Mar 17 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asian markets set for mostly positive start to Wednesday trade. Futures signaling opening rally in Japan while Hang Seng futures flat and Australia unchanged in initial trade. S&P 500 futures muted afterhours. Australian bonds extending rally after Treasury yields moved lower overnight. Dollar index little changed after yen nudged up from multi-year low. Crude steady in post-settlement trade after partially retracing Monday pullback. Gold flat while silver retreating. Bitcoin holding near early February highs.
Markets on a more stable footing this week as conflict in Iran continues with more discussions about economic impact of energy supply disruptions. More Iranian leaders killed by Israel overnight while Tehran struck new energy targets across Middle East, resulting in fresh operational suspensions. US allies have mostly baulked at Trump's request to protect shipping through Strait though there have also been reports of Iran allowing some ships to transit, Saudi Arabia redirecting flows via Red Sea pipelines, and China and India increasing purchases from Russia, seemingly helping to contain crude prices this week.
In latest China tech developments, Baidu (9888.HK) became latest China tech giant latching onto agentic AI momentum with release of AI products based on OpenClaw. Comes after Alibaba (9988.HK) on Tuesday launched Wukong AI enterprise platform utilizing multiple AI agents to manage ?complex business tasks. Tencent (700.HK) also making inroads into agentic AI race, working to embed AI agent into WeChat with launch potentially coming as soon as April per Bloomberg sources. Alibaba and Tencent will report earnings later Wednesday.
Also making headlines. Reuters Tankan showed Japan manufacturer sentiment rose to highest since Dec-2021 this month, upswing driven by strong semiconductor sales. President Trump said summit with China President Xi delayed by 5-6 weeks, while administration officials said delay nothing to do with trade or economic talks. NVDA CEO Jensen Huang said in process of restarting manufacturing of H200s, noting licenses issued to many Chinese customers. Remarks conveyed more optimistic tone after company voiced doubts about H200 sales last month.
Pre-open Company News:
CJ secures a call option to acquire Schwan's non-controlling stakes under a revised shareholders' agreement
667.HK -- China East Education Holdings reports FY adjusted net income CNY792.0M vs guidance CNY766.5-792.8M and FactSet CNY789.7M
002271.CH -- Beijing Oriental Yuhong Waterproof Technology acquires 100% stake in Universal Hardware & Plastic Factory for HK$164.1M (CNY144.8M)
S59.SP -- SIA Engineering signs agreements to acquire 30% stake in Iport Group subsidiary Arport AME and set up MRO JV in Fujian, China
506820.IN -- India's CDSCO approves AstraZeneca Pharma India to import durvalumab solution for uHCC
CANF.IT -- Can-Fite BioPharma secures Israeli patent for A3AR-based fat loss therapy, including lead drug Namodenoson
6968.HK -- Ganglong China Property Group guides FY net loss and total comprehensive expenses of not more than CNY2.00B vs year-ago CNY982M
9996.HK -- Peijia Medical discloses subsidiary's product DCwire Micro Guidewire has received FDA's 510(k) clearance
Kintor Pharmaceutical signs exclusive cooperation agreement with Shanghai Chicmax Cosmetic for KT-939
532670.IN -- Shree Renuka Sugars Chairman Atul Chaturvedi to step down due to advancing age, effective 1-Apr
806.HK -- Value Partners Group reports FY net income attributable HK$667.7M vs guidance HK$660M and year-ago HK$31.2M
2788.HK -- Chuangxin Industries acquires two companies from Shandong Innovation Group for CNY1.53B cash
694.HK -- Beijing Capital International Airport upgraded to hold from reduce at HSBC
On Deck:
China:
Economic:
08:00 CST: Foreign Direct Investment Y/Y; consensus
Hong Kong:
Earnings:
Towngas Smart Energy (1083.HK), COSCO SHIPPING Ports (1199.HK), Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical (338.HK), Tencent Holdings (700.HK), Weibo Corporation (9898.HK), CK Infrastructure Holdings (1038.HK), China Everbright Greentech (1257.HK), Geely Automobile Holdings (175.HK), Laekna (2105.HK), Dmall Inc. (2586.HK), Wanguo Gold Group (3939.HK), Power Assets Holdings (6.HK), China Tower (788.HK), China Resources Power Holdings (836.HK), Ming Yuan Cloud Group Holdings (909.HK), Chery Automobile (9973.HK)
Japan:
Economic:
08:50 JST: Export NSA Y/Y (Preliminary); consensus +2.3%
08:50 JST: Trade Balance NSA (Preliminary); consensus (¥1000.6T)
08:50 JST: Import NSA Y/Y (Preliminary); consensus +2.5%
South Korea:
Economic:
08:00 KST: Unemployment Rate; consensus 2.7%
Malaysia:
Earnings:
Top Glove Corp. (7113.MK)
Market Data:
Gold (Apr 26): ($4.50) or (0.09%) to $5003.70
WTI Crude (Apr 26): ($0.20) or (0.21%) to $96.01
$-¥: (0.14) or (0.09%) to 158.9150
$-KRW: (2.83) or (0.19%) to 1486.7900
A$-$: +0.00 or +0.50% to 0.7107
$-INR: +0.83 or +0.90% to 93.0876
$-CNY: (0.01) or (0.15%) to 6.8859
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