Jul 22 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asia equities pared early and broad gains Wednesday to finish mixed. Nikkei 225 erased a 2% gain to close lower, the Topix ended higher but well off its peak. The Kospi and Taiex also off their peaks but held on to gains. The Hang Seng and mainland China boards also finished mixed. Australia held on to a small gain, Singapore higher but India and Southeast Asia lower. US futures indicate a soft opening, Europe mostly higher in the first hour. US dollar consolidating overnight gains, several emerging Asia currencies under pressure, yen hovering at 40-year low. JGB yields higher, Treasuries mixed. Crude prices up with Brent trading at around $94 per dollar and at its day's high. Precious metals notably stronger, base metals led lower by iron ore again.
Asia markets opened brightly with broad gains led by semiconductor stocks but faded over the day as crude prices rose again, and US futures turned negative ahead of several key technology earnings later this evening and a downbeat assessment of Iranian peace talks by Secretary of State Rubio. Brent crude prices rose another 3.0% to trade above $94/bl for a time after President Trump played down the possibility of immediate ceasefire talks with Iran and Rubio said Tehran was not serious about talks.
Several large-cap pharma stocks in Japan, South Korea and India dragged on reports the US will introduce 100% tariffs on generic drugs in just over two years unless production is moved to the US. Trump also said a 10% levy would be imposed on dozens of countries this Friday. In other developments, Japan's trade deficit rose sharply despite a spike in exports as the weak yen caused import prices to spiral upward. BOJ insiders told Bloomberg officials are prepared to hike rates faster than current market expectations because of continued yen weakness. Bank Indonesia kept its base interest rate on hold against expectations for a hike.
Mitsubishi Electric (6503.JP) and Sony Semiconductor (0GKZTH-E) are to form a 60/40 joint venture to develop automated manufacturing equipment. InnoLight (+INLT) is looking to raise $7B in its Hong Kong's listing in what will be the territory's biggest listing in seven years. Moonshot (+MOONSHOT.HK) is in talks on pre-IPO funding that would set its valuation at around $50B. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) may invest €1B in Mistral (+MISTRAL) at a valuation of around €20B, according to a FT report. SK Hynix (00660.KS) denied media reports it was to acquire Intel's Ohio semiconductor complex.
Digest:
Notable Gainers:
+9.6% 1208.HK (MMG Ltd): reports Q2 production; copper cathode 16,980 tonnes, +24% y/y
+3.7% 034220.KS (LG Display): reports Q2 revenue beat, but operating loss and net loss both wider than StreetAccount estimates
+2.6% 293.HK (Cathay Pacific Airways): guides H1 net income attributable HK$6.0-6.5B, including items, vs year ago HK$3.7B; reports June traffic +8.2% y/y
+1.1% 000338.CH (Weichai Power): controlling shareholder Weichai Holding to increase its A-share holding; total consideration between CNY200-400M
+0.7% 6503.JP (Mitsubishi Electric): together with Sony Semiconductor Solutions to form 60/40 JV for factory automation
+0.6% 005930.KS (Samsung Electronics): reportedly may invest €1B (KRW1.691T) in Mistral at valuation of €20B; South Korean semiconductor sector move
Notable Decliners:
-24.1% 6110.HK (Topsports International Holdings): receives notice from Nike terminating group's existing online sales in mainland China, effective 1-Jan-27; segment accounted for 22% of total revenue
-2.5% 3896.HK (Kingsoft Cloud Holdings): CEO Zou Tao discloses sale of 300K shares
-0.3% 000660.KS (SK Hynix): denies discussions over Ohio semiconductor campus, following report it's in talks to acquire Intel's site; South Korean semiconductor sector move
Data:
Economic:
Japan June
Trade balance (¥406.9B) vs consensus (¥120.0B) and revised (¥391.8B) in prior month
Exports +19.3% y/y vs consensus +18.0% and revised +16.8% in prior month
Imports +25.4% y/y vs consensus +21.2% and +12.5% in prior month
Markets:
Nikkei: (116.59) or (0.18%) to 66115.60
Hang Seng: (239.63) or (0.95%) to 24892.66
Shanghai Composite: 2.67 or +0.07% to 3867.03
Shenzhen Composite: (27.44) or (1.10%) to 2460.28
ASX200: 29.70 or +0.34% to 8823.00
KOSPI: 49.75 or +0.74% to 6797.70
SENSEX: (761.14) or (0.98%) to 76708.97
Currencies:
$-¥: (0.16) or (0.09%) to 163.0260
$-KRW: (1.89) or (0.13%) to 1479.8310
A$-$: (0.00) or (0.07%) to 0.6994
$-INR: +0.25 or +0.26% to 96.5289
$-CNY: +0.01 or +0.12% to 6.7742
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