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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei +2.87%, Hang Seng +1.09%, Shanghai Composite +1.30% as of 04:10 ET

Mar 25 ,2026

• Synopsis:

  • Asia equities finished higher across the region Wednesday. Best of the gains in Japan where the Nikkei 225 and Topix closed more than 2.5% higher. Strong gains for Australia, Taiwan and India; South Korea and much of Southeast Asia also ended higher. Mainland China benchmarks up but off their best, Hang Seng higher but underperformed. US futures higher, Europe very strong in opening trades. US dollar flat; yen, AUD and NZD weaker. Treasury yields down a the long end, higher at the short; JGBs mixed. Precious metals all notably higher, base metals firmer. Brent and WTI crude prices down around 4% each with Brent below $100/bl. Cryptocurrencies edging higher.

  • Asia markets stabilized further Wednesday amid reports of progress on a diplomatic solution to the Iran war. Washington presented Tehran with a 15-point plan to end the conflict with Axios reporting a senior level meeting could take place as soon as tomorrow. Meanwhile Iran said it will permit passage of non-hostile shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a decline in crude prices. However, optimism capped by fresh attacks by Israel and Iran on each other overnight, and reports UAE and Saudi Arabia are losing patience with Iran's attacks. Meanwhile, the US is continuing with its deployment of 2k troops to the region.

  • Risk-on trade also capped by growing reports of fuel shortages in region with Philippines, India and South Korea most exposed, while Japan PM Takaichi has asked the IEA to prepare an additional coordinated release of oil reserves. In macro developments, Australian February CPI fell slightly against expectations for no change. South Korea consumer confidence fell to its lowest since May 2025 due to the Iran conflict. BOJ January meeting minutes showed board members think a rate hike would be needed at an 'appropriate' time. RBNZ chief economist Conway said assessment of second-round inflation effects will determine nature of rate hikes going forward.

  • SoftBank's (9984.JP) ARM unit unveiled an in-house chip and said it had signed up Meta (META) as its first customer. CK Hutchison's (1.HK) port unit says its arbitration case against Panama has expanded and is now worth than $2B. Pop Mart (9992.HK) shares slid sharply on fears company will not be able to grow outside its labubu dolls. SK Hynix (000660.KS) filed for its US ADR listing this year, reportedly seeking to raise KRW10-15T. Central Pattana (CPN.TB) said it was to invest more than $3.4B over the next five years to expand its shopping mall portfolio.

• Digest:

  • Diplomatic traction as US presents Iran 15-point plan to end conflict:

    • NY Times sources said US presented Iran with 15-point plan to end conflict, though details light and unclear how widely Iran has viewed the plan. Deal said to address missile and nuclear programs, and maritime routes. Israel's Channel 12 reported on 15-point plan earlier that includes one-month ceasefire. Sources noted conditions appear to cover US and Israel war aims, including dismantling nuclear facilities, ending nuclear ambitions and uranium enrichment, handing over stockpiles of existing uranium to IAEA and reopening Strait of Hormuz (Times of Israel). In return Iran gets full easing of sanctions and US assistance developing civilian nuclear program. President Trump repeated negotiations taking place Bloomberg). Sources told Axios US and regional mediators discussing high-level peace talks with Iran as soon as Thursday but waiting on response from Tehran. Iranian source told CNN US initiated outreach and Tehran willing to listen though hardliners publicly ruling out negotiations. While Trump optimistic, there is uncertainty whether Iran will accept terms that had been previously been major sticking points. Determining who in Iran has authority to negotiate also unclear following reports influential parliamentary speak Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf may participate in talks.

  • Crude flows hinge on reopening Strait of Hormuz as Iran seeks to assert control:

    • Amid heightened focus on prospects for negotiated resolution to Iran conflict, crude flows still largely constrained by effective closure of Strait of Hormuz. Iran's foreign ministry reportedly issued letter to UN and IMO that ships not linked to US, Israel and other war participants will be allowed to transit Strait of Hormuz provided they coordinate with Tehran (FT). Unclear whether letter will encourage shipowners to resume transit with war ongoing and mines dotting Strait of Hormuz. though it has been reported Iran is allowing limited number of ships to pass through (speculated to be Asian destinations). Iran signaling intent to maintain control over Hormuz with Bloomberg sources noting it has begun charging transit fees of as much as $2M per voyage. Speaking Tuesday, President Trump claimed Iran offered "present" that related to oil and gas flows through Hormuz and was worth a lot of money, though he did not go into specifics (Bloomberg). Reopening Strait of Hormuz one of the US conditions for ending hostilities and day earlier Trump suggested there would be joint management of the waterway following war. However, it is unclear whether Iran would agree to cede control and Gulf states adamant against idea of Iran collecting tolls.

  • Asia nations turn to Covid strategies to counter growing fuel shortages:

    • Reuters reported several Asia governments considering Covid-era strategies such as work from home, stimulus measures to counter negative impact of fuel shortages triggered by Iran war. Noted 80% of Hormuz traffic bound for Asia, fuel supplies dwindling. South Korea set up emergency economic team Wednesday to oversee response, introduced some public sector vehicle restrictions, advised citizens to conserve energy (Yonhap). Elsewhere, Australia has seen at least 600 road service stations, predominantly in NSW and Victoria, run out of at least one fuel type amid panic buying although reserves still largely intact (Bloomberg); separate report said port operators asked for priority status to fuel cranes, trucks (TheAustralian). Philippines declared national energy emergency with 'imminent danger of critically low energy supply' according to president Marcos (Bloomberg). Indonesia manufacturers hit hard by domestic gas shortages, pressure building on Jakarta to prioritize supply for domestic consumption (BusinessTimes).

