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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei (0.02%), Hang Seng (0.86%), Shanghai Composite +0.05% as of 03:10 ET

Feb 12 ,2026

  • Synopsis:

    • Asia equities continued to mostly rally Thursday. Topix closed higher but the Nikkei 225 sold off into the close to end flat. Mainland China stocks modestly higher but Hang Seng down as volumes begin to thin out. South Korea's Kospi surged again to a new record high. Modest gains for Australia and Singapore, other Southeast Asia boards also higher. India lower as its large-cap IT stocks fall sharply. Taiwan closed for a holiday. US futures higher, Europe opened with strong gains. US dollar relatively flat and stuck in a three-day trading band; yen stronger but also bouncing off a technical support level, rupee stronger amid RBI intervention; other Asia currencies giving back some recent gains. Treasuries mixed, JGB yields mostly lower. Base commodities mixed, precious metals lower. Crude oil contracts flat, cryptocurrencies continue to be under pressure.

    • Asia equities largely carried on in their week-long rally with the Kospi led by strong gains in SK Hynix (000660.KS) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS). Japan's boards also opened higher but dipped into the close while there was notable weakness in India's Nifty and Sensex tech stocks after its IT stocks listed in New York fell sharply overnight and again today in Mumbai over concerns of enterprise AI tool's impact on the sector.

    • Newsflow drying up ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, which began today in Taiwan with much of Asia taking time off next week. For what newsflow there was, the RBA chief economist and governor both warned further interest rate hikes could lie ahead. The US and China are expected to extend their trade truce for another 12 months when Presidents Xi and Trump meet in Beijing in April. China barred the sale of 'below-cost' car sales to end the prolonged price war between manufacturers as part of its anti-involution campaign and also announced an 11.7% tariff on EU dairy products.

    • Shiseido (4911.JP) said sales in its China & Travel Retail were weak but Q4 core operating profit was boosted by better-than-expected cost controls. Lenovo (992.HK) chief executive warned over the mounting pressure on PC shipments as a worsening memory-chip shortage begins to impact the industry; quarterly net profit also fell. Knowledge Atlas Technology (Zhipu) (2513.HK) launched a major AI model upgrade and raised its price on GLM Coding Plan by 30% to capitalize on surging demand; shares significantly higher. AMP (AMP.AU) reported lower-than-expected FY net income on higher costs and legacy legal issues.

  • Digest:

    • US and China expected to extend trade truce for up to a year when Trump visits China:

      • SCMP citing people with knowledge reported US and China are set to extend trade truce clinched in South Korea last November (link, link) by up to a year during President Trump's expected trip to China in early April. Came as China has resumed purchases of American agricultural products and officials seeking short-term economic wins ahead of midterm elections in November. Extending trade truce, seen as realistic and achievable, would pivot Trump-Xi summit toward immediate economic results. Added Beijing may commit fresh purchase targets for US goods. Sources said Trump is expected to travel to China in early April for three days with possible arrival date on 31-March. Corroborated by Politico report earlier about timing. No business executives have yet been invited to join Trump as administration has reservations about being seen as encouraging US companies to invest in China. Meanwhile one source said auto and energy deals could be announced with recent concluded TikTok deal as a potential model for agreements.

    • Governor Bullock says RBA will hike again if inflation remains elevated:

      • Governor Bullock at a Senate committee hearing reiterated signals that RBA stands ready to raise rates further if inflation proves persistent, while emphasizing that board members remain cautious and is yet to make any decision (Bloomberg). Noted that an inflation rate "with a three in front of it" is unacceptable, echoing remarks from Deputy Governor Hauser yesterday that inflation is running too high. With RBA's latest economic projections looking for inflation to overshoot its 2-3% target range this year, implying at least one more hike, Bullock sought to finesse the messaging by essentially cautioning that forecasts aren't set in stone and decisions will be data-dependent. Also pointed to productivity constraints remaining a longstanding structural barrier against growth momentum above 2% a year without causing inflation issues. Much of the attention on the hearing went to repeated questioning on the role of government spending in driving inflation, which Bullock deflected, noting the key difference in the RBA's economic assessment between November when it stayed on hold and February when it hiked, was private demand rather than fiscal policy. Furthermore, article noted labor market remains tight with an unemployment rate of 4.1% and Bullock said RBA estimates NAIRU at 4.6%. Bloomberg consensus looks for the next hike in May after the release of Q1 CPI data.

    • Zhipu, ByteDance heat up China's AI race ahead of LNY holiday:

      • Knowledge Atlas Technology's (2513.HK) shares, more commonly known as Zhipu AI, rose as much as 40% on Thursday, after releasing latest iteration of its flagship LLM, GLM-5, with leap in coding capabilities that surpasses rival offering from Moonshot AI unveiled just weeks ago, joining wave of Chinese tech firms to roll out new models ahead of LNY holiday (Bloomberg, Reuters, SCMP). Company is also raising prices by at least 30% for subscriptions to GLM coding plan to accommodate surge in users tapping its AI models for coding support (Reuters). Notably Zhipu said GLM-5 was developed using domestically manufactured chips for inference, including Huawei's Ascend chip and slew of others, including Moore Threads (688795.CH), Cambricon (688256.CH) and Baidu's (9888.HK) Kunlunxin. Came as local rival MiniMax (100.HK) released latest M2.5 open-source model on Wednesday and ByteDance's new video model, Seedance 2.0, that yielded impressive demonstrations, drawing widespread attention (link). Added series of model launches accelerated arms race in China's AI industry as focus turns to DeepSeek, which is expected to unveil next-generation architecture during February holiday, a step likely to draw global attention.

