News

Australia's private sector loan annual rate in March was 8.1%, compared with the previous value of 7.80%.

Japan's 5-year government bond yield rose 4.5 basis points to 1.900%.

The monthly rate of private sector loans in Australia in March was 0.7%, expected to be 0.60%, and the previous value was 0.60%.

Australia's export price index in the first quarter was 0.5%, expected to be 1.8%, and the previous value was 3.20%.

Australia's import price index in the first quarter was 0.1% quarterly, expected to be -0.6%, and the previous value was 0.90%.

NI225 fell by 1.00% within the day.

Samsung Electronics: Despite ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, chip demand will remain strong in the second quarter and oil prices rise.

Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor unit beat expectations with a 48-fold profit jump, driven by strong margins from AI-related memory demand. Heavy spending by hyperscalers such as Meta Platforms and Alphabet is supporting high-bandwidth memory growth, with analysts pointing to sustained pricing strength amid tight supply. Counterpoint Research expects DRAM contract prices to rise 60% quarter-on-quarter in Q2 after a 42% increase in March. Samsung is considering multiyear contracts to stabilise supply, while analysts debate risks from potential disruptions and their impact on customer confidence.

Sources: The US Pentagon's estimate of US$25 billion for the Iran war is low and does not include the cost of repairing the severe damage to US military bases in the region.

According to CBS: On Wednesday morning local time, a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to San Diego had a close encounter with a drone as it approached landing.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 index opened down 39.50 points, or 0.45%, on Thursday, April 30, to 8647.50 points.

NI225 opened down 356.89 points on April 30 (Thursday), or 0.60%, to 59560.57 points.

Japan’s retail sales in March were 14.306 trillion yen, compared with the previous value of 12.155 trillion yen.

Japan's inventory monthly rate in March was -1.5%, compared with the previous value of 0.3%.

Japan's initial annual industrial output rate in March was 2.3%, expected to be 2.2%, and the previous value was 0.40%.

Samsung Electronics: VERA RUBIN platform for NVIDIA, taking the lead in launching the industry's large-scale production and sales of HBM4.

The Association of British Motor Manufacturers and Traders: Total vehicle production in the UK fell by 8.2% year-on-year in March to 72,511 units.

Trump praised Intel's (INTC.O) stock price rise.

White House: Jarrod Argen, director of the National Energy Leadership Council, will travel to Venezuela on Thursday to hold meetings with oil, gas and mining executives and meet with Venezuelan officials.

Microsoft (MSFT.O): Azure revenue growth is expected to accelerate moderately in the second half of 2026 compared with the first half of 2026.