Jul 29 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asia equities ended mixed Wednesday although those with early losses finished well off their lows. Nevertheless, the Nikkei 225, Kospi and Taiwan still ended sharply lower but other major benchmarks closed higher; Greater China, Australia and India were all higher; Singapore at a fresh record high, other Southeast Asia benchmarks ended mostly higher. US futures now higher after trading lower earlier; Europe mixed in the first hour. US dollar a little weaker, yen stronger but AUD slipping amid lower-than-expected inflation. Treasury yields higher across tenors, JGB yields mixed. Precious metals mixed, industrial metals near unchanged.
Asia technology stocks opened sharply lower again on follow through from a weak Nasdaq session overnight, and more angst in South Korea's technology sector after SK Hynix's Q1s missed revenue and operating profit forecasts; the stock closed almost 10% lower and is now down 20% WTD. Despite a modest rally into the close, the Kospi reached a four-month low and the Taiex a two-month low; the Nikkei 225 also saw more losses as Tokyo Electron (8035.JP), Kioxia (285A.JP) and Advantest (6857.JP) all fell but these were somewhat offset by gains in auto stocks.
The rest of Asia was broadly positive despite a tick back higher in crude prices following the interception of an Iranian missile aimed at US assets in the middle east. Also today, Iran said it had rejected an Omani proposal to manage the Strait of Hormuz that would have included voluntary fees. In other news, Japan PM Takaichi announced food sales tax would be cut to 1% for two years, as widely flagged. Australia Q2 inflation slowed to 3.9%, lower than expectations but still above the RBA's target range; June's reading also fell slightly while market odds of a rate hike fell slightly. Ahead this evening, the US Federal Reserve set to decide on interest rates with Fed Fund Futures indicating a 70% chance of no change.
Advantest (6857.JP) said it expects operating profit to rise 70% this year, higher than its previous estimate and higher than consensus forecasts. Standard Chartered (2888.HK) said it would begin a fresh $1B share buyback after Q2 earnings beat expectations, even as it took more charges connected to the Iran conflict. SK Hynix (000660.KS) Q2 profit rose 557%, but overall missed expectations on both the operating profit and revenue lines. TSMC (2330.TT) said a Kumamoto-based plant was slowly coming back online following yesterday's earthquake. BHP Group (BHP.AU) said it has no intention of selling its BMA coal mines and has identified the assets to identify improvement opportunities. Rio Tinto (RIO.AU) posted better-than-expected H1 underlying earnings thanks to a surge in EBITDA at its copper and aluminum units. Blackstone-backed Airtrunk (AIRTRUNK) has secured a $3.2B 'green' loan from 30 lenders for a new hyperscale data center in Johor State, Malaysia.
Digest:
Notable Gainers:
+19.8% 9697.JP (Capcom): reports Q1 with revenue and operating income ahead of FactSet estimates; print supported by strong repeat sales of core titles
+10.4% 7309.JP (Shimano): reports H1 revenue and operating income ahead of guidance
+10.4% 9858.HK (China Youran Dairy Group): guides H1 net income attributable CNY739-903M vs year-ago (CNY297M)
+9.4% 6861.JP (KEYENCE): reports Q1 results; revenue and operating income beat FactSet estimates
+4.7% 3931.HK (CALB Group Co.): to acquire additional 12.7% stake in Hefei battery unit for CNY690M, raising stake to 42.1%
Notable Decliners:
-17.2% 7735.JP (SCREEN): reports Q1 results; revenue and operating profit miss StreetAccount estimates amid deferred revenue
-14% 128940.KS (Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co.): reports Q2 results; Beijing Hanmi revenue misses StreetAccount estimate
-9.6% 000660.KS (SK Hynix): reports Q2 results; operating profit and revenue miss StreetAccount estimates
-3.6% C6L.SP (Singapore Airlines): reports Q1 results; net loss on higher fuel prices, non-cash Air India losses
-1.9% 522.HK (ASMPT): reports Q2 results; net income attributable misses FactSet estimates
-0.4% 6608.HK (Bairong AI): guides H1 net income (CNY360-320M) vs year-ago CNY201M
Data:
Economic:
Australia
June CPI +3.8% y/y vs consensus +4.0% and +4.0% in May
CPI (0.1%) m/m vs consensus +0.2% and (0.7%) in May
June trimmed mean CPI +0.3% m/m vs consensus +0.3% and +0.4% in May
Trimmed mean CPI +3.6% y/y vs consensus +3.7% and +3.6% in May
Q2 headline CPI +0.6% q/q vs consensus +0.7% and +1.4% in Q1
Q2 Trimmed mean CPI +0.8% q/q vs consensus +0.9% and +0.8% in Q1
Trimmed mean CPI +3.6% y/y vs consensus +3.7% and +3.5% in Q1
Markets:
Nikkei: (930.73) or (1.49%) to 61434.19
Hang Seng: 497.07 or +1.96% to 25807.92
Shanghai Composite: 15.15 or +0.40% to 3828.47
Shenzhen Composite: 22.25 or +0.92% to 2432.67
ASX200: 90.80 or +1.01% to 9038.60
KOSPI: (360.42) or (5.98%) to 5663.24
SENSEX: 871.82 or +1.14% to 77637.74
Currencies:
$-¥: (0.21) or (0.13%) to 163.6650
$-KRW: (4.82) or (0.33%) to 1448.2900
A$-$: (0.00) or (0.44%) to 0.6944
$-INR: (0.08) or (0.08%) to 95.6052
$-CNY: (0.00) or (0.06%) to 6.7671
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