Asia-Pacific stock markets live updates: New Zealand budget 2025

Singtel’s two new data centers in Singapore and Thailand are expected to improve the telco’s revenue after they come online in the later part of this year and early next year, Singtel’s Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” Thursday.

“Currently, we are just optimizing. We are just sitting on very fully loaded data centers that we have. So you will not see revenue growth in the near term, but once the data centers turn on, you’ll see that,” Yuen said.

On the perception of Singtel’s stagnating revenues, Yuen said that there has been a “2% revenue growth at the group level” on a net basis. This came from the growth of the group’s subsidiary, Australian telecommunications company Optus, as well as the sale of their stake in the Chicago-based cybersecurity arm Trustwave in 2023.

Yuen also addressed Singtel’s divestment of its 1.2% direct stake in Bharti Airtel, an Indian telecommunications company. The company had previously announced it wanted to equalize its stake with its Indian partner and Airtel founder and chairman, Sunil Mittal, in the medium term, Yuen said.

“We want to make sure that we actually join at the hip in terms of growing Airtel in India,” he added.

– Penny Chen, Neha Hegde

To navigate the volatile global market, “think in scenarios, work through these scenarios, diversify your portfolio,” Iqbal Khan, co-president of UBS Global Wealth Management spoke to CNBC’s Martin Soong on the sidelines of the UBS Asian Investment Conference Wealth Edition.

Another key element is diversification, which the bank “has been positioning” throughout the year.

Recalling his speech at the UBS Asia Wealth Forum in January, Khan said: “I talked about diversification and thinking about not just one region, one sector, but think about different regions, different sectors, different currencies to be diversified. And I think this is working well on a relative basis.”

He also affirmed UBS’ commitment to Asia, citing the investment bank’s move to fully acquire UBS Securities in China, from the previous 67% stake.

“One should not underestimate what is available in Asia, which, again, also makes us bullish around the future prospects of Asia and wealth growing in Asia,” Khan said.

– Penny Chen, Neha Hegde

Chinese electric-vehicle maker Xpeng saw its shares in Hong Kong surge over 10% Thursday following upbeat earnings and stronger-than-expected revenue forecast for the second quarter.

Its shares soared as much as 10.2% to 85.5 Hong Kong dollars ($10.86), and were last trading 7% higher, taking year-to-date gains to 78%.

The Guangzhou-based carmaker’s first-quarter revenue more than doubled from a year earlier, driven by robust sales.

Xpeng said it delivered 94,008 vehicles in the first three months this year, more than four times the sales volume a year earlier.

Read the full story here.

—Anniek Bao

Japan’s Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting in Banff, Canada, that the U.S. tariffs are “regrettable,” Reuters reported Thursday.

In a bilateral meeting between Kato and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, both sides agreed that the dollar-yen exchange rate should be determined by markets and that the current level reflects fundamentals, according to a U.S. Treasury readout.

Japanese senior officials have held several working-level trade talks with their U.S. counterparts, reiterating that they see no merit in striking a deal with the U.S. unless the auto tariffs are lifted.

Kato told the G7 member states that Trump’s tariffs are “creating uncertainties,” Reuters reported.

The yen was little moved at 143.68 against the U.S. dollar Thursday.

— Anniek Bao

Emerging markets stocks are in the spotlight again as the “sell U.S.” narrative gains fresh momentum, following Moody’s recent downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.

The Bank of America heralded emerging markets as “the next bull market” recently. 

“Weaker U.S. dollar, U.S. bond yield top, China economic recovery…nothing will work better than emerging market stocks,” Bank of America’s team, led by investment strategist Michael Hartnett, said in a note. 

Similarly, JPMorgan upgraded emerging market equities from neutral to overweight on Monday, citing thawing U.S.-China trade tensions and attractive valuations.

Read the full story here.

—Lee Ying Shan

Stocks closed lower Wednesday afternoon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 816.80 points, or 1.91% to 41,860.44. The S&P 500 shed 1.61% to 5,844.61. The Nasdaq Composite slid 1.41% to 18,872.64.

— Sarah Min

Bitcoin broke through its January high-water mark to set a new record above $109,000 on Wednesday, helping fuel a rally in crypto-related stocks.

Shares of Coinbase were up 2.7% on the day, while brokerage stock Robinhood climbed 1.5%. MARA Holdings jumped more than 4%.

Bitcoin’s high for the day is $109,500, according to Coin Metrics.