investingLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: OpenAI has confidentially filed for a US IPO

• Pentagon adds Alibaba, Baidu and BYD to China military-linked firms list
• China’s May trade balance, exports and imports all higher than expected
• Daiwa sees BOJ June hike as bid to avoid falling behind the curve
• Australia business confidence improves in May but stays deeply negative
• China car sales fall 22% in May as oil prices crush petrol demand
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.8147 (vs. estimate at 6.7809)
• Buy USD/JPY dips on yen intervention, market forces point higher, RBC says
• Japan economy minister flags rate rise risks as BOJ decision nears (
• South Korea halts programme trade with Kospi jumping more than 5%
• Preview: ECB to hike rates to 2.25% Thursday as oil inflation risk mounts. What’s next?
• UK retail sales surge in May with biggest annual rise since April 2025
• API oil chief warns US Strategic Petroleum Reserve nearing critical low
• US May CPI forecasts from 15 investment bank analysts. Hot, hot, hot … FOMC sweating.
• Trump says going to “win it over the next two weeks”. Usual lies and bluster?
• OpenAI files confidential IPO prospectus, suspected September market debut
• investingLive Americas FX news wrap 8 Jun: Dollar mixed as yields rise and stocks split
• BofA warns 70% of bear market signals now triggered for S&P 500
• Iran says again no deal unless sanctions relief and release of frozen funds
• A mix day for the US stock indices. Dow closes lower. S&P and NASDAQ rise
• AstraZeneca obesity pill cuts body weight by 10.5% in phase II trial

Summary:

• OpenAI has confidentially filed for a US IPO, targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion with a potential September debut, joining Anthropic and SpaceX in racing toward public markets on the back of the AI boom
• Trump predicted “total victory” over Iran within two weeks, claiming Tehran is willing to concede everything and promising oil prices will “come tumbling down”; Iran has rejected US revisions to the draft deal, insisting on guaranteed sanctions relief and access to frozen assets
• The PBOC set its strongest CNY fixing since February 14, 2023
• South Korea Q1 GDP beat on both measures: QoQ final 1.8% vs 1.7% expected and prior; YoY 3.8% vs 3.6% expected and prior
• China May trade data beat across the board: exports +19.4% y/y vs +15.0% expected, imports +27.4% vs +25.0% expected, trade surplus $105.43B vs $92.1B expected; oil imports hit an eight-year low
• Pentagon added Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and others to its 1260H China military-linked firms list, barring direct Defence Department contracts from later this month
• Washington asked Beijing to resume rare earth exports to Japan amid concerns over global high-tech supply chain disruption, per Nikkei
• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Galuzin said Russia and Belarus are constantly ready to deploy all available means including nuclear weapons to ensure their security

OpenAI became the latest AI heavyweight to take steps toward a public listing, confirming it has confidentially filed for a US IPO. The ChatGPT maker disclosed no size, terms or firm timeline, noting only that certain strategic objectives may be more easily pursued while it remains private. Reuters has reported the company is targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion, with a September debut a possibility. The filing puts OpenAI alongside Anthropic and SpaceX in a cohort of high-profile private technology companies moving to capitalise on investor appetite for AI exposure.

The dominant geopolitical theme remained the US-Iran conflict, though oil markets traded quietly in the absence of fresh escalation. President Trump struck an optimistic tone at a Republican tele-rally, predicting total victory within two weeks and claiming Iranian negotiators are prepared to concede on all key points, adding that oil prices would fall sharply once a deal is reached.

Via a WaPo reporter:

Tehran told a different story. Iranian officials rejected the latest US revisions to the draft agreement, reiterating through Al Jazeera that no ceasefire or deal is possible without guaranteed sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets, leaving the gap between the two sides very much open.

The PBOC set its yuan reference rate at the strongest level since February 14, 2023, a notable signal of official support for the currency against the backdrop of ongoing trade and geopolitical pressures.

On the data front, South Korea delivered a clean beat on final Q1 GDP, with quarterly growth confirmed at 1.8% against a 1.7% expectation and prior reading, and annual growth at 3.8% versus 3.6% expected. China’s May trade figures also exceeded forecasts across all three headline measures, with exports up 19.4% year-on-year against a 15.0% consensus, imports rising 27.4% versus 25.0% expected, and the trade surplus coming in at $105.43 billion well above the $92.1 billion forecast. The import strength points to either genuine domestic demand recovery or front-loaded stockpiling, or a combination of both. China’s oil imports in May fell to an eight-year low, a data point that will attract attention in energy markets.

In a significant supply chain development, Washington asked Beijing to resume rare earth exports to Japan, with the Nikkei reporting US concern about the broader impact of restrictions on global high-technology supply chains, a sign that the rare earth issue is now being treated as a multilateral problem rather than purely a bilateral one.

The Pentagon’s addition of Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and others to its 1260H military-linked firms list added another layer of tension to the US-China relationship, even as diplomatic channels remain formally open following last month’s Trump-Xi summit.

Adding to the week’s geopolitical backdrop, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told Izvestia that Russia and Belarus remain constantly ready to use all available means, including nuclear weapons, to guarantee their security, language that will keep European risk sentiment on edge.

Asia-Pacific equities traded with a mainly positive bias, recouping some of Monday’s losses, though the overall tone was cautious. The US dollar held broadly steady, gold edged modestly higher, and oil traded in a narrow range with little fresh catalysts to drive direction.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.