Dec 04 ,2025
Synopsis:
Asia equities again ended mixed Thursday. Japan's Nikkei and Topix posted strong gains with Softbank and various trading companies leading. Greater China mixed with gains in Hong Kong and Shenzhen but Shanghai was flat. Australia higher, India and Taiwan flat, South Korea slightly lower. Southeast Asia was mixed. US futures indicate a strong opening for Wall Street, Europe higher in opening trades. US dollar a smidge higher, AUD higher after higher household spending data, yuan slightly weaker following relatively weak PBOC fixing, yen strengthening late on. Short-dated JGB yields higher, long tenors slightly lower; Treasury yields higher across tenors to partially offset yesterday's losses. Gold and silver lower, Crude oil slightly higher, copper at four-month high but iron ore futures notably lower. Cryptocurrencies mostly down.
Sentiment on Asia's equity exchanges turned positive over Thursday with very strong gains in an across-the-board rally in Japan. The 30Y JGB auction saw the strongest demand in the tenor in six years, denting long-dated yields however 10Y yields reached a fresh 19-year high ahead of BOJ's interest rate decision with a late Reuters report saying the government was prepared to accept the increase. Debt supply concerns also persist to place upside pressure on yields following launch of PM Takaichi's stimulus package.
In other developments, Australian household spending growth was the largest since Jan-24 with the higher-than-expected figure feeding into increasingly hawkish monetary policy narrative. Markets now fully price in a rate hike by the end of 2026, corresponding with selloff in Australian bonds that has driven policy-sensitive 3Y yield up almost 30 bp over the past week and the 10Y to two-year highs. The PBOC set a daily yuan reference rate with the weakest bias since early 2022, implying the bank wants the yuan to appreciate but do so slowly. Thailand's consumer confidence jumped to a six-month high on domestic tourism and government stimulus. Australia's trade surplus widened further than forecast with imports and exports both increasing.
SoftBank (9984.JP) CFO said the company remains focused on supporting OpenAI and would not invest in other companies developing alternative AI models. Cambricon Technologies (688256.CH) said it plans to triple its output of chips to replace Nvidia's place in China's market. AFR reported Singapore exchange operator SGX (S68.SP) has held preliminary talks with CBOE Global Markets (CBOE) over a potential offer for its Australia unit, which obtained a listing licence only in October; SGX denied the story. Hindustan Copper (513599.IN), Adani Enterprises (512599.KS) and Jiangxi Copper (358.HK) among the copper stocks to rally following a strong rally in copper overnight in New York. Rio Tinto (RIO.AU) said it would cut costs and contract its lithium business to build a 'simpler' mining group.
Digest:
Japan 30Y bond auction draws stronger demand:
Thursday's Japan 30Y bond auction drew firmer demand with bid-cover rising to 4.04 - highest since 2019 and well up from 3.12 in November. Tail narrowed to 0.09 from 0.27. Outcome of auction exerting some downward pressure on superlong yields with 30Y rate reversing lower after earlier reaching highest since 1999. Sale comes on back of Tuesday's 10Y auction that also saw solid demand as upsurge in yields enticed buyers. Follows sustained backup in yields attributed in large part to hawkish remarks by BOJ Governor Ueda on Monday that firmed expectations of a December rate hike (futures pricing in ~80% chance of rate hike). Government sources subsequently told Reuters board almost certain to proceed with December rate hike. Concerns about fiscal deficit trajectory in wake of PM Takaichi's large-scale stimulus package have also weighed on JGB sentiment. However, latest MoF transaction data signaled renewed appetite from overseas investors with net purchases of domestic long-term debt totaling ¥1,063.7B in w/e 29-Nov, compared to net sales of ¥246.9B in previous week.
Some drivers of bond market sell-off:
Upward pressure on JGB yields reverberated globally in wake of BOJ Governor Ueda revealing board will debate pros and cons of rate hike in December. Japan government sources subsequently told Reuters board almost certain to proceed with December rate hike. Fiscal deficit concerns have prevalent for weeks, feeding doubts whether this week's auctions will reverse negative sentiment after 10Y yield rebounded to 2007 highs following Tuesday's well-received sale (FT). Fed independence risks have featured in press with NEC Director Hassett favorite to be nominated as next Fed chair. FT sources revealed bond investors raised concerns to Treasury department about his closeness to Trump, warning risk of selloff in longer-dated securities if Hassett-led Fed cut rates indiscriminately while inflation remains above 2% target. Hotter Australian economic data and RBA Governor Bullock's warning that board is ready to act if inflation pressures persist, fed into an increasingly hawkish policy narrative with market now fully pricing in rate hike by end-2026 (Bloomberg). China bonds also under pressure with 30Y yield nearing Nov-2024 highs ahead of December economic conference and potential pro-growth agenda for 2026 (Bloomberg).
