Jun 29 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asia equities ended mostly higher Monday in choppy day's trading. South Korea largely pared early losses to end near unchanged as details emerged of Seoul's AI investment plans; Taiwan and Japan's main benchmarks closed slightly higher as tech sentiment improved on read through. Hong Kong was strong to mostly erase Friday's losses, mainland China boards were mixed. Small gains for Australia, India and Southeast Asia. US futures higher, Europe opened with gains. US dollar weaker in late trade, Asia currencies saw mild gains. Treasury yields higher. Precious metals lower, base metals mixed. Crude oil ticking higher.
South Korea's Kospi opened sharply lower again but reversed the losses to close near the unchanged mark after details of the country's $576B investment into AI were released. The plans include an 8.4GW AI datacenter by 2029 with an additional 10GW by 2035 to be focused on the country's southwest and while they pivot around Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS), those stocks closed lower while energy, power and construction names outperformed to pull the Kospi higher.
Asia stocks largely brushed off developments in the middle east with weekend tit-for-tat missile attacks offset by more promises of a ceasefire and talks on Tuesday. Crude prices inched higher over the day although Brent still well below $75/bl amid reports from Reuters oil and gas tankers were continuing to load in the Gulf with a exit through Hormuz eyed this week. Elsewhere, China's industrial profits grew almost 19% in Jan-May period driven by expansion in manufacturing, accelerating from Jan-Apr's growth and matching the trajectory shown in export and PMI data. The PBOC held its 7D repo rate unchanged as expected and launched overnight reverse repo operations to financial institutions. Japan May retail sales growth rose to 5.3% y/y thanks to subsidies and higher wages. Singapore and Malaysia producer prices for May both accelerated as costs in oil-related products surging notably.
3D Investment Partners has raised its stake in J Front Retailing (3086.JP) to 6.35%. Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012.JP) signed a MoU with France's Airbus to research and develop a Japanese version of an anti-submarine drone. Toyota Motor (7203.JP) posted another decline in global production, blaming disruption in the middle east for the fall. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) revealed a $1.3T, ten-year investment package aimed at doubling DRAM capacity and building chip fabrication plants in South Korea. Baidu's (9888.HK) chip unit Kunlunxin (+KUNLUNXIN.HK) is aiming to raise $50B in Hong Kong IPO, asked investors to buy its product, according to The Information; Baidu stock sharply higher.
Digest:
South Korea announces large investments into chip and AI:
Joined by top executives of Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS), South Korean President Lee Jae Myung unveiled large-scale investments over coming years that are worth more than $576B into chip and AI as the country strives to "move faster than rivals" to secure leadership in semiconductors, AI data centers and physical AI. Reuters noted announcement marks Lee's boldest push to align South Korea's technology ambitions with his pledge for more balanced regional development and to revive economies beyond Seoul metropolitan area. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will each construct two chip fabrication plants in Jeolla Province in KRW800T ($518B) project, expecting global memory market to grow fourfold within five years. The two companies also plan to spend KRW81T to build HBM packaging facilities in Chungcheong region. Country aims to double DRAM production capacity in Seoul metropolitan area over next five years and is set to spend KRW30T for next 15 years to build next-generation memory. Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon added South Korea aims to attract KRW550T of investment to build 8.4GW of AI data-center capacity by 2029 with plans to expand capacity to 18.4GW by 2035.
PBOC didn't launch overnight rate, though undisclosed repo operation rate was lower than expected:
Bloomberg discussed PBOC's CNY300B ($44B) newovernight reverse repo operation Monday. Rate was undisclosed though was reportedly at 1.25%, below consensus 1.35%, in what could be a de facto rate cut. Seven-day rate remained at 1.4% and the difference was seen as too large for the six-day difference in maturities. Attention on overnight operations increased after the central bank enhanced the facility. Follows an earlier announcement that an overnight repo would be added to open market operations on June 29-30 which many economists had anticipated to fall today. Some analysts said the PBOC may be looking to maintain the policy status quo for now, by keeping the seven-day benchmark steady while publicly omitting details about the new overnight rate. While PBOC seems to be steering towards an eventual overnight rate, aligning with developed economy central banks, some see several challenges remaining given how heavily market activities are currently linked with the seven-day rate. Story recalled a recent consensus poll showed a growing number of economists forecasting PBOC will keep its policy rate unchanged through year-end, though PBOC MPC member Huang said a rate cut remains a possibility.
Global trade fragmentation continues to strengthen:
China Commerce Ministry added 20 Japanese entities to its export control list to "safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation" and another 20 on a watch list (Xinhua). Chinese companies are prohibited from exporting dual-use items to firms on the control list. Overseas entities also prohibited from transferring China-made dual-use products to such names.
While market impacts so far limited, Nikkei highlighted notable mentions for the control list included units of Mitsubishi Electric (6503.JP) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.JP). Others in the watch list include subsidiaries of Hitachi (6501.JP), Komatsu (6301.JP) as well as drone makers ACSL (6232.JP) and Terra Drone (278A). Exporters must apply for individual licenses, submitting a risk assessment report and a handwritten commitment that the items will not contribute to enhancing Japan's military capabilities. This was a follow-up move after Beijing created the watch list in February.
Separately, Nikkei discussed evidence China is boosting imports of critical metals to exert further control over rare earths bolstered by its export controls. Nikkei investigated 22 crucial metals included in Beijing's export restrictions. Such imports were up 60% y/y in Jan-May to 350K metric tons. March alone tallied 90K tons, highest in over seven years. Attention focused on molybdenum and tungsten which have shown similar growth in the same period. Supply tightness leading to surging prices in associated materials -- ammonium paratungstate said to have tripled YTD. China also appears to be procuring tungsten scrap from various sources including the US and North Korea (also a source of ore).
