This content was published on
June 30, 2026 - 05:42
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Asian equities rose, adding to the regional benchmark’s biggest quarterly gain in almost two decades, as technology stocks rallied on optimism over the AI trade. The yen slid to its weakest level against the dollar since 1986.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed almost 1% on the last trading day of the quarter after a tech-led rally on Wall Street. The gauge has risen more than 20% in the past three months, with South Korea’s Kospi index leading as the world’s best-performing major equity benchmark this year. Samsung Electronics Co. has gained about 98% for the three months through June, while SK Hynix Inc. has surged around 225%.Elsewhere, the yen extended its recent losses to weaken beyond 162 per dollar — a milestone that will generate unease in Japan and put traders on alert for authorities wading into the market.Global equities are on track for their best quarter in almost six years as investors piled into companies seen as key beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence buildout, from Asian chipmakers to upstream suppliers. Investors will now turn their focus to US-Iran talks on Tuesday and June US payrolls data on Thursday that may offer clues on whether the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.“After a robust quarterly gain, the next test is consistency,” said Hebe Chen, an analyst at Vantage Global Prime. “Earnings, AI demand and margin growth will need to prove that Asia is not just riding the global AI story, but becoming a leading engine.”The resurgence in stocks has defied skeptics, coming in the face of a war, an oil supply shock and inflation jitters. Since bottoming three months ago, the S&P 500 Index has staged one of the swiftest rebounds this century, gaining 20% from its March 30 low to its June 2 peak — something it has done just three other times since 2000.In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average has gained over 37% this quarter — the best three-month performance on record. The Kospi has climbed about 68%, the strongest advance since 1998. However, after a banner year for Chinese stocks on the back of AI advances, 2026 is not going well.“Chinese equities have been a major drag on our portfolio year-to-date,” said Gerald Gan, chief investment officer at Reed Capital. “We have the likes of Tencent and Alibaba, but they are underperforming badly. The performance divergence across major economies has been wide and utterly disappointing.”Elsewhere, Brent crude slipped ahead of the expected US-Iran talks in Doha.The commodity, trading around $72.85 a barrel, is headed for the biggest quarterly decline since the pandemic as flows through the Strait of Hormuz accelerated following progress on a peace deal, with Morgan Stanley warning of a potential glut.Gold slipped below $4,000 an ounce. The yellow metal has fallen more than 15% this quarter, the worst performance since the quarter ended June 2013.A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar climbed 0.2% Tuesday, while Treasuries were little changed.Attention in Asia was on the yen. While the weaker Japanese currency has boosted exporters’ profits and helped propel the country’s stocks to record highs, it has also raised import costs, squeezed households and added to political pressure on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government.The currency breached the 161.95 mark versus the greenback in New York trading Monday, passing the nadir it touched in July 2024 during an earlier campaign to shore up the exchange rate. It extended its decline to 162.40 in Tokyo on Tuesday, even after jawboning from Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara. Subsequent comments from Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama had little immediate impact.“It’s the 1980s all over again for the yen,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. “The yen is now getting uncomfortably weak from an imported inflation standpoint.”Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures were little changed as of 12:40 p.m. Tokyo time Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 1.2% Japan’s Topix rose 0.7% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.2% The Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.4% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2% The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1397 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 162.16 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7966 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin fell 0.9% to $59,676.7 Ether fell 1.7% to $1,588.41 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.37% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.665% Australia’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.72% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.4% to $70.48 a barrel Spot gold fell 1.3% to $3,964.15 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.–With assistance from Aya Wagatsuma and Winnie Hsu.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
