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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei +1.32%, Hang Seng +1.38%, Shanghai Composite +1.50% as of 03:10 ET

Jan 06 ,2026

  • Synopsis:

    • Asia equities ended mostly higher again Tuesday. Further strong gains for the Nikkei and Topix, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong benchmarks. The Kospi and Taiex also ended higher despite a weak open to post fresh records while Indonesia and Singapore again finished at record highs. India trading lower, Australia fell under pressure from bank stocks on valuation concerns. US futures higher, Europe opened with strong gains. US dollar flat, Asia currencies mostly stronger. Treasury yields higher across tenors. WTI and Brent futures lower, precious metals inching higher; copper at record highs, iron ore also rallying. Cryptocurrencies mixed.

    • Asia equities continue to cruise higher amid a solid risk-on sentiment with more gains for technology stocks. MSCI Asia Pac- ex Japan index posted another record high as several large-cap AI tech stocks now reach double-digit gains for the year after just three sessions, today driven by Nvidia CEO Huang comment overnight that demand for chips remains "really high". Some outperformance emerging in Asia stocks over developed market ones as rotation accelerates while it is notable that Australia, New Zealand and India are somewhat underperforming YTD.

    • Few catalysts around to change the narrative for now. South Korea's foreign reserves fell for the first time since May in December as it stepped in to defend the won. India's final composite PMI for December was revised down slightly to its lowest point all year, despite it remaining firmly positive. Singapore's PMI for December fell to a four-month low. Philippines November industrial output fell while December inflation rose to a nine-month high to give the central bank pause for thought over its next rate cut.

    • Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) said it will deploy humanoid robots in a US factory from 2028 to automate high-risk or repetitive manufacturing tasks. BlueScope Steel (BSL.AU) has received a A$13.2B ($8.8B) offer from SGH (SGH.AU) and Steel Dynamics (STLD) that will likely split its US and Australia operations between them. Foxconn's (Hon Hai, 2317.TT) Q4 revenue jumped 22% to a record $82.7B on AI demand. Jollibee Foods (JFC.PM) is planning to list its international unit in the US; share price surged.

  • Digest:

    • Chinese stocks scale new multi-year highs:

      • China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.5% Tuesday, breaching recent peak in Nov-25 and hitting highest level since Jul-15. Index also on 13-session winning streak, longest on record. CSI 300 Index advanced 1.6%, reaching highest level in four years, amid sharp gains in materials and technology stocks. Bloomberg noted bullish sentiments due to strong manufacturing activity, resilient economy that met 2025 growth target and continued rally in AI trade. Investor also expected upward momentum from last year to extend amid Beijing's pledge to back key sectors, which has improved policy visibility. Optimism toward Chinese tech and AI boosted by blockbuster trading debuts by Moore Threads (688795.CH) and MetaX (688802.CH) in December, DeepSeek's recent paper outlining more efficient approach to development and growing global popularity of Kuaishou (1024.HK) AI app. Investors also pulled back from Chinese sovereign bonds, sending 10Y yield to highest since late September as stocks rallied.

    • China-South Korea summit broadly positive:

      • South Korea President Lee's state visit to China yielded notable breakthroughs in a reset in bilateral relations that were previously strained by predecessor Yoon's alignment with the US (Yonhap). In a summit with China President Xi, they agreed on the importance of resuming dialogue with North Korea (which has been unresponsive to Seoul's overtures) to promote peace in the Korea Peninsula. Also agreed to hold annual meetings. Lee reaffirmed respect for the One China policy. Xinhua coverage of the summit was also broadly positive. Meetings yielded signing of 15 bilateral cooperation deals covering areas such as scientific and technological innovation, ecological environment, transportation, and economy/trade (Xinhua). Amid speculation Beijing seeking to keep Seoul on side amid frictions with Japan over Prime Minister Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan, Xi drew on shared historical conflicts with Japan during WWII (Xinhua), reciprocating similar comments made by Lee. Meanwhile, Xi has not responded to appeals by Takaichi to resume dialogue. Kyodo cited academic views that a turning point in Sino-Japan relations look to be far off and Takaichi has no choice but to wait it out.

