investingLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: Nikkei225 & KOSPI (Japan, South Korea) supported
- Japan weighs supplementary budget to shield households from fuel price surge
- Xi is meeting with Trump, we should get some news in a few hours
- China’s offshore yuan, CNH, trades to its strongest against the USD since February 2023
- Chinese supertanker exits Strait of Hormuz after two months stranded in Gulf
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.8401 (vs. estimate at 6.7888)
- South Korean Fin Min says KRW volatility is excessive compared with economic fundamentals
- Japan FX intervention flips yen from undervalued to overvalued, StanChart says
- UBS and Morgan Stanley bullish on Chinese stocks amid AI and resilience story
- UK house prices fall at fastest pace since 2023 as Iran war hits sentiment
- Cisco after hours stock 20% price surge – here’s why (cutting ~4000 jobs)
- Morgan Stanley lifts S&P 500 target to 8,000 on earnings growth story
- Hormuz closure drives OPEC to slash demand outlook as OPEC+ output falls 1.74 million bpd
- UAE denies Netanyahu held secret meeting with Emirati president during Iran war
- Rubio wants to China to come to the rescue in Iran war
- ICYMI – Boston Fed’s Collins raises prospect of rate hikes if inflation broadens
- investingLive Americas FX news wrap 13 May: PPI shocks markets, stocks recover
- ICYMI – Euro area GDP weakest in 9 quarters, jobs slow, industry falls sharpest in 2 years
- The S&P and NASDAQ indices close at record levels. The Dow industrial average lags
World leaders struck a conciliatory tone as the Trump-Xi summit opened in Beijing, with Chinese President Xi Jinping telling his counterpart “we should be partners, not rivals," while President Trump reflected that past difficulties between the two nations had ultimately been resolved. The high-stakes meeting, the first by a sitting U.S. president to China in nearly a decade, got underway with warmer opening exchanges than many had anticipated given the backdrop of ongoing trade tensions and the Iran conflict.
Currency markets drew attention as the People’s Bank of China set its onshore yuan fixing at its strongest level since March 2023, with the offshore yuan following to touch its highest since February of that year, a signal Beijing may be willing to allow further appreciation as the summit gets underway. Elsewhere in major FX, moves were contained, with the dollar holding onto gains accumulated after Wednesday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. PPI print.
In equity markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose for a third consecutive session to reach a record high, driven by technology sector momentum, though the broader Topix slipped. South Korean shares extended their run to a second straight positive session, with Samsung Electronics touching record levels after the country’s finance minister pledged action to avert a labour strike. The KOSPI had already closed at a record high the previous day.
In fiscal policy, Japan’s government is weighing a supplementary budget to cushion households from elevated fuel costs ahead of summer, according to Kyodo News, pushing 30 and 40-year JGB yields higher on debt issuance concerns. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara pushed back on the reports, leaving the plan’s status unclear.
In corporate news, Cisco announced it is cutting around 4,000 jobs as part of an AI-focused restructuring, with shares surging approximately 20% in response.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.