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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei +2.15%, Hang Seng +0.25%, Shanghai Composite +0.50% as of 04:10 ET

Aug 12 ,2025

• Synopsis:

  • Asia equities traded mostly higher Tuesday. Japan's markets reopened following Monday's holiday and saw the Nikkei and Topix trade to record highs, albeit closing somewhat off their peaks. Mainland China ground its way higher for a sixth consecutive day, while Hong Kong closed strongly. Australia stocks higher post RBA decision. Taiwan was flat but South Korea closed a little lower. India and Singapore slightly lower, other Southeast Asia boards higher. Thailand on a holiday. US futures indicate another higher open, Europe higher in the first hour of trade. US dollar flat, AUD weaker, other currencies flat. Treasury yields higher across tenors, JGB yields also up. Crude futures higher, gold flat to follow yesterday's losses. Iron ore higher again on more talk of China steel mill closures.

  • Asia equities traded with a positive tilt Tuesday following confirmation the US and China would extend their tariff truce for another 90 days and President Trump announced Nvidia could sell its low-end chips to China under license. Beijing responded by urging its companies not to use Nvidia's H20 chip, especially in government-related projects. Japan's Nikkei 225 joined the Topix in reaching a record high, partly as it caught up with other developed markets' recent surge but also on better-than-expected corporate results and outlook statements, the lower-than-expected impact of US tariffs on exporters including auto- and chip-makers that have dragged on the Nikkei, and a weak yen.

  • The RBA delivered its third 25 bps interest rate cut of this cycle but warned over the country's dip in productivity and said future policy decisions would be data dependent. It also made no change to inflation forecasts and lowered FY GDP growth forecasts. Separately, business sentiment among Australia companies rose to a three-year high. Elsewhere, Singapore marginally revised its Q2 GDP growth higher and upped its FY growth forecast, but also warned of a slowdown in H2 as frontloading effects in manufacturing taper. Ahead, US July CPI due later Tuesday expected to show a further tariff-induced pickup in core inflation with FactSet consensus on 2.8% for headline and 3.0% for core.

  • Kuaishou Technology (1024.HK) introduced a food-ordering feature to its app that allows access to Meituan's (3690.HK) but its stock slumped as analysts worried over its entry into the highly competitive food-delivery market. Star Entertainment (SGR.AU) reached a deal with its Hong Kong-based partners to sell its Brisbane casino just months after the deal appeared to have collapsed. Starhub (CC3.SP) has acquired the remaining 49.9% stake in MyRepublic that it didn't already own. Spark New Zealand (SPK.NZ) has agreed to sell a data center stake to a private equity group to trim its debt

• Digest:

  • China urges domestic companies to avoid using Nvidia H20 chip:

    • Bloomberg sources said China has urged domestic companies to avoid using Nvidia (NVDA) H20 chips, particularly for government or national security work. Also applies to AMD AI chips, but unclear whether letters specifically mentioned MI308 chip. While directive limited only to sensitive applications, there is risk of China applying it more broadly. Follows recent China media scrutiny on H20s, questioning whether they pose backdoor security risk. Nvidia recently summoned by China's cyberspace authority over concerns about security risks enabling remote shutdown. Other consideration for China has been efforts to promote AI chip self-sufficiency through Huawei and urging local firms to reduce offshore reliance. White House officials said they tied relaxation of H20 export controls to China loosening rare earths curbs and indicated aim was to keep China dependent on US technology. However, China's directive suggests H20s were not a key demand. FT sources recently noted China wanted relaxation of HBM export controls as part of trade deal. Trump also said he'd consider allowing Nvidia to sell downgraded version of Blackwell chips to China, labeling H20s obsolete even though he confirmed Nvidia allowed to sell H20 to China in return for 15% cut of those sales (Bloomberg, Reuters, FT).

  • Trump extends China tariff truce by another 90 days, says gold won't be tariffed:

    • President Trump signed an executive order to extend the China tariff truce by another 90 days (CNBC, Reuters, Bloomberg) confirmed by Trump and China Commerce Ministry. With the last round due to expire after midnight Tuesday, this pushes the deadline into mid-November, providing crucial relief for the seasonal import surge in the lead-up to Christmas. US to maintain a 30% tariff on Chinese imports, while China will leave reciprocal levies at 10%, forestalling rates of 145% and 125% respectively. Delay was expected after the latest US-China talks in Stockholm. Yet, follows Trump's demand Sunday for China to quadruple purchases of US soybeans. Still no clear path toward a broad trade agreement with US still describing talks as difficult. Notable unresolved issues remain fentanyl and rare earths. Still, latest step may clear the path for Trump to visit China to meet with President Xi Jinping in late October, around the time of an international meeting in South Korea. Separately, Trump said on social media that he will not impose gold tariffs though there was no follow through from US agencies (Bloomberg). Follows reverberations in gold markets last week after suggestions imports of gold bars subject to country-based tariffs that took effect 7-Aug.

