Welcome to Your Week in Asia.
The world’s second largest economy is to strengthen ties with Europe. From May 5 to 10, Chinese President Xi Jinping is on his first trip to Europe in about five years. The move comes as the European Union steps up scrutiny of trade with China in areas such as electric vehicles.
This week will also see many corporate heavyweights announce their earnings, including Toyota Motor, Nintendo and SMIC.
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MONDAY
Indonesia GDP
Indonesia’s statistics agency will announce the country’s gross domestic product in the January to March quarter. The median growth forecast of economists in a Reuters poll was 5% for the first quarter. Bank Indonesia, the central bank, said last month that growth in the first two quarters of 2024 was predicted to exceed that of the final quarter of 2023, driven by the rise in household consumption during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ran into early April this year, and the Eid holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.
China’s Xi on trip to Europe
Chinese President Xi Jinping is making his first tour of Europe in about five years with stops in France, Serbia and Hungary. Trade tensions are likely to take center stage when he meets with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, as officials around the continent cast wary eyes over imports of cheap Chinese electric vehicles subsidized by Beijing. Xi’s visit to Belgrade will coincide with the anniversary of the 1999 bombing of China’s embassy there by NATO forces. In Budapest, he will shore up ties with a man one expert described as the “EU’s most disruptive player,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
TUESDAY
Earnings: Nintendo
India votes in third phase
India will vote in the third phase of its multistage national polls, which started on April 19 and end in early June. More than 90 of 543 seats of the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, are up for grabs in the third phase when some 1,350 candidates compete in 12 states and federally-governed territories.
WEDNESDAY
Earnings: Toyota Motor
THURSDAY
Malaysia central bank holds MPC
Malaysia is expected to hold the overnight policy rate at 3.00% when the central bank’s monetary committee (MPC) meets on Thursday. Inflation remained moderate in March at 1.8%. The lowest recorded inflation since the COVID-19 pandemic was 1.5% in December last year. Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, has forecasted 4-5% GDP growth in 2024, driven by improved investment and external demand, and an upcycle in the semiconductor and chips sector.
BOJ releases summary of opinions at April policy meeting
The Bank of Japan will release a summary of opinions for the last policy meeting held on April 25 and 26, when the central bank decided to leave its monetary policy unchanged. Investors are curious to learn more about what was discussed in regard to BOJ bond purchases, and how close the BOJ is to quantitative tightening, as it moves away from its ultra-loose monetary policy.
Earnings: Nissan Motor, Nippon Steel, Panasonic Holdings, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC)
FRIDAY
Earnings: Tata Motors