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(AWP Alliance News) - Stocks in Sydney and across the Asia Pacific region were lower on Monday, although South Korea's blue-chip index recorded gains. US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Sunday that 'there won't be anything left of them' if they do not make progress towards reaching a peace deal, leaving the future of the truce in place since April 8 hanging in the balance. 'Greater stability in the US-China relationship is the most important outcome of last week's meeting between Presidents Xi [Jinping] and Trump. 'China retains this crucial point of leverage, notably in the heavy rare earths which are needed for the US to restock the arms depleted in the Iran war,' commented Pantheon Macroeconomics. The S&P/ASX 200 was down 124.70 points, 1.4%, at 8,506.10 on Monday afternoon. Brambles fell 20% after the logistics services provider cut guidance. Brambles now expects sales revenue in the financial year ending June 30 to be around 2% to 3% at constant foreign exchange, down from 3% to 4% previously. Underlying profit guidance was also reduced to 3% to 5% from 8% to 11%. Brambles also announced the launch of a new USD400 million on-market share buyback. ALS shares were up 0.3% after the laboratory testing services company reported 'record' full-year performance and lifted its dividend final dividend to 23.1 Australian cents per share from 19.7 cents a year earlier. ALS said statutory net profit in the year ended March 31 jumped 24% to AUD318.7 million, approximately USD227.1 million, from AUD256.2 million a year prior, with basic earnings per share increased up 21% at 75.7 cents from 62.5 cents. Santos rose 2.0% and Woodside Energy was up 2.2%. Santos announced first oil from the Pikka project in Alaska and said it expects sales revenue in the next two to three months. Around midday in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 566.20 points, 0.9%, at 60,843.09 on Monday. Recruit surged 17% following after the human resources technology company on Friday said it beat guidance of JPY480.9 billion and reported a 22% rise in attributable profit to JPY496.9 billion, around USD3.14 billion, in the year ended March from JPY408.5 billion a year prior. Going forward, Recruit said it expects revenue to climb 9.0% to JPY4.030 trillion in financial 2027, with attributable profit up 25% at JPY623.00 billion. Mizuho Financial Group fell 7.2%. In response to media reports, MFG said no decision has been made regarding a possible investment in internet-based Rakuten Bank. 'Although we are currently conducting various examinations, including the possibility of investing in Rakuten,' MFG said. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rose 1.2%. MHI and Tallgrass Energy have agreed on the delivery location for two natural-gas-fired turbine units for the Tallgrass's Cheyenne Power Hub in Wyoming. Installation of components for the first turbine unit is scheduled to begin as soon as July. Itochu lost 3.1%. Itochu has acquired shares in UK auto-loan broker CarMoney, although no specific financial details have been disclosed by the trading company. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 7.33 points, 0.2%, at 4,128.06. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 425.82 points, 1.6%, at 25,536.91. The FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index was down 950.21 points, 2.5%, at 37,730.81. New data from China's National Bureau of Statistics revealed softer retail and industrial activity in April, with unemployment also easing. The urban surveyed unemployment rate was at 5.2% in April from 5.4% in March. Retail sales were up 0.2% year-on-year in April, missing the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast of 2.0% growth and easing from the 1.7% increase recorded in March. Industrial production rose 4.1% year-on-year in April, following a 5.7% increase in the previous month. The latest reading also came in below the consensus forecast of 5.9% growth. In Seoul, the Kospi rose 117.23 points, 1.6%, at 7,610.41. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index was down 22.92 points, 0.5%, at 4,966.16. Samsung Electronics rose 4.5%. Over in Mumbai, the Nifty 50 closed down 46.10 points, 0.2%, at 23,643.50. Brent oil was quoted up at USD111.26 a barrel early in London on Monday from USD107.14 around the same time on Friday. West Texas Intermediate rose to USD103.19 a barrel from USD102.58. Gold was quoted down at USD4,532.84 an ounce against USD4,613.77. The dollar strengthened against the yuan to CNY6.8178 from CNY6.7976, against the yen to JPY158.92 from JPY158.47, and against the Australian dollar to AUD1.4025 from AUD1.3897. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.63%, widening from 4.52%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 5.15%, widening from 5.06%. In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.1%, the S&P 500 down 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.5%. IG says futures indicate London's FTSE 100 is to open 0.3% lower on Monday, Frankfurt's DAX 40 1.0% lower and the CAC 40 in Paris down 0.9%. Still to come on Monday's economic events calendar is a speech by Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Himino Ryozo. By Elijah Dale, Alliance News senior reporter Asia-Pacific Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain concerned about surging crude oil prices and rising global bond yields. They also remain concerned if the fragile U.S.-Iran truce would hold while the U.S and Iran continue talks to end the war in the Middle East even as both factions rejected each other's latest peace proposals. