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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei +0.91%, Hang Seng +0.86%, Shanghai Composite (0.27%) as of 04:10 ET

Jun 01 ,2026

• Synopsis:

  • Asia markets traded higher Monday. South Korea's Kospi surged again with Taiwan's Taiex breaking though 45K for the first time. The Nikkei 225 outperformed the Topix as tech stocks gained once again. Mainland China stocks lower, Hang Seng ended higher. Australia flat, India paring early gains now lower, much of Southeast Asia closed for a holiday. US futures higher, a tepid open in Europe. US dollar flat, DXY hovering around 99; little movement of note in Asia currencies. Treasury and JGB yields higher across tenors, CGB yields at a 10-month low. Crude prices higher. Precious metals mixed with gold lower but silver up. Base metals also mixed.

  • Little substantive forward momentum in the Iran conflict this weekend with both sides trading revised terms to one another. The US shot down a drone with Tehran responding with a likely attack on Kuwait Monday morning, and Israel pushed deeper into southern Lebanon with Tehran insisting this incursion be included in a US-Iran ceasefire deal. The lack of progress sent Brent back towards $94/bl, gold to come off Friday's high and sovereign bond yields to track higher, in a now familiar market reaction when ceasefire negotiations stall. Nevertheless, an extension to the existing ceasefire deal is still expected by most observers to be negotiated that would also include a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

  • South Korea, Taiwan and Japan AI-related stocks paying little attention to middle east developments with news Nvidia would enter the windows laptop market with a new CPU boosting regional AI-related shares. The Taiex and Kospi reached fresh record highs to take the regional MSCI Asia Pac ex-Japan index a record alongside the Nikkei 225. In other developments, China official PMI showed manufacturing growth stalled in May while S&PGlobal PMIs throughout the region including China showed output and new orders continued to expand while cost pressures remained elevated; S&P economists warned inventory building was largely responsible for the expansion, which may trigger a slowdown in the months ahead. South Korea May export growth accelerated again supported by an outsized increase in semiconductor shipments while imports also increased sharply. Japan's corporate survey unexpectedly contracted in Q1 to miss expectations by some distance.

  • SKY Perfect JSAT (9412.JP) fell sharply following the explosion of Blue Origin's rocket in the US over the weekend. SoftBank (9984.JP) is to invest up to €75B to build 5 gigawatts of AI data centers in France. LG Electronics (066570.KS) stock gained almost 30% on hopes of expanded cooperation on physical AI and robotics with Nvidia; Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) also up sharply post Nvidia CEO Huang's speech. MiniMax (100.HK) considers an A-share STAR market listing to challenge rivals such as DeepSeek, according to a Bloomberg report. BP has sold a 5% stake in the Browse gas project to GS Energy (0CLDXW-E).

• Digest:

  • US-Iran negotiations continue amid another exchange of fire:

    • US-Iran ceasefire negotiations continue with press sources noting President Trump sent revised terms back to Tehran (NY Times, Axios). Under MoU nuclear would be discussed in next round of talks though Trump wanting more specificity on Iran's surrendering of enriched uranium stockpiles. Also wants amendment to wording around Strait of Hormuz. Trump frustrated at length of Iran's response time with toughened proposals intended to put pressure on it to accept US framework. However, latest amendments could result in additional delays.

    • Strait of Hormuz a sticking point with Iran asserting authority while Trump is demanding unrestricted shipping. Treasury Department reiterated any transactions with Iran for safe passage prohibited and risk US sanctions. Oman's reported participation in talks with Iran about joint authority also invited warnings from US last week (CNBC). While Gulf states have generally opposed tolls, Qatar said allowing temporary fee could help restore normal passage (Bloomberg).

    • Tensions remain fraught after US and Iran traded fire again over weekend. CENTCOM said US military hit Iranian radar, command and control sites for drones in Goruk, Iran and Qeshm Island (Reuters). Strike was in response to Iran shooting down MQ-1 drone operating over international waters. IRGC retaliated with strikes against US air base in Kuwait.

    • There continue to be discrepancies in each side's portrayal of negotiations with Iranian media claiming draft allows Tehran authority in Strait of Hormuz, contradicting US position. Iran claiming deal will unfreeze $12B in funds counter to Trump's comments there will be no sanctions relief. However, Treasury Secretary Bessent did not rule it out (Bloomberg). Israel's ground incursion into Lebanon another potential complication (Bloomberg, Reuters).

