Sep 09 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asia equities ended mixed Wednesday. Japan's two major boards both closed with small losses after opening higher; the Hang Seng, Australia's ASX and Singapore all finished lower. India also trading down. Shanghai and Shenzhen saw small gains, South Korea's Kospi and Taiex were also both slightly higher. US futures flat to slightly positive, Europe opened lower. US dollar weakening to a five-month low; more strengthening for the yen, won also notably higher. Treasury yield curve steepening, JGB yields mixed. Crude oil futures higher with Brent touching $100/bl briefly. Precious metals paring early losses now higher, base metals off recent highs.
Asia stocks tilted lower over the day although there was evident outperformance in several technology names including SK Hynix (000660.KS), LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) and SoftBank (9984.JP) post a 1.3% rally on the SOX overnight. However, after a strong open, stocks largely drifted lower over the day as oil prices rose following reports of explosions near Iran's Kharg Island and retaliatory strikes on US bases in the region by Tehran. Nearing the close in Asia trade, Brent touched $100/bl for the first time since July while WTI traded just below $95/bl, triggering a rally in precious metals and many regional sovereign bond yields, and providing a headwind for regional stocks.
In regional developments, China August CPI was as expected at 0.8% from 0.5% in July as food and energy costs rose; PPI rose to 3.8% from 3.5%, slightly above consensus. Japan's September Tankan survey saw manufacturing sentiment improve to its highest level in nearly five years. South Korea August unemployment rate ticked lower following the highest gain in job creation in five months. In an interview late Tuesday, RBA Deputy Governor Hauser repeated earlier board warnings that inflation is too high and the RBA may need to respond.
Kioxia (285A.JP) CEO dismissed the likelihood of closer ties with SK Hynix (000660.KS) and pledged to cap the surge in memory prices. DeepSeek (+DEEPSEEK) has approached CITIC Securities over a potential domestic IPO that could value the company at $75B. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) is to take an equity stake in Mistral AI (+MISTRAL); two companies agreed to jointly develop an AI model for chip design and manufacturing. Austal (ASB.AU) has received a bid for its US assets from Wildcat Infrastructure worth around $1.35B, higher than Hanwha Aerospace's (012450.KS) offer. NSE (+NSE.IN) is likely to price its IPO at INR1,700-1785/sh, below the marketed range of INR 2,000-2,100, may reduce offered stake to 5.5% from 6.0%.
Digest:
Notable Gainers:
+5.7% 009830.KS (HANWHA SOLUTIONS): to divest 2.5M shares of Hanwha Hotels & Resorts for KRW299.80B
+4.1% 3037.TT (Unimicron Technology): reports August revenue NT$17.75B, +56.3% y/y
+1.7% 1208.HK (MMG Ltd): reportedly faces EU antitrust warning over Anglo American deal
+1.3% 7936.JP (ASICS Corp): to launch up-to-¥70.00B buyback
+1.2% 916.HK (China Longyuan Power Group): reports August power generation 5,608 GWh, +6.4% y/y
+0.0% 005930.KS (Samsung Electronics): announces strategic partnership with Mistral AI for intelligence-driven semiconductor infrastructure
Notable Decliners:
-5.9% 4151.JP (Kyowa Kirin): KHK4951 topline results from phase 2 global study did NOT meet primary endpoint
-4.0% 7974.JP (Nintendo): streams The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct event
-2.1% 259960.KS (KRAFTON): Krafton-Hanwha Aerospace JV for defense and physical AI reportedly falls through
-1.5% 8194.JP (Life Corp.): to launch tender offer to take Albis Co. private at ¥3,780/share
Data:
Economic:
China August
CPI +0.8% y/y vs consensus +0.8% and +0.5% in prior month
PPI +3.8% y/y vs consensus +3.6% and +3.5% in prior month
Japan September
Reuters Tankan manufacturers sentiment index +21 vs +18 in prior month
Nonmanufacturers index +29 vs +28 in prior month
Outlook indexes manufacturers +27, nonmanufacturers +27
South Korea August
Unemployment rate 2.7% vs consensus 2.8% and 2.8% in prior month
Markets:
Nikkei: (126.55) or (0.19%) to 65142.78
Hang Seng: (42.22) or (0.17%) to 25274.96
Shanghai Composite: 10.96 or +0.28% to 3951.51
Shenzhen Composite: (0.78) or (0.03%) to 2526.15
ASX200: (9.40) or (0.11%) to 8911.40
KOSPI: 97.12 or +1.40% to 7051.64
SENSEX: (419.70) or (0.56%) to 75157.88
Currencies:
$-¥: (0.65) or (0.42%) to 153.3410
$-KRW: (4.30) or (0.32%) to 1336.1550
A$-$: +0.00 or +0.10% to 0.7225
$-INR: +0.27 or +0.29% to 95.0978
$-CNY: (0.00) or (0.04%) to 6.7075
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