Nov 04 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asia equities ended mixed Wednesday as markets reacted to US mid-term elections. Some initial steep declines in the AI-tech chain were pared but the Nikkei 225, Kospi and Taiex still all finished lower, albeit off their troughs. Greater China benchmarks closed higher led by Shenzhen, India higher again. Australia lower, Southeast Asia gained ground. US futures reversing earlier losses to trade notably higher, Europe stronger at the open. US dollar lower but again off its trough, Asia currencies stronger ex-yuan. Treasury yields mostly lower, JGB yields higher, other Asia sovereign yields down. Precious metals mixed, industrial metals lower. Crude prices slightly higher with Brent around $103/bl. Cryptocurrencies pared losses to trade higher.
Mixed market reaction to US midterm election results as AI-related stocks initially fell sharply as vote counts began to come in while bond prices rallied alongside several regional currencies. The pattern matched those projected by analysts in the lead up to the election should a Democrat wave develop, which is what transpired: Democrats secured majorities in the Senate and House, and won several significant governor races in a result that was widely regarded as a referendum on President Trump's policies over the past two years. Some evidence of a flight to safety early on however stocks were well off their troughs by the close while currencies and bond prices were also off their day's highs.
In other developments, China RatingDog composite PMI edged lower in October but remained expansive while the composite reading was also slightly lower. New Zealand's unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to an 11-year high, lowering the chances of a RBNZ rate hike this month. Separate to the US elections, President Trump said Washington has no immediate plans to strike Iran.
SK Hynix's (000660.KS) plans for a New York chipmaking plant via its Solidigm unit have been complicated by Washington withholding approval for export licenses to equip a China facility, according to a Reuters report. Korean media reported late Tuesday Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) to make HBM parts for AMD, NVDA at second Texas plant. Oracle has cancelled a $7B AI chip deal with Tencent (700.HK), according to a FT report. UOB (U11.SP) cut its FY margin guidance after reporting Q3 profits down from Q2 as higher funding costs applied pressure.
Digest:
Notable Gainers:
+16.5% 259960.KS (KRAFTON): launches KRW300.00B share buyback
+11.5% 9064.JP (Yamato Holdings): activist holder Farallon Capital Management discloses 5.02% stake, requests chairman Yutaka Nagao step down
+7.1% 032640.KS (LG Uplus): reports Q3 results; operating profit and revenue ahead of StreetAccount estimates
+4.2% 017670.KS (SK Telecom): reports Q3 results; operating profit and revenue ahead of StreetAccount estimates
Notable Decliners:
-11.8% 051900.KS (LG H&H): reports Q3 results; operating profit and revenue miss StreetAccount estimates
-11.5% 352820.KS (HYBE Co.): reports Q3 results; net income negative
-10.3% 4183.JP (Mitsui Chemicals): reportedly to buy chipmaking materials maker JSR, possibly for more than ¥1.3T
-6.0% 9432.JP (NTT, Inc.): reports Q2 results; operating profit misses StreetAccount estimates
-4.5% U11.SP (United Overseas Bank Ltd. (Singapore)): reports Q3 results; NPAT misses Street account estimates
Data:
Economic:
China October
RatingDog Services PMI 50.8 vs consensus 51.5 and 51.6 in prior month
Composite PMI 52.0 vs 52.4 in prior month
New Zealand Q3
Employment (0.1%) q/q vs consensus +0.4% and +0.5% in Q2
Unemployment rate 5.7% vs consensus 5.5% and 5.6% in Q2
Markets:
Nikkei: (893.23) or (1.42%) to 62188.63
Hang Seng: 393.53 or +1.67% to 23919.50
Shanghai Composite: 78.07 or +2.16% to 3686.17
Shenzhen Composite: 76.65 or +3.70% to 2149.84
ASX200: (52.30) or (0.59%) to 8834.50
KOSPI: 35.01 or +0.62% to 5683.80
SENSEX: 122.71 or +0.16% to 77040.56
Currencies:
$-¥: (0.59) or (0.37%) to 158.1000
$-KRW: (6.32) or (0.47%) to 1338.4600
A$-$: +0.00 or +0.45% to 0.6998
$-INR: (0.01) or (0.01%) to 94.7520
$-CNY: +0.01 or +0.09% to 6.6771
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