Asian Markets in Full Swing as Investors Shake Off Trade Jitters
US Renters Face Storm of Rising Costs
Philadelphia Transit System Votes to Cut Service by 45%, Hike Fares
Squeezed by Crowds, the Roads of Central Park Are Being Reimagined
Mapping the Architectural History of New York's Chinatown
US State Budget Wounds Intensify From Trump, DOGE Policy Shifts
From stocks to currencies to credit, the rebound from the depths of the April market turmoil has been impressive. MSCI's Asia equities index has jumped 25% to a four-year high, while a slump in the dollar has powered a regional currency gauge to the strongest since October. Companies are rushing to raise money to capitalize on the market's reawakening.
It marks a sharp reversal from the jitters that prevailed just a couple of months ago, when fears of a full-blown trade war and concerns that runaway inflation will limit central banks' policy room weighed heavily on Asian assets. Instead, a weakening dollar has created space for interest-rate cuts across the region, with the Federal Reserve's widely-expected easing likely to provide additional tailwinds.
'Stocks have bounced back strongly from their April bottom, and investors are realizing they might have been too pessimistic about Trump's tariffs,' said Tomo Kinoshita, global market strategist at Invesco Asset Management. 'Investors are realizing they might have been too pessimistic about tariffs,' he said. 'Trump is showing more flexibility around his trade policies, and that's driving optimism.'
Take the demand for blockbuster share sales from Hong Kong to Tokyo as an example of the palpable excitement. So far, such deals across the region including initial public offerings have raised more than $90 billion, a 25% jump from this time last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
While Hong Kong has dominated larger deals, Japan's capital market has also hummed along with this week, seeing the highest IPO volume since mid-March.
Debt capital markets have also roared back to life after a dearth of deals at the height of volatility. Yield premiums on Asian investment-grade dollar bonds have come down from an April high of over 100 basis points to near 76 basis points, not far off a record low reached in February, a Bloomberg index shows.
The tightening of Asian spreads is all the more impressive given a surge in dollar bond sales from the region, with this week seeing the largest volume of deals since March. Asia Pacific offerings in the US currency have climbed by about 45% this year to more than $200 billion.
To be sure, the recent rebound has been global, as markets around the world enjoyed a relief rally. US stocks have also regained their mojo as the 'sell America' trade lost steam. The Nasdaq 100 is at a fresh record and the S&P 500 is just shy of its February peak.
Asian markets may face fresh volatility in the coming weeks. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg Television that President Donald Trump was prepared to finalize a slate of trade deals in connection with a July 9 deadline to reinstate higher tariffs he paused in April.
'Given what we've been through in the last few months, I can't help but think that there are a few more twists to come,' said Nick Twidale, chief analyst at AT Global Markets in Sydney. 'The trade news is the most important factor for Asian markets.'
Despite the looming uncertainties, the extent of resurgence in Asia's export-reliant economies speaks to the region's resilience. A softer dollar has bolstered the case for owning Asian assets. A Bloomberg dollar index is set for a sixth straight month of losses, the worst streak since 2017.
Asian sovereign bonds have enjoyed a surge in inflows as investors looked to diversify and the region's central banks embarked on interest-rate cuts. South Korea has especially stood out, receiving over $40 billion so far in 2025, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Local factors such as the removal of political uncertainty following the election of a new president have helped.
'When I think about allocating to Asia, I think about the balance and defensiveness that it offers to the portfolio,' said Leonard Kwan, portfolio manager for T. Rowe Price in Hong Kong. 'It's a region that has got better fiscal and external positioning for the countries.'
--With assistance from Finbarr Flynn, Malavika Kaur Makol and Yasutaka Tamura.
(Updates with latest on trade deals in 10th paragraph, new comment in 11th.)
