Sep 21 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asia equities ended with gains Monday in a quiet day's trading. The best gains were in South Korea and Taiwan, which neared a fresh record high, while Greater China markets all finished strongly. India and Singapore also higher, Australia's ASX was flat. Southeast Asia saw some weakness. Japan markets closed for a holiday. US futures higher, Europe opened with solid gains. US dollar a little stronger, yen weaker to reverse some of Friday's late gains. Crude oil futures sharply lower but Brent still above $100/bl. Precious metals down, base metals mixed.
Asia stocks moved higher Monday amid positive comments emanating from US-China trade talks, and the announcement of a handful of minor trade deals between the two sides. Equities further supported by a decline in oil prices after the head of the US Central Command said oil and LNG transits through the Strait of Hormuz had reached a six-month high. Separately, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict boosted by President Trump saying he would 'probably' be open to meeting his Iranian counterpart at the UN this week as well as several other Gulf nations.
In regional developments, China kept it one-year and five-year LPRs unchanged over the weekend as widely expected; China's CGB yield dipped to a month-long low and closed in on its multi-year lows set earlier this year. Japan markets closed today for a holiday however the reverberations from Friday's BOJ rate hike and subsequent rate check late Friday night continued with the yen weakening slightly Monday as analysts warned they expected a volatile week ahead for Japan assets.
SoftBank (9984.JP) issues $10B of dollar- and euro-denominated junk bonds to pay for a follow-on investment into OpenAI expected to close next month. CATL (3750.HK) said it sees limited impact on sales from China's new battery tax. CXMT (688825.CH) said its new chip manufacturing platform is close to the world's 'most advanced'. AUO (2409.TT) is set to collaborate with Intel to develop advanced packaging layouts for CPOs and high-density chip integration solutions, according to local press reports. Firmus (+FIRMUS) is seeking to raise up to $5B in its IPO and debut on the ASX in late October, according to deal terms to become one of Australia's largest ever listings.
Digest:
Notable Gainers:
+9.9% 2409.TT (AUO Corp): rumour to collaborate with Intel to develop advanced packaging layouts for CPOs and high-density computing chip integration solutions
+8.3% 6996.HK (Antengene): doses first patient in China for phase III study of ATG-022 for CLDN18.2+ advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma
+4.7% 028260.KS (Samsung C&T): wins KRW1.8T Seongsu District 3 redevelopment project
+3.1% 600392.CH (Shenghe Resources Holding): denies rumour about acquisition of controlling stake by a rare earth enterprise group
+1.5% 688617.CH (APT Medical): Vice Chairman Cheng Zhenghui to sell up to 1.5% of APT Medical from 20-Oct-26 to 19-Jan-27
+1.1% 068270.KS (Celltrion): receives EU approval for amended CT-P44 Darzalex biosimilar Phase 3 clinical trial
+0.6% 454910.KS (Doosan Robotics): appoints Kwon Young-min as new CEO
+0.0% 300757.CH (Robotechnik Intelligent Technology Co.): launches 11.9M-share Hong Kong IPO at up to HK$436/share
Notable Decliners:
-0.0% 3660.HK (Qifu Technology): CEO Haisheng Wu to step down to focus on development of the company's international business
Data:
Economic:
Singapore Q2
Unemployment rate (final) 1.9% versus consensus 2% and 2% in prior quarter
Markets:
Nikkei: Closed
Hang Seng: 291.93 or +1.18% to 25042.71
Shanghai Composite: 38.04 or +0.97% to 3949.91
Shenzhen Composite: 26.25 or +1.04% to 2538.87
ASX200: 0.70 or +0.01% to 8731.90
KOSPI: 113.49 or +1.65% to 7007.72
SENSEX: 579.89 or +0.78% to 74874.85
Currencies:
$-¥: +0.34 or +0.21% to 157.2130
$-KRW: (12.65) or (0.91%) to 1373.9000
A$-$: +0.00 or +0.06% to 0.7129
$-INR: (0.16) or (0.17%) to 95.8239
$-CNY: (0.00) or (0.05%) to 6.6955
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