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B2B Asia News
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This is a B2B Asia News Daily Update for 15 May 2026, reviewing regional and global markets, and covering the daily business news you shouldn’t miss.
Watch the video in English above.
- We start with a quick look at regional markets. Asian stocks mostly retreated Friday and South Korea’s Kospi index gave up gains after reaching an all-time high, as investors watch for developments from the Iran war and as U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up his summit in Beijing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
- Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 2% after rising briefly earlier in the day.
- South Korea’s Kospi lost 6.1% on investors' profit-taking.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.5%, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 1%.
- Zooming in on Cambodia’s market—the Cambodia Securities Exchange Index was up 0.36 points or 0.08% to 425.3
- Total trade volume was up with 241,319 shares changing hands at a total value of 967.8 million riel or over $240,000 US dollars.
- On the main board, four stocks were up, led by Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS), while three stocks were down, with CAMGSM as the biggest loser of the day.
- Over on the growth board, JS Land was up, while DBD Engineering and Picasso City Garden stayed flat.
- Shifting to the exchange rate, the Khmer riel to USD remained stable at 4,012 riel per US Dollar, while the US Dollar index hovered around 99.18.
- Turning to global commodities, Crude oil prices advanced on Friday morning as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and ongoing concerns over shipping disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz continued to support market sentiment. Brent crude futures rose 0.17% to $106.84 US dollars a barrel.
- U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 1.11% to $102.29 US dollars.
- Gold prices fell to a one-week low on Friday, as elevated oil prices stoked inflation fears, boosting expectations of higher interest rates and sending U.S. Treasury yields near one-year highs. Spot gold extended losses for a fourth consecutive session, and was down 2% at $4,557.25 US dollars.
- U.S. gold futures for June delivery lost 2.7% to $4,561.30.
- Looking at the crypto market, Bitcoin rallied up to $82,000 mark after the CLARITY Act developments improved investor sentiment before slipping back to $81,000.
- Moving on now to other business-related news:
- The Minister of Tourism, H.E. Huot Hak, has called for the acceleration of digital transformation to modernise Cambodia’s tourism sector and enhance its competitiveness in line with global tourism trends. The remarks were made during a meeting of the Ministry of Tourism’s Digital Transformation Working Group held on May 14 to review progress and discuss future priorities. The session focused on reviewing implementation progress, evaluating achievements, and identifying future directions for promoting digital technologies aimed at making Cambodia’s tourism sector more modern, innovative, and sustainable, in line with the Royal Government’s policies and strategies.
- On May 15, H.E. Hem Vanndy, Minister of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation, led a delegation to inspect the Phase III expansion of the Bakheng Water Treatment Plant, the largest water treatment facility in Cambodia. The new phase will add 195,000 cubic metres of water per day. This brings the plant's total to 585,000 cubic metres, and pushes the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority’s overall capacity to 1.2 million cubic metres per day. The Phase III project is now approximately 72 percent complete and is expected to be fully operational by Quarter 2 of 2027.
- Cambodia’s aviation sector handled 2.4 million passengers in the first four months of 2026, a 4 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, according to a report released by the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation on May 15. The report showed that flight movements increased by 2 percent to 23,204, while air cargo volume rose sharply by 36 percent to 30,448 tonnes year-on-year.
Watch the 15 May 2026 Daily Update in Khmer below:
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