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday. U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday warned that 'the clock is ticking' for Iran and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them. According to Iran's Fars News Agency, the U.S. has demanded for the permanent cessation of uranium enrichment and the handover of its enriched uranium stockpile. The U.S. also refused to pay any war compensation and wants only one operating nuclear facility to remain in the Islamic Republic. The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Monday, reversing the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,550.00 level, with weakness in mining stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks. Technology and financial stocks were mixed. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 106.60 points or 1.24 percent to 8,524.20, after hitting a low of 8,507.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 115.90 points or 1.31 percent to 8,754.70. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday. Among the major miners, Fortescue and Rio Tinto are declining almost 3 percent each, while BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent and Santos is adding almost 2 percent, while Beach energy and Woodside Energy are gaining more than 2 percent each. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.2 percent and Appen is losing more than 1 percent, while Xero is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is up almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is adding more than 2 percent. Gold miners are mostly lower. Newmont and Evolution Mining are declining almost 4 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are slipping more than 4 percent each. Northern Star Resources is losing more than 3 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.2 percent. National Australia Bank is edging down 0.4 percent. In other news, shares in Brambles are tumbling more than 16 percent after it downgraded its 2026 fiscal year earnings guidance.. Shares in Elders are plunging almost 18 percent after the agribusiness group warned of the high risk posed by diesel fuel prices to the industry, despite upbeat half-year results. However, earnings per share were negatively impacted by a higher share count following its capital raising. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Monday. The Japanese stock market is trading notably lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 60,850 mark, with weakness in index heavyweights, automakers and technology stocks, while exporters and financial stocks were mixed. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 60,843.09, down 566.20 points or 0.92 percent, after hitting a low of 60,376.98 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is tumbling almost 6 percent and Toyota is declining almost 4 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is declining more than 1 percent, Screen Holdings slipping more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.5 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing almost 3 percent, while Mizuho Financial is tumbling almost 7 percent. b The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 2 percent, while Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent, Sony is adding almost 1 percent and Canon is edging up 0.4 percent. Among the other major losers, Marui Group is tumbling almost 10 percent, while Nikon and Subaru are sliding more than 7 percent each. Eisai is tumbling almost 7 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and Tokuyama are slipping almost 6 percent each. JGC Holdings, Toray Industries, Mitsubishi Materials and Toyota Tsusho are declining almost 5 percent each, while Yamaha Motor, Taisei and Shimizu are losing more than 4 percent each. Conversely, Recruit Holdings is skyrocketing more than 18 percent, Terumo is jumping more than 16 percent, Haseko is soaring almost 7 percent and Trend Micro is surging more than 5 percent, while Mitsui Kinzoku, Nissan Chemical and Nomura Research Institute are advancing more than 4 percent each. Japan Post Holdings, Nisshin Seifun Group, BayCurrent, NEC and Furukawa Electric are gaining more than 3 percent each. In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Monday. Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia is slipping 3.3 percent, while Singapore and Malaysia are down 0.3 and 0.4 percent, respectively. New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan are lower by between 1.1 and 1.3 percent each, while South Korea is up 1.7 percent. China is relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks pulled back sharply over the course of the trading day on Friday following the strength seen in the previous session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside on the day. The major averages finished the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Dow slumped 537.29 points or 1.1 percent to 49,526.17, the Nasdaq plunged 410.08 points or 1.5 percent to 26,225.14 and the S&P 500 tumbled 92.74 points or 1.2 percent to 7,408.50. The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside. While the German DAX Index dove by 2.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index shed 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Crude oil prices surged on Friday after the U.S.-China summit ended with no announcement of Chinese intervention to end the gulf war, leaving the Strait of Hormuz blockade in place. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $4.18 or 4.13 percent at $105.35 per barrel. Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

(AWP Alliance News) - China reported softer retail and industrial activity in April while unemployment eased, official data showed Monday. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the urban surveyed unemployment rate was at 5.2% in April from 5.4% in March. Retail sales grew 0.2% year-on-year in April, missing the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast of 2.0% growth and easing from the 1.7% increase recorded in March. Meanwhile, industrial production grew 4.1% on-year in April, below the 5.9% growth consensus and the 5.7% rise the previous month. By Judy Amaca, Alliance News reporter Asia-Pacific Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.