactSet estimates

  • Data:

    • Economic:

      • India April

        • Provisional WPI 8.30% y/y vs consensus 4.40% and 3.88% in prior month (12:00 IT)

    • Markets:

      • Nikkei: (618.06) or (0.98%) to 62654.05

      • Hang Seng: 0.60 or +0.00% to 26389.04

      • Shanghai Composite: (64.65) or (1.52%) to 4177.92

      • Shenzhen Composite: (62.08) or (2.11%) to 2886.99

      • ASX200: 10.30 or +0.12% to 8640.70

      • KOSPI: 137.40 or +1.75% to 7981.41

      • SENSEX: 894.16 or +1.20% to 75503.13

    • Currencies:

      • $-¥: +0.06 or +0.04% to 157.9430

      • $-KRW: +0.76 or +0.05% to 1490.3600

      • A$-$: (0.00) or (0.19%) to 0.7246

      • $-INR: +0.12 or +0.13% to 95.8072

      • $-CNY: (0.00) or (0.07%) to 6.7864

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