    • Japan auto majors saw 2025 US sales growth despite tariffs, driven mostly by Toyota:

      • Nikkei discussed Japan's six major automakers' US sales with aggregate volumes up 2.4% in 2025 to 6M units. Best performer was Toyota (7203.JP) with 8% growth on the back of hybrid vehicles as EV market demand tailed off in Q4 after tax incentives were removed from September-end. Performance was evenly split between gainers and decliners, though with Honda (7267.JP) and Nissan (7201.JP) posting growth of less than 1%, Toyota was left as the standout. Honda saw strong H1 demand for its CR-V hybrid SUV, though total sales dropped 9.5% y/y in Q4 as a result of bottlenecks from chip shortages caused by Nexperia. Ongoing issues prompted an extension of suspended operations at three Chinese factories through mid-January and halt production at two Japanese plants Mon-Tue (Nikkei). Trajectory points to Honda dropping out of the top three by global sales in H2 of FY25 for the first time on records going back to FY05 (Nikkei). US sales fell for Subaru (7270.JP), Mazda (7261.JP) and Mitsubishi (7211.JP), broadly put down to a combination of Trump's auto tariff hikes, lack of popular hybrid offerings in the US market and the lowest onshore production capabilities. Pricing environment remains challenging as manufacturers have been reluctant to pass on cost increases amid intense competition for market share, accentuated by projections for a 2.5% decline in total US car sales in 2026 according to S&P Global.

    • Notable Gainers:

      • +15.6% 4530.JP (Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical): confirms it is considering going private; to make an announcement today

      • +14.5% JFC.PM (Jollibee Foods): plans to separate international operations and business; intends to list international business as independent company in US

      • +8.1% 603799.CH (Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt): guides FY net income attributable CNY5.85-6.45B vs FactSet CNY5.76B

      • +7.7% 7581.JP (Saizeriya): reports December net sales for existing stores +18.7% y/y; initiated overweight at JPMorgan

      • +7.2% 329180.KS (HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.): guides FY revenue KRW17.652T vs guidance KRW15.796T and FactSet KRW16.967T

      • +7.1% 3443.TT (Global Unichip): reports December revenue NT$4.75B, +75.7% y/y

      • +6.0% 2400.HK (XD Inc): to buyback up to HK$400M shares from 9-Jan to 4-Jun

    • Notable Decliners:

      • -9.6% 9502.JP (Chubu Electric Power): says ground motion evaluation for Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station may have been conducted differently compared to company's previous explanations

      • -3.9% 267260.KS (HD Hyundai Electric): guides FY26 revenue KRW4.350T vs FactSet KRW4.847T

      • -2.6% 293.HK (Cathay Pacific Airways): Air China subsidiary to sell 108.1M Cathay Pacific Airways shares at HK$12.22/shar

  • Data:

    • Economic:

      • India December

        • Final Services PMI 58.0 vs flash 59.1 and 59.8 in prior month

          • Composite PMI 57.8 vs flash 58.9 and 59.7 in prior month

    • Markets:

      • Nikkei: 685.28 or +1.32% to 52518.08

      • Hang Seng: 363.21 or +1.38% to 26710.45

      • Shanghai Composite: 60.25 or +1.50% to 4083.67

      • Shenzhen Composite: 36.25 or +1.40% to 2617.77

      • ASX200: (45.80) or (0.52%) to 8682.80

      • KOSPI: 67.96 or +1.52% to 4525.48

      • SENSEX: (441.09) or (0.52%) to 84998.52

    • Currencies:

      • $-¥: (0.19) or (0.12%) to 156.2060

      • $-KRW: (0.19) or (0.01%) to 1444.6960

      • A$-$: +0.00 or +0.24% to 0.6731

      • $-INR: (0.05) or (0.06%) to 90.1615

      • $-CNY: (0.01) or (0.13%) to 6.9797

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