  • Nvidia's new CPU, Intel GPU update, and physical AI in focus at Computex:

    • Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang opened Computex event with keynote speech, unveiling new ARM-based N1X CPU as part of a combined chip for PCs, RTX Spark, which also features Blackwell GPU (CNBC, Bloomberg). Spark will debut in fall, and feature in more than 30 laptops and 10 desktops running Windows PCs from manufacturers including Microsoft (MSFT), ASUS (2357.TT), DELL, HP (HPQ) and Lenovo (992.HK). Custom chip will be made using TSMC's (2330.TT) 3nm technology and MediaTek (2354.TT) will partner with Nvidia on custom CPU design.

    • New CPU would put Nvidia in direct competition with Intel (INTC) and AMD. Nvidia spokesperson claimed its chip is vastly more capable and efficient than traditional x86 processors. Also better at running large AI models. Initial laptops including Nvidia's new chip will be priced at a premium and geared towards creators, AI developers and gamers. New chip will eventually feature at different price points.

    • Computex featured data center updates from Intel and Nvidia. Intel's 'Crescent Island' GPU, which aims to speed up inference tasks and use cheaper LPDDR5 memory than HBMs, will begin shipping in limited amounts by end-2026 (FT). Huang announced Vera CPU in full production and will be available from fall, touting it as company's new major growth driver with OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX among early users (Bloomberg).

    • Huang's presence generated more interest in physical AI, sending Korean robotics manufacturers LG Electronics (066570.KS) and Doosan Robotics (454910.KS) limit up on Monday. Follows media reports Huang will meet executives of LG and Samsung (005930.KS), stirring speculation of expanded cooperation in AI and robotics (Yonhap). Sources told Yonhap Naver (035420.KS) and Nvidia also in talks for a visit to company premises.

  • Japan MOF corporate survey capex surprisingly soft amid positive earnings cycle:

    • MOF corporate survey capex (ex-software) fell 1.4% y/y in Q1, contrasting with expectations of 5.4% growth, following 7.3% in the previous quarter. In comparison, first preliminary GDP data showed nominal private non-residential investment growth of 6.4% following 6.8%. MOF input points to a meaningful downward revision in the upcoming second prelim GDP estimates. However, private inventories have proven to be another key swing factor, making net implications unclear. Declines in MOF investment were broadly based across manufacturers and nonmanufacturers. Income statement aggregates were broadly positive. Ordinary profits growth picked up to 14.6% in Q1 from 4.7% in Q4, albeit manufacturing was skewed higher by an outsized 709.2% surge in petroleum & coal products. Strength overshadowed slower growth in nonmanufacturing. Total sales growth strengthened marginally to 1.1% from 0.7% as higher manufacturing growth outweighed a slight decline in manufacturing. Ordinary profit margins climbed to 8.0% from 7.5%, highest since 2Q25. Overall, capex disappointment played into concerns that Middle East uncertainties would cause hesitation in investment plans (Bloomberg). Yet, stock market has been supported by the recovery in the earnings trajectory, returning to positive territory after expectations began the fiscal year sluggish mainly in reaction to US tariffs, which turned out to be moderate and notable impacts were isolated to certain sectors, mainly autos.

  • Asia PMIs show continued growth despite higher input costs:

    • Asia S&PGlobal May PMIs continued trends set in March and April with higher production, new orders offset by elevated input costs. Sentiment improved on aggregate. South Korea May PMI rose to 54.8 from 53.6, highest in more than five years. Output, new orders grew but export orders fell for first time in six months amid slower demand from China, US. Sentiment improved to pre-conflict level. S&PGlobal economist said he was cautious over strong headline figure as inventory building largely responsible for expansion while middle east conflict continued to add to price pressures, supply-chain disruption.

    • Taiwan PMI rose to 56.1 from 55.3, quickest expansion since Aug-21. Output and new orders also expanded sharply but so too did input costs which were linked to supply-chain disruption. S&PGlobal economist warned while manufacturing could continue to benefit from stockpiling, momentum could quickly fade especially if cost pressures continue to build. Sentiment also improved.

    • RatingDog China PMI eased to 51.8 from 52.2, matching trajectory of official PMI which slowed to stagnation, although maintained overall expansion for now. New orders increased but new export orders declined slightly; production rose albeit at slower pace than April. Input costs also rose, supply-chain delivery times increased again while employment contracted marginally.

    • Elsewhere, final Japan PMI at 55.1 from April's 54.5 with same pattern of higher output and new orders countered by elevated cost pressures. Philippines PMI improved to 50.8 from 48.3 as new orders recovered but job losses highest in two years; Vietnam rose to 52.8 from 50.5, also as new orders returned to growth.

