Live updates on Asian markets: RBA meeting, trade with China

Indonesia GDP in the first quarter It rose 5.11% year-on-year, marking its fastest expansion in three quarters.

The reading also exceeds the 5% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters.

On a quarterly basis, Southeast Asia’s largest economy recorded a decline of 0.83%, lower than the 0.89% expected in the Reuters poll.

– Lim Hui Ji

The Japanese yen will face upside resistance against the US dollar at the 150 level despite two rounds of suspected intervention by Japanese authorities last week, says SMBC economist Ryota Abe.

The yen suddenly appreciated on April 29 and May 2, leading analysts to believe that the Japanese Ministry of Finance bought the yen to stem the currency’s decline.

Abe also noted that Japanese authorities are unlikely to intervene unless the yen weakens again. But he also said that the interest rate differential between the United States and Japan would remain the same if the two central banks kept their monetary policies unchanged.

The yen was trading at 153.64 at 11:18 a.m. Tokyo time.

A special survey showed the expansion of service activity in China It slowed down a bit in April From March.

The Caixin/S&P Global Services PMI reached 52.5 in April, down from 52.7 in March.

“Although it weakened slightly, growth was strong again and has now continued for 16 consecutive months,” the survey said.

A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion in activity, while a reading below this level indicates contraction.

– Shreyashi Sanyal

Business activity in the private sector in Hong Kong It expanded at a slower pace in April, according to S&P Global.

The city’s PMI fell to 50.6 from 50.9 in March.

The reading indicates another improvement in business conditions at the start of the second quarter, said Jingyi Pan, associate director of economics at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

However, Pan said growth appears to be on “shaky ground,” highlighting that forward-looking indicators, such as a decline in new business orders in April, point to deteriorating conditions.

– Lim Hui Ji

Big tech names like Nvidia are on fire, thanks to the AI ​​boom — and other chipmakers are sharing the spotlight.

The AI ​​supply chain is extensive. It includes companies in the Asia-Pacific region and ranges from producers of AI graphics processing units to printed circuit boards.

Memory chips in particular have been in the spotlight with the rise of artificial intelligence.

Two stocks dominated the memory chip market: Samsung and SK Hynix.

Which game is the best in the AI ​​boom? CNBC Pro spoke to the pros to find out.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Weezin Tan

Goldman Sachs has just updated its lists of top global stock picks, adding some and removing others.

These lists, called the Condemnation List – Directors’ Edition, include names from across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Investment banks’ “Condemn-Cut List” seeks to present investors with a “curated, active” list of 15 to 25 stocks rated to buy.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the latest additions here.

– Amala Balakrishner

The fund gained more than 4% compared to the beginning of 2024.

-Alex Haring, Gina Francola

The April nonfarm payrolls report showed an addition of 175,000 jobs, fewer than the 240,000 jobs expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, compared to 3.8% the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Revisions to the jobs numbers in February and March reduced the cumulative jobs added in those periods by 22,000.

-Jesse Pound

The Japanese yen was trading at 152.93 against the US dollar and was set to end its best week in more than a year, despite reaching its weakest level since 1990 on Monday at 160.03.

Analysts, including from Bank of America, noted that there were likely two interventions carried out by Japanese authorities during the week, on Monday and Wednesday. The authorities have not yet issued an official statement to confirm the interventions.

“The government refuses to reveal whether it intervened or not, but I don’t think many people have any doubts,” Nicholas Smith, a Japan strategist at CLSA, told CNBC.

The yen has recovered by about 4.5% since hitting a 34-year low on Monday.