  • RBA cuts cash rate as expected, remains data dependent:

    • RBA reduced cash rate by 25 bp to 3.60%, as expected. Board did not provide much guidance, repeating it remains attentive to data and is focused on both price stability and employment side of mandate. Governor Bullock said no consideration given to larger cut. Q2 trimmed mean inflation declined broadly as RBA expected in May, providing more confidence on disinflation trajectory. According to updated forecasts, there was no change to CPI projections with underlying inflation seen returning to 2.5% midpoint in H2 2027, conditioned on assumption of 70 bp of further easing. However, highlighted risk that relatively more pronounced strength in output prices spills over to CPI inflation. Downgraded GDP growth forecasts, reflecting lower assumed productivity growth. Unemployment forecasts unchanged with RBA noting some labor market tightness persisting. Weak productivity growth also keeping unit labor costs high. Expects recovery in household consumption, bracketed by risk consumption growth proves slower or quicker than expected. Extreme tariff scenarios likely to be avoided but trade developments still expected to weigh on global economy, domestic activity and prove mildly disinflationary for Australia.

  • Nikkei closes at record high, bears caught off-guard:

    • Nikkei discussed market sentiment after the Nikkei 225 closed at an all-time high Tuesday, eclipsing the prior record set on 11-Jul-24. Notably, momentum being generated domestically during the session rather than typical inter-session gaps based on overseas market developments. Noted the US-Japan trade agreement and passage of earnings season offered enough clarity to justify new buying interest. No shortage of notable movers with tech majors Advantest (6857.JP) and SoftBank (9984.JP) up as much as 8%, heavily weighted Fast Retailing (9983.JP) closing up 4%, and limit-up levels reached for Sanrio (8136.JP) and Zensho (7550.JP). Some indication of domestic institutions caught lagging behind on purchases, forcing momentum-following trades. Supply-demand conditions remain tight owing to record buybacks, prompting thoughts this will provide sustained support. But debate over sustainability has already begun with Nikkei aggregate PER of 17x closing in on the prior peak in July last year. Given buybacks typically conducted when stocks are cheap, some concerns that pace may slow going forward.

  • Singapore final Q2 GDP slightly higher but MTI warns over uncertainty ahead:

    • Singapore's ministry of trade and industry (MTI) said country's GDP grew 4.4% y/y in Q2, slightly higher than 4.3% advanced estimate. On q/q basis GDP rose 1.4%, in line with earlier estimate. MTI raised its FY25 GDP growth forecast range to 1.5-2.5% from 0.0-2.0% to reflect better than expected H1 performance however ministry said remainder of year remains "clouded by uncertainty" with risks tilted to downside. Added premature to speculate on whether there would be a technical recession but economic growth expected to cool led by slowdown in manufacturing sector as US tariffs dampen demand in other markets. Wholesale trade to be impacted by waning frontloading, weaker appetite for shipping, air cargo will hit transport and storage sectors (BusinessTimes). Separately, Enterprise Singapore kept its FY non-oil export forecast of 1-3% but also warned of some weakness in H2 as front-loading activities taper (Reuters).

  • Notable Gainers:

    • +16.1% 8136.JP (Sanrio): reports Q1 earnings; revenue ahead of FactSet estimates

    • +10.7% 285A.JP (Kioxia Holdings): reports Q1 results; revenue ¥342.80B vs guidance ¥295.00-325.00B; non-GAAP operating income ¥45.21B vs guidance ¥13.00-35.00B

    • +10.1% 036570.KS (NCsoft): reports Q2 results; operating profit KRW15.08B vs StreetAccount KRW6.49B

    • +2.5% 9666.HK (Jinke Smart Services Group): guides H1 net income attributable CNY0-100M vs year-ago (CNY194.4M)

  • Notable Decliners:

    • -10.4% 4612.JP (Nippon Paint Holdings): Q2 results lackluster; some analysts negative on unchanged guidance

    • -9.3% 1024.HK (Kuaishou Technology): shares down reportedly amid concerns company may enter food delivery business

    • -8.4% 268.HK (Kingdee International Software Group): reports H1 net income attributable (CNY97.7M) vs StreetAccount (CNY80.0M)

    • -5.8% 7733.JP (Olympus): reports Q1 earnings; operating profit below StreetAccount estimates; lowers FY guidance

• Data:

  • Economic:

    • Australia July

      • July NAB business confidence +7 vs +5 in June

        • Business conditions +5 vs +9 in June

    • Singapore Q2

      • Final GDP +4.4% y/y vs preliminary +4.3% and +4.1% in prior quarter

        • GDP +1.4% q/q vs preliminary +1.4% and (0.5%) in prior quarter

  • Markets:

    • Nikkei: 897.69 or +2.15% to 42718.17

    • Hang Seng: 62.87 or +0.25% to 24969.68

    • Shanghai Composite: 18.37 or +0.50% to 3665.92

    • Shenzhen Composite: 7.40 or +0.33% to 2259.12

    • ASX200: 36.00 or +0.41% to 8880.80

    • KOSPI: (16.86) or (0.53%) to 3189.91

    • SENSEX: (67.55) or (0.08%) to 80536.52

  • Currencies:

    • $-¥: +0.16 or +0.11% to 148.3150

    • $-KRW: (2.47) or (0.18%) to 1388.3900

    • A$-$: (0.00) or (0.25%) to 0.6497

    • $-INR: (0.06) or (0.07%) to 87.5963

    • $-CNY: +0.00 or +0.01% to 7.1892