  • China manufacturing PMI stalls as expected:

    • Official manufacturing PMI was 50.0 in May, matching expectations. Follows 50.3 in the previous month and marks a three-month low. Output growth slowed marginally as new orders and exports returned to contraction territory. The other key development was in inflation -- input prices remained in the 60s for the third straight month while output prices largely normalized from the 55 level -- so far indicating isolated Middle East effects. NBS noted headline indexes in fossil fuel processing, chemicals, rubber & plastics (largely associated with supply chain bottlenecks) remained laggards. However, Middle East dynamic was not mentioned. Little changes elsewhere. In contrast, non-manufacturing PMI rebounded to 50.1 from 49.4 vs consensus 49.5, returning to the March level. Services index bounced to its strongest level since Aug-25, while construction contraction eased. Railway and telecoms noted among the growth areas, while air transportation and real estate among the decliners. Aggregate demand remained notably negative. Input price gains continued to contrast with falling output prices, pointing to broad-based margin pressures. Composite PMI recovered to 50.5 from 50.1 back to its March level. Overall softening in manufacturing was viewed as more of a reflection of flagging growth momentum rather than Middle East effects in the wake of the disappointing April activity data (Bloomberg).

  • Notable Gainers:

    • +14% 9984.JP (SoftBank Group): to build 5GW of AI data center capacity in France

    • +13.1% 003550.KS (LG Corp): LG Corp and affiliates trading higher amid hopes for expanded cooperation in physical AI and robotics with Nvidia

    • +9.8% 128940.KS (Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co.): enters licensing agreement for sonefpeglutide with Eli Lilly

    • +6.7% 9866.HK (NIO Inc): delivers 37,705 vehicles in May, +62.3% y/y

    • +6.2% 9868.HK (XPeng, Inc.): delivers 32,158 vehicles in May, +4% m/m

    • +5.2% 3899.HK (CIMC Enric Holdings): to repurchase no more than HK$200M of shares

    • +1.2% 8035.JP (Tokyo Electron): to conduct up to 7.5M-share buyback for up to ¥150B, 5-for-1 stock split

  • Notable Decliners:

    • -11.6% 9412.JP (SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings): space stocks among decliners in aftermath of Blue Origin's rocket explosion and reports of SpaceX cutting IPO valuation target

    • -8.3% 688012.CH (Advanced Micro Fabrication Equipment Inc China): completes acquisition of 64.7% stake in Hangzhou Sizone Electronic Technology

    • -3.0% 012450.KS (HANWHA AEROSPACE): four reportedly killed in explosion at Hanwha Aerospace plant

• Data:

  • Economic:

    • China May

      • Official manufacturing PMI 50.0 vs consensus 50.0 and 50.3 in prior month

        • Non-manufacturing PMI 50.1 vs consensus 49.5 and 49.4 in prior month

        • Composite PMI 50.5 vs 50.1 in prior month

      • RatingDog Manufacturing PMI 51.8 vs consensus 51.3 and 52.2 in prior month

    • Japan

      • Q1 MOF corporate survey capex 0.0% y/y vs consensus +4.0% and +6.5% in prior quarter

        • Ex-software capex (1.4%) y/y vs consensus +5.4% and +7.3% in prior quarter

      • May final manufacturing PMI 54.5 vs flash 54.5 and 55.1 in prior month

    • South Korea

      • May trade balance $27.0B vs FactSet consensus $24.3B and $23.8B in prior month

        • Exports +53.2% y/y vs consensus +48.4% and +48.0% in prior month

        • Imports +20.8% y/y vs consensus +21.5% and +16.7% in prior month

    • Australia

      • May ANZ-Indeed job advertisements +1.8% m/m vs revised (0.6%) in April

  • Markets:

    • Nikkei: 604.83 or +0.91% to 66934.33

    • Hang Seng: 215.79 or +0.86% to 25398.18

    • Shanghai Composite: (10.83) or (0.27%) to 4057.74

    • Shenzhen Composite: (21.80) or (0.78%) to 2783.83

    • ASX200: (2.30) or (0.03%) to 8729.40

    • KOSPI: 312.23 or +3.68% to 8788.38

    • SENSEX: (234.04) or (0.31%) to 74541.70

  • Currencies:

    • $-¥: +0.18 or +0.11% to 159.4550

    • $-KRW: (1.41) or (0.09%) to 1506.0500

    • A$-$: (0.00) or (0.06%) to 0.7179

    • $-INR: (0.01) or (0.02%) to 94.9748

    • $-CNY: (0.00) or (0.02%) to 6.7649