News

According to Japan's Kyodo News: The Emperor and Empress of Japan will visit the Netherlands and Belgium in June.

According to the Financial Times: Britain's major banks are discussing stricter climate risk disclosure rules due to concerns that floods, wildfires and rising sea levels may trigger more loan defaults.

Market traders said the Reserve Bank of India may be selling dollars to stem the fall in the rupee.

According to the Financial Times: The scale of foreign investor withdrawals from India has hit a record high.

The bid-to-bid ratio at Japan's 10-year government bond auction was 3.90, compared with 2.57 in April.

A top South Korean policymaker suggested citizens should receive an “AI dividend” funded by taxes on AI-related profits, reflecting pressure to redistribute gains from the AI boom benefiting firms like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom’s Facebook post triggered sharp swings in Korean equities, with the Kospi falling as much as 5.1% before paring losses after clarification that he referred to excess tax revenue rather than a new windfall tax. Investors in Samsung and SK Hynix also saw volatility but recovered some losses. The remarks highlight rising concern over AI-driven inequality and growing views of AI as national infrastructure.

According to the Wall Street Journal: The U.S. House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation to explore potential conflicts of interest regarding OpenAI CEO Altman, and several Republican state attorneys general have called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct a review.

Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryomasa Akasawa discussed energy and critical minerals issues with U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent on Tuesday.

According to TASS: Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia believes that the United States will not take new military actions against Iran.

U.S. and European stock index futures were lower, with S&P 500 futures down 0.2% and Nasdaq futures down 0.4%. European Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.7%, Germany's DAX futures fell 0.8%, and Britain's FTSE 100 futures fell 0.9%.

[Japan’s Finance Minister stated that he is coordinating with Bessent on foreign exchange policy] Japanese Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki said that after her meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent in Tokyo, her team is developing smooth cooperation with the United States in the field of foreign exchange policy. Katayama said she would not comment on Bessant's specific remarks. This is Bessant's third visit to Japan since assuming cabinet post. Markets are paying close attention to the talks, which come less than two weeks after Tokyo's days of suspected large-scale yen intervention to boost the yen's exchange rate. Bessant has previously hinted that He is critical of direct market intervention, preferring instead to support the yen through tightening monetary policy by the Bank of Japan. The Japanese authorities may have intervened in the market for the first time on April 30. At that time, the Bank of Japan's decision to maintain policy unchanged, coupled with the hawkish signal released by the Federal Reserve, jointly pushed the yen against the US dollar to break through the 160 mark. Data analysis shows that the Japanese authorities may have used about US$24.7 billion in this operation, and then added about US$30 billion in a subsequent round of intervention. Katayama said she and Bessant also discussed topics such as artificial intelligence and critical minerals.

Hong Kong stock Lenovo Group (00992.HK) fell more than 3%, with transaction volume exceeding HK$250 million.

NI225 gave up gains and is now down 0.08%.

Australia's NAB business confidence index in April was -24, compared with the previous value of -29.

Australia's NAB business climate index in April was 3, compared with the previous value of 6.

The HSI opened on May 12 (Tuesday), up 90.19 points, or 0.34%, to 26497.03 points;Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Technology Index opened on May 12 (Tuesday), up 23.14 points, or 0.45%, to 5129.54 points ;The state-owned enterprise index opened up 18.1 points, or 0.2%, to 8902.3 points on May 12 (Tuesday);The red chip index opened up 17.71 points, or 0.38%, to 4641.54 points on May 12 (Tuesday).

Japan’s Ministry of Finance will auction 3 trillion yen of discounted government bonds on May 19.

Hong Kong stocks opened, with the Hang Seng Index opening up 0.34% and the Stock Exchange Index opening up 0.45%. Kuaishou (01024.HK) rose about 10%.

Japan's 5-year government bond yield rose to 1.915%, a record high.

According to The Information: The revenue share paid by OpenAI to Microsoft (MSFT.O) is now capped at $38 billion.