East Asia Today

Highlights of my monthly slide pack covering the region, and a note on October's 2%-ish inflation print in Taiwan. If the market is right, we might now have seen the best of the AI cycle, but Korea's September CA data show just how big that cycle was. The S&P services PMI for China was soft.

Paul Cavey

Nov 5, 2026 • 3 min read

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Taiwan – inflation still over 2%

CPI is being affected by cross-currents including very high upstream price inflation, government subsidies and holidays. The underlying picture is inflation of around 2%, which by Taiwan standards is high. I think an economic slowdown is needed to prevent it moving higher.

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Region – chart pack

Monthly (-ish) regional update of cycles and market themes.

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East Asia Today

The implication of the midterms on the AI trade is the big issue in the markets: equities sold off, but recovered some losses towards the end of the day. In terms of the data flow, in China there were more partials for PPI inflation last month, and in Japan, the monetary base and tax revenue.