US FCC on Friday banned more Chinese imports of tech products, expanding on a list of items launched in 2022 produced by Huawei, ZTE (000063.CH), Hytera (002583.CH), Hikvision (002415.CH) and Dahua (002236.CH), citing US national security lists (Reuters). Set to take effect in early July. Coverage now includes old models not limited to those designed from late-2022.
Asia AI rally facing leverage problem:
Nikkei discussed broader signs of leveraged long positions in Asia AI plays across the region, adding to outlook uncertainties. Outstanding margin trades have ballooned in Japan, totaling nearly JPY6.5T ($40B) in the week through 19-Jun, just off a recent peak of more than JPY6.6T, highest since Dec-94. Pertinently, margin ratio (long vs short) has been in the 6~8 range in recent weeks compared to the 10-year average of ~4. Single stock standouts were Kioxia (285A.JP) at 12 and Fujikura (5803.JP) above 20. Leveraged positioning has also been a theme in South Korea lately. Article noted V-KOSPI index topped 95 last week, more than tripling this year to the highest in the past decade. Financial regulator attributed single-stock leveraged ETFs tracking heavyweights Samsung (005930.KLS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) as one of the key factors behind heightened volatility. Clear evidence that domestic equity strength is translating to wealth effects with data showing notable growth in the proportion of stocks and bonds used in home purchases. Story also mentioned the market skew towards a handful of stocks especially acute in South Korea, where Samsung and SK make up more than half the market, and Taiwan were TSMC (2330.TT) alone makes up more than 40%. Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed a 170% y/y jump in margin buying and outstanding positions last week surpassed NT$611B ($19B), an all-time high. These three names said to comprise more than a quarter of the MSCI EM index.
Asia week ahead, focus on data:
China official PMIs (Tues) and RatingDog PMIs (Wed, Fri) will offer first read on June economic activity following subdued May activity indicators. Reuters consensus looks for the official manufacturing PMI to edge up to 50.1 in June from 50.0 in the prior month. RatingDog manufacturing index projected to soften to 51.6 from 51.8. BOJ Tankan (Wed) to reveal fuller picture of Middle East impacts on manufacturer and non-manufacturer confidence in Q2. RBA minutes (Tues) will be eyed for hawkish signals after Governor Bullock said June's hold decision did not preclude further tightening. South Korea CPI (Thurs) comes after BOK shifted to hawkish rate stance amid rising inflation. South Korean trade data (Wed) forecast to show another semiconductor-driven surge in exports. South Korean and Japan industrial production (Tues) also due out. Elsewhere, ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra (Mon-Wed) to feature world's leading central bankers. US nonfarm payrolls (Thurs) the main offshore data point.
Notable Gainers:
+6.9% 688111.CH (Beijing Kingsoft Office Software): launches CNY250-500M on-market buyback
+6.6% 3086.JP (J. FRONT RETAILING): 3D Investment Partners raises stake to 6.35% from 5.10%
+5.7% 9888.HK (Baidu): AI chip unit Kunlunxin, which is planning Hong Kong IPO at $50B (CNY340B) target valuation, reportedly has asked prospective IPO investors to also commit to buying its semiconductors
+5.3% 7974.JP (Nintendo): notes it continues to evaluate feasibility of stock split
+2.6% 7012.JP (Kawasaki Heavy Industries): signs MoU with Airbus to explore Japanese anti-submarine variant of Eurodrone
+0.4% 3988.HK (Bank of China): PBOC reportedly urges banks to boost lending again through window guidance
+0.1% 7203.JP (Toyota Motor): reports May global production (5.5%) y/y to 765,470
Notable Decliners:
-27.2% 558.HK (L.K. Technology Holdings): guides FY net income attributable HK$30.0-50.0M vs year-ago HK$350.1M
-4.8% 005930.KS (Samsung Electronics): South Korea to invest over KRW1,000T in AI data centers by 2035; projects to involve large investment commitments from Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix
-1.7% 000660.KS (SK Hynix): South Korea to invest over KRW1,000T in AI data centers by 2035; projects to involve large investment commitments from Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix
Data:
Economic:
Japan
May retail sales +5.3% y/y vs consensus +3.2% and revised +2.8% in prior month
Retail sales +1.9% m/m vs revised +2.1% in prior month
Markets:
Nikkei: 107.23 or +0.15% to 69468.11
Hang Seng: 354.82 or +1.57% to 23026.68
Shanghai Composite: 46.64 or +1.16% to 4073.90
Shenzhen Composite: (3.24) or (0.12%) to 2782.80
ASX200: 59.20 or +0.68% to 8823.40
KOSPI: (16.56) or (0.20%) to 8394.65
SENSEX: (388.82) or (0.50%) to 76711.65
Currencies:
$-¥: +0.07 or +0.04% to 161.8150
$-KRW: +7.36 or +0.48% to 1542.5160
A$-$: (0.00) or (0.01%) to 0.6895
$-INR: +0.11 or +0.12% to 94.3919
$-CNY: (0.01) or (0.08%) to 6.7926
This information and data is provided for general informational purposes only. The Bank of New York Mellon and our information suppliers do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information or data. We provide no advice nor recommendation or endorsement with respect to any company or securities. We do not undertake any obligation to update or amend this information or data. Nothing herein shall be deemed to constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities.
Please refer to "Terms Of Use".
DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS:
NOT FDIC, STATE OR FEDERAL AGENCY INSURED
MAY LOSE VALUE
NO BANK, STATE OR FEDERAL AGENCY GUARANTEE