Lutnick anticipates large investment pledge from Taiwan in trade talks :
In interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Lutnick said US in midst of trade talks with Taiwan and that he anticipates large investment pledge from Taipei (Bloomberg). Suggested figure of $300B+ though did not specify whether this would include $165B Arizona investment pledge from TSMC (2330.TT). FT report in November cited US official who suggested Taiwan investment pledge of $400B, including TSMC's own commitments. At NYT DealBook event on Wednesday, Taiwan President Lai supported Trump administration's ambition for US to manufacture 40-50% of global semiconductors in next few years but that this hinges on US facilitating land, water and electricity supply, workforce and investment incentives (NY Times). Reuters sources last week said US and Taiwanese negotiators were discussing proposal that would see Taiwan commit to investing in US and training US workers on semiconductor manufacturing. Taiwan pushing for US to lower tariff rate to 15% from 20%, in-line with South Korea and Japan and is hoping to conclude talks by year-end (Reuters).
PBOC may be trying to slow yuan appreciation say economists as 7.0 per dollar nears:
PBOC set its daily yuan fixing point at 7.0733 per dollar Thursday, strongest level since Oct-24 and stronger than Wednesday's fixing, but notably weaker than consensus 7.0554. Economists cited by Bloomberg said PBOC attempting to limit pace of yuan's appreciation but not halt it. Noted delta between consensus and bank's fixing at widest since Feb-22; cited economist saying PBOC prioritizes currency stability so no surprise of push back against appreciation pace. Easing trade tensions behind almost year-long yuan strengthening, excluding four weeks surrounding April's initial tariff announcement. Has been helped by weaker US dollar: YTD, onshore yuan appreciated 3.2%, offshore 3.8% versus 8.8% decline in US dollar DXY index. Reuters survey showed economists think psychologically important 7.0 per dollar could be breached next year on narrowing yield differentials, easing trade tensions however this could also trigger China-based firms to sell dollar holdings and threaten yuan stability.
Broadening Australian economic growth, inflation risks reinforce hawkish expectations:
Takeaways from Australia Q3 GDP mostly positive after growth rose to an almost three-year high. Surge in private investment growth (highest since Q1-2021) viewed as indication recovery in private demand is broadening. Despite headline GDP miss, growth still tracking above RBA's year-end forecast. Drag from inventories was downplayed given temporary nature of retailers drawing down stock for discounting period and miners running down stock for export. Decline in discretionary spending was also seen in context of sales-driven boost to Q2 figures. Other aspects of print tied into RBA concerns about inflation risks and productivity challenges with unit labor cost growth elevated and surge in employee compensation illustrative of tight labor market. With data supporting RBA's view of recovering private demand, inflation remains the bigger influence on policy and remarks from RBA Governor Bullock on Wednesday (board will act if inflation upswing proves persistent) reinforced hawkish perceptions. UBS stuck to its view of rate hikes beginning in late 2026 with risk of earlier move. Others maintained prediction that RBA will remain sidelined through 2026. Futures pricing in roughly 70% chance of rate hike by end-2026.
Notable Gainers:
+13% 6954.JP (FANUC Corp.): report of Trump administration considers to issue an executive order related to the robotics industry in 2026
+9.2% 9984.JP (SoftBank Group): remains focused on supporting OpenAI; dismisses idea of investing in other companies developing generative AI models
+6.4% 005380.KS (Hyundai Motor): following the publication in the U.S. Federal Register of Federal Regulations of a notice last night retroactively reducing tariffs on Korean automobiles to 15%
+2.8% 688256.CH (Cambricon Technologies): intends to triple AI chip production next year
+2.4% 8766.JP (Tokio Marine Holdings): reports November total sales ¥201.73B, +6.0% y/y
+1.9% 8601.JP (Daiwa Securities): to buy a minority stake of ¥5B ($32M) in Ambit Wealth, an Indian financial service provider for ultrahigh net-worth clients and family offices
Notable Decliners:
-1.8% 000660.KS (SK Hynix): Micron announced that it will withdraw from the consumer memory business and focus on the highly profitable HBM
-0.9% 128940.KS (Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co.): guides FY revenue KRW1.500T vs FactSet KRW1.521T
-0.2% S68.SP (Singapore Exchange): denies media reports of potential bid for CBOE Australia
Data:
Economic:
Australia October
Household spending +1.3% m/m vs consensus +0.6% and revised +0.3% in September
Household spending +5.6% y/y vs consensus +4.6% and +5.1% in September
Trade balance A$4.37B vs consensus A$4.5B and revised A$3.71B in September
Exports +3.4% y/y vs +7.9% in September
Imports +2.0% y/y vs +1.1% in September
Markets:
Nikkei: 1,163.74 or +2.33% to 51028.42
Hang Seng: 175.17 or +0.68% to 25935.90
Shanghai Composite: (2.21) or (0.06%) to 3875.79
Shenzhen Composite: (2.44) or (0.10%) to 2438.53
ASX200: 23.20 or +0.27% to 8618.40
KOSPI: (7.79) or (0.19%) to 4028.51
SENSEX: 73.78 or +0.09% to 85180.59
Currencies:
$-¥: (0.23) or (0.15%) to 155.0190
$-KRW: +3.07 or +0.21% to 1469.1500
A$-$: +0.00 or +0.21% to 0.6616
$-INR: (0.15) or (0.17%) to 90.0189
$-CNY: +0.00 or +0.05% to 7.0673
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