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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei +0.27%, Hang Seng (0.13%), Shanghai Composite (0.01%) as of 04:10 ET

Sep 25 ,2025

  • Synopsis:

    • Asia equities ended mostly higher Thursday. Greater China benchmarks were mixed as the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite dipped marginally but Shenzhen advanced again. Japan and Australia benchmarks were higher but many other boards fell including those in South Korea, Taiwan, India and Singapore. US futures higher for now, Europe opened lower. US dollar unchanged, strength in the AUD, yuan stronger after higher-than-expected PBOC fixing. Treasuries mixed. Crude oil lower, precious metals flat, base metals led higher by copper on a mine force majeure. Cryptocurrencies lower.

    • Asia equities a little directionless Thursday with no real definitive catalyst to pull the region one way or the other. More movement in the bond market as CGB yields rose to six-month highs following comments from a PBOC deputy governor who said Beijing would continue to promote the inclusion of China onshore bonds as collateral in international markets as China looks to increase overseas investor holdings. Australia sovereign yields also higher on hawkish leaning comments from the RBA following Wednesday's higher-than-expected CPI print.

    • In other developments, Treasury Secretary Bessent said the US holds leverage power over China in US aircraft engines and parts, chemicals and plastics just as Washington launched probes into imports of robotics, industrial machinery and medical equipment. South Korea's PM warned unresolved visa issues endangered proposed investments into the US. Separately, the Bank of Korea warned over increased household debt as a destabilizer to the financial system, dampening expectations of a rate cut. BOJ meeting minutes leaned hawkish with several board members calling for a rate hike when possible while Japan's ministry of finance proposed further reductions in superlong JGB issuance.

    • Chery Automobile (9973.HK) debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange; shares substantially higher by the close. Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) said it will discontinue production of the Acura EV in the US assembled by General Motors. Anpec Electronics (6138.TT) said Yageo's (2327.TT) acquisition price is too low and believes there is room for the offer to be raised in the public tender. SK Telecom (017670.KS) said it will invest KRW 5T into AI over the next five years. Centurion Accommodation Reit (8C8U.SP) debuted in Singapore and saw its share price rise to bring Singapore's IPO proceeds to a six-year high. Hindustan Copper (513599.IN) among the copper miner stocks to benefit from a sharp rise in prices linked to a force majeure outage at a Freeport McMoRan-owned mine in Indonesia.

  • Digest:

    • BOJ board member discussions skewed hawkish in July:

      • Minutes for the July BOJ MPM revealed constructive discussions about inflation and policy normalization. Change in risk balance for inflation to neutral from downside largely stemmed from the impact of food prices. One member reiterated potential implications for inflation expectations though elevated prices would also hurt consumer sentiment. Another built the case for food prices to remain elevated and cost passthrough dynamic would lead to further permeation. This stands to be exacerbated by recent extreme heat and supply-side constraints. One member suggested inflation target on track to be achieved in the first half of the projection period (rather than second half) given US-Japan tariff agreement, positive corporate wage/price setting behavior intact and recent inflation readings. Another noted inflation expectations had been rising, and consumer sentiment has been held back mainly by inflation, warranting a phase where BOJ needs to place more emphasis on upside risks to prices and should consider communicating the price stability target would be achieved. Such views were tempered by downside risks from the temporary nature of stronger food prices, tariff headwinds against cyclical momentum, and China oversupply. Thoughts on the future conduct of monetary policy were cautiously hawkish -- a couple of remarks advocated for a rate hike when possible, given the policy rate remains below neutral. One member suggested at least two to three more months was needed to assess tariff impacts, and if US economic volatility was contained, adverse implications on Japan would be limited, offering an opportunity for BOJ to exit from its wait-and-see stance as early as by 2025-end.

    • Japan Finance Ministry proposes further reductions in superlong JGB issuance:

      • Nikkei reported MOF at a primary dealer meeting Wednesday proposed reducing the issuance of off-the-run superlong JGBs in liquidity enhancement auctions, citing a dearth of buyers. Follows earlier issuance tweaks that trimmed 20y bonds by JPY200B ($1.34B) per auction and 30y, 40y by JPY100B each from July. Liquidity enhancement auction also pared by JPY100B from August. Latest proposal calls to downsize issuance of 15.5y~39y bonds by JPY100B to JPY250B per auction. To compensate, 1y~5y tranche would be increased by JPY100B. Article noted many participants supported the idea. Unusual adjustments in two straight quarters in the middle of the year viewed as significant and indicative of meaningful efforts to curb the rise in yields. However, MOF said it was not considering any specific measures in response to calls from some participates for buybacks. Developments were not a surprise given the proposal was telegraphed in a questionnaire distributed to market participants in preparation for the primary dealer meeting. That survey also floated reducing superlong tap auctions to zero, triggering speculation this might be a prelude to buybacks.