    • Strength in yen, JGBs stand out as main surprises in post-election markets:

      • Thursday's strength in yen and JGBs on the resumption of trade following yesterday's public holiday compounding the quandary in Japan markets since the LDP's historic victory in the lower house election. Momentum in both markets defying widely accepted views that LDP's control of the lower house will provide a free hand to pursue Prime Minister Takaichi's expansive fiscal policies. For FX markets, there have been particular reverberations from open discussion of tapping the FX special account to help fund growth initiatives. Yen selling interest still discouraged by threat of FX intervention, reinforced by FX policy chief Mimura remarks that authorities have not let their guard down in the slightest despite the recent turnaround (Bloomberg). Some discussion of hedge funds pivoting from short yen positions (Bloomberg, Nikkei). Additional circumstances undermining case for shorting yen vs USD in the form of AUD strength amid hawkish RBA signals and a recent report that Chinese authorities instructing local banks to reduce exposure to US Treasuries. Meanwhile, JGB recovery seemingly reflecting easing concerns about the fiscal policy outlook. Long JGB yields are all notably lower than their peaks in late January after Takaichi announced a lower house dissolution. Nikkei editorial took the angle that the administration may be heeding the earlier spike in yields that constituted a warning by 'bond vigilantes.' But much of the article was devoted to US involvement in managing volatility. Widely covered USD/JPY rate check by New York Fed, alongside recent specific comments on Japan policy by Treasury Secretary Bessent clearly indicated some level of coordination, helping to calm market anxiety.

    • Rupee rallies after likely RBI intervention as IT stocks sell off sharply:

      • India's rupee rallied to near two-week highs before market open Thursday amid RBI intervention. Bank previously stepped in when INR reached 90.5-91.0 per dollar band, intervened by selling dollars via large state-run bank before local spot market open, catching traders unaware and pushing rupee up 0.3% to near 90.0 per dollar. Currency underperforming regional currencies this week despite notably weaker US dollar with gains limited by ongoing importer hedging, local dollar demand; has offset return of overseas funds into equity market WTD. Analysts cited by Reuters said few traders expected RBI move given rupee traded at similar levels in past few days. Move may have been to partially counter steep sell down in India listed ADRs overnight, 4.4% decline in Nifty IT sector Thursday, and possible resumption of investor exodus especially as Treasury yields also rose overnight post better-than-expected jobs report.

    • Notable Gainers:

      • +20.4% 4182.JP (Mitsubishi Gas Chemical): reports 9M earnings, raises FY operating profit guidance

      • +18.2% 6326.JP (Kubota): reports FY results; operating profit ¥265.47B vs FactSet ¥242.04B

      • +15.8% 4911.JP (Shiseido): reports FY results; net income attributable (¥40.68B) vs FactSet (¥50.50B)

      • +15.7% 3288.JP (Open House Group): reports Q1 earnings; operating profit ¥40.29B vs FactSet ¥36.84B

      • +8.2% 544600.IN (Lenskart): reports Q3 results; consolidated EPS INR0.77 vs year-ago INR0.01

      • +1.6% 6201.JP (Toyota Industries): Toyota Fudosan extends tender offer period for Toyota Industries to 2-Mar

    • Notable Decliners:

      • -12.5% 6753.JP (Sharp Corp): reports Q3 results; FY guidance unchanged

      • -9.6% 9899.HK (NetEase Cloud Music): reports FY results; revenue CNY7.76B vs FactSet CNY7.88B

      • -7.5% 6098.JP (Recruit): reports Q3 results

      • -5.6% 7309.JP (Shimano): reports FY results; to launch up-to-¥50.00B buyback

      • -5.2% 1876.HK (Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC): reports FY results; normalized profit attributable $666M vs StreetAccount $778M

      • -4.6% 992.HK (Lenovo Group): reports Q3; gross profit margin 15.1% vs StreetAccount 15.3%

      • -4.1% 9999.HK (NetEase): reports Q4 results; non-GAAP EPADS CNY10.95 vs FactSet CNY14.17

      • -0.2% 035720.KS (Kakao): reports Q4 results; operating profit KRW203.45B vs StreetAccount KRW185.80B

  • Data:

    • Economic:

      • Japan January

        • CGPI +2.3% y/y vs consensus +2.3% and +2.4% in prior month

    • Markets:

      • Nikkei: (10.70) or (0.02%) to 57639.84

      • Hang Seng: (233.84) or (0.86%) to 27032.54

      • Shanghai Composite: 2.03 or +0.05% to 4134.02

      • Shenzhen Composite: 13.77 or +0.51% to 2708.93

      • ASX200: 28.70 or +0.32% to 9043.50

      • KOSPI: 167.78 or +3.13% to 5522.27

      • SENSEX: (364.97) or (0.43%) to 83868.67

    • Currencies:

      • $-¥: (0.42) or (0.28%) to 152.8400

      • $-KRW: (8.79) or (0.61%) to 1437.3700

      • A$-$: (0.00) or (0.13%) to 0.7119

      • $-INR: (0.13) or (0.15%) to 90.5819

      • $-CNY: (0.01) or (0.18%) to 6.9007

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