Dec 21 ,2025
Synopsis:
Asian markets set for positive start to Monday trade. Futures signaling opening gains in Japan and Hong Kong Australia higher in initial trade. S&P 500 futures strengthening following positive finish to last week. Australian bonds weakening, taking cues from Friday's yield backup. Yen at one-month low in wake of Friday's BOJ rate hike, prompting another verbal warning from Finance Minister Katayama. Gold little changed crude recovering from four-year low. Bitcoin range bound.
Positive leads for Asia tech stocks after Nasdaq led US markets higher on Friday, underpinned by better AI headlines. Friday developments included formal review to pave way for NVDA H200 chip sales to China, latest OpenAI funding headlines, and ORCL bounce (TikTok deal progress, data center power approval). Micron's (MU) big beat and raise also bucked recent trend of AI earnings disappointments, aiding sentiment towards chipmakers with SOX rallying 6% from week's low.
China expected to keep 1Y and 5Y loan prime rates unchanged at 3.00% and 3.50% respectively, coming after PBOC left 7D reverse repo rate steady. Economic weakness persisted in November though policymakers held view 2025 growth target of ~5% likely to be met, diminishing prospects of near-term easing. Margin pressures at banks also seen weakening case for near-term rate cuts. Some economists predict authorities could resume rate cuts in 2026 as policymakers prioritize expanding domestic demand next year with policies aimed at boosting consumption.
Activity quietens down in penultimate week of 2025 with focus mostly on Japan. October BOJ minutes due Wednesday, though more attention will be on December Summary of Opinions (28-Dec) following last week's rate hike. BOJ Governor Ueda will give a speech on Thursday. JGB 2Y auction will also be held Thursday. Tokyo core CPI, Japan unemployment, industrial production and retail sales (Fri) round out week's data releases. Elsewhere, RBA meeting minutes (Tues) may shed further light on hawkish tone of December's hold decision.
Pre-open Company News:
1167.HK -- Jacobio Pharmaceuticals Group, AstraZeneca enter license and collaboration agreement for Pan-KRAS inhibitor JAB23E73.
1513.HK -- Livzon Pharmaceutical Group receives NMPA clinical trial approval for additional indication of treatment of depression for NS-041
512.HK -- Grand Pharmaceutical Group achieves primary endpoint in Phase III study of TLX591-CDx
002036.CH -- LianChuang Electronic Technology trading continues to be halted
540180.IN -- Varun Beverages to acquire Twizza Proprietary for ZAR2.10B (INR11.19B) in cash
533098.IN -- NHPC Ltd declares CoD of Unit 2 (250MW) of Subansiri Lower HE Project (2,000MW) following successful completion of trial run
MiniMax Group files for Hong Kong IPO through CICC, UBS
SPM.IM -- Saipem awarded offshore EPCI contract from QatarEnergy LNG worth $3.1B (~€2.7B)
Morgan Stanley upgrades Kokusai Electric & Tokyo Electron
543187.IN -- Hitachi Energy India downgraded to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs
500300.IN -- Grasim Industries initiated overweight at JPMorgan
1112.HK -- Health & Happiness (H&H) International Holdings initiated outperform at Haitong
BCPG.TB -- BCPG Public initiated buy at Finansia Syrus
4661.JP -- Oriental Land upgraded to buy from neutral at SBI Securities Japan
6367.JP -- DAIKIN INDUSTRIES upgraded to 1-outperform from 2-neutral at SMBC Nikko
On Deck:
China:
Economic:
08:00 CST: Foreign Direct Investment Y/Y; consensus
09:30 CST: 5 Year Loan Prime Rate; consensus
09:30 CST: 1 Year Loan Prime Rate; consensus
Japan:
Earnings:
SHIMAMURA (8227.JP)
Malaysia:
Economic:
23:00 EST: CPI NSA Y/Y; consensus
Market Data:
Gold (Feb 26): ($8.10) or (0.18%) to $4379.20
WTI Crude (Jan 26): +$0.27 or +0.48% to $56.79
$-¥: (0.15) or (0.09%) to 157.6060
$-KRW: +1.00 or +0.07% to 1476.7200
A$-$: (0.00) or (0.00%) to 0.6611
$-INR: (0.06) or (0.06%) to 89.5773
$-CNY: (0.00) or (0.01%) to 7.0401
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