How to Steal a House
America's Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried
Inside Gap's Last-Ditch, Tariff-Addled Turnaround Push
Apple Test-Drives Big-Screen Movie Strategy With F1
Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
10 minutes ago
- CNBC
Trump administration weighs 10% stake in Intel via Chip Act grants, making government top shareholder
The Trump administration is discussing taking a 10% stake in Intel, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, in a deal that could see the U.S. government become the chipmaker's largest stakeholder. As part of a potential deal, the government is also considering converting some or all of Intel's grants from the 2022 U.S. CHIPS and Science Act into equity in the company, the report said, citing a White House official and other people familiar with the matter. At the embattled chipmaker's current market value, a 10% stake would be worth roughly $10.4 billion. Meanwhile, Intel has been awarded about $10.9 billion in Chips Act grants, including $7.9 billion for commercial manufacturing and $3 billion for national security projects. The report noted, however, that it remains unclear if the idea has gained traction broadly within the administration or whether officials have broached the possibility with affected companies. It added that the exact size of the stake remains in flux, and it remains unclear whether the White House will actually proceed with the plan. Intel and the White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's queries regarding the report. Intel, once a dominant force in the U.S. chip industry, has fallen behind global competitors in advanced chip manufacturing. Reviving the former U.S. chip champion has become a national priority in Washington, with reports about a potential government stake in the company first circulating last week. The company has been the largest recipient of the 2022 Chips Act, passed with bipartisan support under the Biden administration, as part of efforts by Washington to revitalize U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing. The bill allocated $39 billion in grants for American semiconductor manufacturing projects, with funding committed to many of the world's chipmakers such as TSMC and Samsung, as well as American chip companies such as Nvidia, Micron and GlobalFoundries. U.S. President Donald Trump, though supporting the general goals of the Chips Act, has been a vocal critic of the bill and even called for its repeal earlier this year. While republican lawmakers in Washington have been reluctant to act on that call, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in June that the administration was renegotiating some of the bill's grants. If Intel's Chip Act funds were to be converted into a potential government stake in the company, it could decrease the total amount of capital infused into the company as part of any deal by Washington. However, it would serve as the latest example of the Trump administration's interest in building government-backed national champions in strategic industries. Intel has struggled to gain an advantage in the artificial intelligence boom and has yet to capture a significant customer for its manufacturing business despite spending heavily on it. Some analysts have argued that government intervention is essential for the struggling chipmaker and for the sake of U.S. national security. Others contend that Intel's problems are deeper than funding, and it is not clear how the government can help with that. Analysts have also noted that Trump may be able to sway companies to buy Intel chips or assist indirectly, through tariffs and regulation. On Tuesday, it was announced that SoftBank was investing $2 billion in Intel. According to LSEG, the investment is worth about 2% of Intel, making SoftBank the fifth-biggest shareholder. Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group, said: "This strategic investment reflects our belief that advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply will further expand in the United States, with Intel playing a critical role." Intel investors had initially welcomed news of the government investment, which resulted in a share rally of nearly 9% on Aug. 14. Shares of Intel fell over 3% on Monday on the Bloomberg report, but rebounded by more than 5% in overnight trading on the trading platform Robinhood following news of a Softbank investment. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who was appointed in March 2025, met with Trump at the White House last week, after the U.S. president had called for his ousting due to his past ties to China. After the meeting, Trump had changed his tune on the Intel chief, saying he had "an amazing story." It's unclear if a potential government stake in the company had been discussed at the time. Read the full Bloomberg story here.
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Analog Devices (ADI) Q2 Earnings: What To Expect
Manufacturer of analog chips Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) will be reporting results this Wednesday before market hours. Here's what to look for. Analog Devices beat analysts' revenue expectations by 5.2% last quarter, reporting revenues of $2.64 billion, up 22.3% year on year. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with a beat of analysts' EPS estimates and an impressive beat of analysts' adjusted operating income estimates. Is Analog Devices a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it's free. This quarter, analysts are expecting Analog Devices's revenue to grow 19.5% year on year to $2.76 billion, a reversal from the 24.9% decrease it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.95 per share. The majority of analysts covering the company have reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Analog Devices has only missed Wall Street's revenue estimates once over the last two years, exceeding top-line expectations by 1.7% on average. Looking at Analog Devices's peers in the analog semiconductors segment, some have already reported their Q2 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Impinj's revenues decreased 4.5% year on year, beating analysts' expectations by 4.3%, and Universal Display reported revenues up 8.4%, topping estimates by 6.1%. Impinj traded up 26.2% following the results while Universal Display's stock price was unchanged. Read our full analysis of Impinj's results here and Universal Display's results here. Investors in the analog semiconductors segment have had steady hands going into earnings, with share prices flat over the last month. Analog Devices is down 3.5% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $254.16 (compared to the current share price of $232.10). Today's young investors likely haven't read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next. StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.
CNBC
18 minutes ago
- CNBC
Gold steadies ahead of Fed's Jackson Hole summit
Gold prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's annual conference this week for cues into possible rate cuts, and weighed Washington's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Spot gold held steady at $3,331.49 per ounce as of 0201 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.1% to $3,375.40. Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks at the central bank's symposium on August 21-23 in Wymoing could offer clarity on the economic outlook and expectations of policy easing. "Gold is still consolidating and is really waiting for a new catalyst to break higher. I think the big event to watch is Jackson Hole and whether the Fed brings the dovish guidance or not," said Kyle Rodda, financial market analyst. Market participants currently see an 84% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the Fed's next meeting, per the CME FedWatch tool. Gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment and amid heightened uncertainties. Minutes from the Fed's July meeting, due for release on Wednesday, are expected to provide additional cues into its policy. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trumptold President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Washington would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any potential deal to end Russia's war. This assurance followed Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which ended without an agreement. Trump described his meeting with Zelenskiy as "very good", and, in a social media post, said he had called the Russian leader and begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy. "In the unlikely event some sort of deal gets struck (between Ukraine and Russia), that could be a very negative surprise for the gold price," Rodda said. Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.5% to $37.82 per ounce, platinum rose 0.1% to $1,323.76 and palladium lost 0.9% to $1,112.34.