    • Bank of Korea warns over rising household debt, risks from tariffs:

      • Bank of Korea Thursday warned persistent expectations of rising home prices in Seoul could fuel financial imbalances, despite broadly stable financial conditions at present. Said sound financial institutions, strong external payment capacity means financial system remains stable for now but noted higher loan growth in August, house price acceleration in September (Yonhap). BOK Governor Rhee said last month delaying rate cut by month or two would have little impact on greater economy, but sharp rise in house prices "would make things more difficult". Bank's financial stability report said government stimulus, lower borrowing costs would ease debt burdens but could contribute to house price rises; comes as Seoul apartment prices rose for 34th consecutive week (Bloomberg). Bank said impact of US tariffs would set to intensify, would curb corporate profits, weaken repayment capacity, which could lead to banks' credit deterioration. Warned of lingering risks from project finance loans in construction sector (Bloomberg).

    • China looking to avoid inflaming tensions as US trade talks continue:

      • At meeting with representatives from Chinese firms in New York on Tuesday, China Commerce Minister Wang Wentao urged them to avoid bringing to US the price wars currently playing out in China (Bloomberg). Comments interpreted as latest indication of China's intent to avoid inflaming tensions with US after Wang stressed importance of consensus that had been achieved following several rounds of trade talks. China's announcement this week that it will no longer seek special treatment for developing countries at WTO also seen as a de-escalation signal (FT). Reuters sources noted US and Chinese officials set to hold technical talks Thursday on trade and economic matters. Talks not expected to cover next round of high-level negotiations though positive signals over recent weeks have raised expectations of another tariff deadline extension beyond 10-Nov. Presidents Trump and Xi will meet at APEC summit in South Korea next month in bid to progress talks. Recent meeting in Madrid produced framework agreement on TikTok while press reports have also mentioned contours of a possible trade deal involving Chinese purchases of Boeing jets and agricultural products such as soybeans.

    • Economists scrap calls for November RBA rate cut amid hawkish CPI takeaways:

      • Hotter-than-expected Australia August CPI continues to reverberate on markets with policy sensitive 3Y yield up 11 bp over past two sessions to four-month high. Takeaways from the data leaned hawkish with economists flagging upside risks to Q3 CPI amid broad-based nature of August's inflation increase. NAB became latest bank to pull its forecast for a November rate cut and now believes RBA will be on hold until May-2026. TD Securities, Nomura and Deutsche Bank also withdrew November rate cut calls, and among those sticking to their November predictions UBS saw two-way risks to its view. Market pricing in less than 50% chance of a November rate cut after one had been fully priced in a month ago. Terminal rate forecasts also pushed up with market anticipating just one more rate cut left in the cycle. Signs of a disinflationary stall seen elevating importance of upcoming labor market data to provide justification for a November cut. While monthly job growth has slowed sharply in recent months, RBA Governor Bullock this week said board still assesses that some labor market tightness remains.

    • Notable Gainers:

      • +11.4% 035420.KS (NAVER): NAVER Financial confirms discussions around potential collaborations with Dunamu, including stablecoins, unlisted stock trading and stock exchange

      • +3.8% 9973.HK (Chery Automobile): opens +11.2% at HK$34.20/share on HKEx

      • +3.2% 017800.KS (Hyundai Elevator): sells 7.8M shares of HYUNDAI MOVEX for KRW73.48B

      • +1% 7267.JP (Honda Motor): to discontinue Acura EV assembled by GM in the U.S.

    • Notable Decliners:

      • -5.8% 2327.TT (Yageo): Anpec Electronics says the acquisition price from Yageo too low and believes there is room for the offer price to be raised in the public tender offer

      • -3.1% 11.HK (Hang Seng Bank): parent HSBC Holdings has directed Hang Seng Bank to sell non-performing property debt with size over $3B (HK$23.33B)

      • -2.0% 5401.JP (NIPPON STEEL): POSCO sells 7.9M shares in Nippon Steel through block trade

  • Data:

    • Economic:

      • Japan August

        • Services PPI +2.7% y/y vs consensus +2.9% and revised +2.6% in prior month

    • Markets:

      • Nikkei: 124.62 or +0.27% to 45754.93

      • Hang Seng: (33.97) or (0.13%) to 26484.68

      • Shanghai Composite: (0.34) or (0.01%) to 3853.30

      • Shenzhen Composite: 3.78 or +0.15% to 2509.29

      • ASX200: 8.50 or +0.10% to 8773.00

      • KOSPI: (1.03) or (0.03%) to 3471.11

      • SENSEX: (262.53) or (0.32%) to 81453.10

    • Currencies:

      • $-¥: (0.14) or (0.09%) to 148.7590

      • $-KRW: (4.37) or (0.31%) to 1400.6000

      • A$-$: +0.00 or +0.14% to 0.6592

      • $-INR: (0.11) or (0.12%) to 88.6716

      • $-CNY: (0.01) or (0.10%) to 7.1253

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