Asian stocks extend losing streak as higher yields bite, Nvidia results in focus
- Last updated: May 20, 2026 | 09:57
Asian stocks extended a losing streak on Wednesday as war-driven inflation fears hammered bonds, while investors awaited earnings from Nvidia to see whether the world's most valuable company might be able to help markets navigate higher borrowing costs.
The sell-off in global bond markets persisted as investors ramped up bets that the Federal Reserve may need to increase interest rates this year.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hit a 16-month high of 4.687% overnight, while the 30-year yield climbed to 5.198%, levels not seen since 2007.
The gloom is set to spill into European stock markets when they open, with region-wide stock futures down 0.7%. Nasdaq futures slipped 0.1% while the S&P 500 futures eased 0.2%. Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures off 0.5%, but staying above $110 a barrel at $110.7.
The Strait of Hormuz remained effectively closed and U.S. President Donald Trump said he might need to strike Iran again, a day after he said he was postponing an imminent attack to allow for more negotiations with Tehran.
In Beijing, less than a week after Trump's high-profile visit, Chinese leader Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying it was imperative to stop the war in the Middle East. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7% on Wednesday, down for a fourth straight day, while Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.5%, down for a fifth consecutive session. South Korea's KOSPI fell 1.7%. Samsung Electronics dropped 1.4% after its union said it would go ahead with an 18-day strike from Thursday, threatening the global supply of semiconductors.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index was flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index skidded 0.6%. "At this point of time, it remains my base case that we are seeing a corrective pullback after an absolutely phenomenal rally," said Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG. "The US yields obviously are creating some rumbles in the market and now attracting a lot of attention.
"Nvidia could come out and absolutely exceed expectations ... but I don't think so. I think the ability for Nvidia to just absolutely shoot the lights out and shock everybody like it has done, I don't think that's in its book of tricks anymore."
The chipmaking giant will announce first quarter earnings after the market close on Wednesday. Expectations, as always, are sky-high. Revenue is projected to increase by almost 80% to nearly $79 billion, according to the median forecast in an LSEG survey of analysts.
Treasuries nursed losses in Asia, with the yield on benchmark US 10-year notes holding steady at 4.6613%, having jumped 21 basis points in the past three sessions. The 30-year yield was flat at 5.1795% after a 17 basis point jump from last Thursday. The dollar stood near a six-week high against its major peers. It was steady at 158.95 yen, having gained for seven straight sessions that unwound most of the intervention-driven losses on April 30 when Japanese authorities stepped into the market to safeguard the yen at the 160 mark. The euro last bought $1.1597, having touched its lowest level since April 8 overnight. The British pound was at $1.3391, not far from the six-week low it touched earlier this week.
Gold prices slipped 0.4% to $4,463 an ounce, the lowest since the end of March as the US dollar gained.
Reuters