Sep 04 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asia equities ended largely higher Friday. Nikkei 225, Hang Seng, Kospi and Taiex saw the best of the gains as technology benchmarks outperformed. Mainland China ended lower alongside the ASX. Gains for Singapore and India. US futures mixed, Europe paring early gains. US dollar steadied after some steep declines yesterday, yen also weaker following yesterday's 2% rise; won strengthened again to a year-long high. Crude futures treading water with Brent just above $95/bl. Precious metals lower. Base metals unchanged.
Asia equities ended the week with a solid rally following an overnight gain on Wall Street, which came after Fed Governor Waller said he would keep rates on hold if price pressures continued to ease. Fed Fund Futures fell post the remarks and now show the odds of a hike at 50% versus 66% earlier this week. In Asia Friday, focus remained on the yen that strengthened significantly on Thursday however traders said intervention was unlikely and the move reflected increased probability of the BOJ hiking later this month. Today, the yen gave back a little of yesterday's move but still hovers around 156 per dollar mark, around 2.4% stronger w/w.
For equities on a weekly basis, regional and national indexes were relatively unmoved despite the volatility at times however currency movements played a role leading to outperformance for the Kospi and Nikkei225 in US dollar terms, but underperformance in local currency terms. On Friday, few significant catalysts to change underlying drivers; Japan household spending fell to an 18-month low and for the eighth consecutive month amid higher prices. South Korea's current account surplus narrowed marginally in July from June's record high but was still more than US$42B in surplus.
Kioxia (285A.JP) has outlined plans to upgrade NAND to replace some DRAM demand. Nidec's (6594.JP) independent investigation into falsification of results and manufacturing inspection violations appeared to show progress that may precent the stock from delisting. China-based AI firm Moonshot (+MOONSHOT.HK ) has filed confidentially for a Hong Kong IPO. Longsys (301308.CH) has priced its Hong Kong listing below the top end of its marketed range, according to a Reuters report. SoftBank (9984.JP) priced its ¥1T retail bond at 4.75% versus an average coupon on yen retail corporate bonds of 2.3%.
Digest:
Notable Gainers:
+11.8% 9984.JP (SoftBank Group): Arm surges
+11.5% 263750.KS (PearlAbyss): Release schedule of first DLC of Crimson Desert Enhanced announced
+5.7% 6594.JP (Nidec): Discloses investigation report from investigation committee
Notable Decliners:
-6.9% 036460.KS (Korea Gas): South Korea government pushes merger with Korea National Oil
Data:
Economic:
Japan July household spending (3.6%) y/y vs consensus (1.6%) and (3.3%) in prior month
Spending +0.5% m/m vs revised (6.3%) in prior month
Markets:
Nikkei: 806.46 or +1.26% to 65020.94
Hang Seng: 437.56 or +1.74% to 25650.87
Shanghai Composite: (11.97) or (0.30%) to 3930.12
Shenzhen Composite: (19.91) or (0.79%) to 2492.96
ASX200: (14.20) or (0.16%) to 9005.90
KOSPI: 107.73 or +1.64% to 6687.21
SENSEX: 570.51 or +0.75% to 76723.37
Currencies:
$-¥: +0.57 or +0.36% to 156.3660
$-KRW: (5.08) or (0.37%) to 1351.5500
A$-$: (0.00) or (0.04%) to 0.7197
$-INR: (0.12) or (0.13%) to 94.4857
$-CNY: (0.01) or (0.11%) to 6.7113
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