  • BOJ January minutes showed board members biding time on next rate hike:

    • According to minutes for the January MPM, policy discussions began with ongoing monitoring of impacts from the previous rate hike in December. While acknowledging that interest rate burden on household mortgage repayments stood to increase, there were no signs of distress and was more a function of wage growth. Similarly, corporate sector impact was seen as limited given financial conditions remain generally favorable and higher interest rate burden being absorbed by solid business conditions. A few references to behind-the-curve risks, though Takata was the only member who thought that a rate hike was warranted at this time. There were more mentions of that a move would be needed at an appropriate time. One member urged they should not take too much time examining impacts of prior moves that risk missing the appropriate window of opportunity. Another reiterated an existing view that rates should be increased at intervals of a few months. Neutral rates remained a notable topic. While views continued to stress the challenges in methodology and played down signal value, one member said it was still worth disseminating such information in the interest of public communication given attention will grow as the achievement of the price stability target was approaching. Board members also discussed long-term JGB yields, though largely concluded they should continue close monitoring given their threshold for a response appeared to be whether market mechanisms had broken down.

  • Australian inflation remained elevated prior to Middle East conflict:

    • Australia CPI inflation eased to 3.7% y/y in February from 3.8% in January (also consensus). RBA preferred trimmed mean inflation unchanged at 3.3% compared to consensus 3.4%. Goods inflation fell to 3.5% from 3.8%, though skewed by sharp drop in fuel costs prior to Middle East conflict. Housing the main contributor with inflation up 7.2%, driven by 37% rise in electricity costs as rebates used up. New dwelling costs also rose amid increase in homebuilding costs. Services inflation unchanged at 3.9% amid seasonal demand for domestic holiday travel and elevated rental growth. Other services categories mixed with education costs rising at slowest since 2022 while insurance and health little changed. No sign of abatement in domestic pricing pressures with non-tradeables inflation hitting 5% from 4.9%. Tradeables inflation fell largely due to lower fuel costs. Middle East conflict expected to drive oil-driven upgrade to near-term CPI forecasts with RBA mindful about prospect of higher inflation that pushes up inflation expectations via second-round effects on supply chains. With RBA seeing material risk of inflation overshooting target for longer than anticipated, most economists predict RBA will hike again in May.

  • Notable Gainers:

    • +23.3% 263750.KS (PearlAbyss): Crimson Desert sells 3M copies globally in just 4 days

    • +8.2% 4062.JP (IBIDEN): to record ¥49.14B extraordinary income in Q4 results by selling 2.8M Toyota Industries' shares

    • +7.9% 9984.JP (SoftBank Group): Arm expands compute platform to silicon products, introduces first Arm-designed data center CPU, the Arm AGI CPU, for agentic AI infrastructure

    • +5.3% 6963.JP (ROHM Co.): DENSO has made proposal to acquire Rohm after considering various strategic options

    • +1.4% 293490.KS (Kakao Games): LY Corp becomes shareholder through paid-in capital increase and convertible bonds

    • +1.3% 780.HK (Tongcheng Travel Holdings): reports Q4 earnings; adjusted net income CNY779.8M vs FactSet CNY743.1M

    • +0.9% 000660.KS (SK Hynix): files confidentially for ADR listing

  • Notable Decliners:

    • -22.5% 9992.HK (Pop Mart International Group): reports FY results; revenue CNY37.12B vs StreetAccount CNY38.48B, net income attributable CNY12.78B vs StreetAccount CNY12.97B

    • -11.1% 6862.HK (Haidilao International Holding): reports FY results; net income attributable CNY4.05B vs StreetAccount CNY4.13B

    • -8.0% 1316.HK (Nexteer Automotive Group): reports FY results; net income attributable $102.0M vs FactSet $129.9M

    • -4.4% 4716.JP (Oracle Corp Japan): reports 9M results

    • -0.5% 1810.HK (Xiaomi): reports Q4 results; EBIT CNY6.23B vs FactSet CNY6.69B

• Data:

  • Economic:

    • Australia February

      • CPI +3.7% y/y vs consensus +3.8% and +3.8% in January

        • Trimmed mean CPI +3.3% y/y vs consensus +3.4% and revised +3.3% in January

  • Markets:

    • Nikkei: 1,497.34 or +2.87% to 53749.62

    • Hang Seng: 272.24 or +1.09% to 25335.95

    • Shanghai Composite: 50.56 or +1.30% to 3931.84

    • Shenzhen Composite: 49.62 or +1.96% to 2584.26

    • ASX200: 154.90 or +1.85% to 8534.30

    • KOSPI: 88.29 or +1.59% to 5642.21

    • SENSEX: 1,509.87 or +2.04% to 75578.32

  • Currencies:

    • $-¥: +0.32 or +0.20% to 159.0230

    • $-KRW: +4.90 or +0.33% to 1501.1500

    • A$-$: (0.00) or (0.34%) to 0.6972

    • $-INR: (0.15) or (0.16%) to 93.8947

    • $-CNY: +0.01 or +0.08% to 6.8980