PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE & SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Fast Retailing (9983 JT) 6-month (JPY) net rose 19.2% Y/Y to 233.6bln, sales rose 12% Y/Y to 1.79tln

AUSTRALIA

Cash Converters International (CCV AT) - Co. will cease offering small amount of credit contract loans as of September 30th. (Newswires)

CSL (CSL AT) - England’s NICE recommended FILSPARI as a treatment option for IGA Nephropathy. (Newswires)

Elders (ELD AT) - Co. H1 (AUD) net rose 190% Y/Y to 33.6mln, rev. rose 5% Y/Y to 1.4bln. (Newswires)

Origin Energy (ORG AT) - Co. expects FY25 energy markets EBITDA of AUD 1.3bln-1.4bln, while it sees Octopus Energy FY25 EBITDA at breakeven to a loss of up to AUD 100mln. (Newswires)

Rio Tinto (RIO AT) - Co. was accused of bribery by Mongolia in a secret lawsuit, according to AFR. It was separately reported that the Co. board had asked CEO Stausholm to step down because directors wanted someone with more mining experience. (FT)

Viva Leisure (VVA AT) - Co. bought a 33% stake in Gorilla X Labs. (Newswires)

WiseTech Global (WTC AT) - Co. announced strategic acquisition of E2open (ETWO) for USD 2.1bln. (Newswires)

JAPAN

Fast Retailing (9983 JT) - Co. 6-month (JPY) net rose 19.2% Y/Y to 233.6bln, sales rose 12% Y/Y to 1.79tln. (Newswires)

Nippon Steel (5401 JT) - US President Trump posted on Truth Social last Friday that US Steel (X) will remain in America and it will be a planned partnership between US Steel and Nippon Steel (5401 JT). (Newswires)

Nissan (7201 JT) - Co. is considering selling HQ in Yokohama valued at more than JPY 100bln. (Newswires)

SoftBank (9984 JT) - Co., OpenAI, G42, Oracle (ORCL), NVIDIA (NVDA) and Cisco (CSCO) announced their partnership to build Stargate UAE. It was separately reported that SoftBank CEO Son proposed the idea of setting up a US-Japan sovereign wealth fund. (Newswires)

Other News

Japanese PM Ishiba said Japan will continue its tariff negotiations with the US, aiming to reach a deal on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada in June. (Newswires)

Japanese top tariff negotiator Akazawa said the schedule for the next round of talks is still being arranged and he hopes to meet with US Treasury Secretary Bessent during the next round of talks. (Newswires)

SOUTH KOREA

HD Hyundai Electric (267260 KS) - Co. won a contract from Scottish major power company SP Energy Networks to supply four 400-kilovolt ultra-high voltage transformers. (Yonhap)

HD Hyundai Mipo (010620 KS) - Co. won a KRW 270.6bln order. (Newswires)

Hyundai Engineering & Construction (000720 KS) - Co. won a KRW 1.5tln order. (Newswires)

Samsung Biologics (207940 KS) - Co. won KRW 242bln and KRW 198.5bln orders. (Newswires)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - US President Trump suggested to impose at least 25% tariffs on Apple, Samsung and other smartphone manufacturers on phones not manufactured in the US. (Newswires)

Geopolitical

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern to China about its setting a no-sail zone in a provisional maritime area. (Newswires)

North Korea said its damaged warship is under repair, while it was separately reported that North Korean officials were arrested after the warship blunder 'brought dignity of country to collapse'. (Newswires/KCNA/Sky News)

US Department of Defense denied a report of a 4,500 US troop reduction in South Korea. (Newswires)

Other

South Korean presidential frontrunner Lee said an extra budget will be needed to boost the economy in the short-term, while he added that heightened military tensions with North Korea are burdening South Korea’s economy and that a deadline on tariff talks with the US should be reconsidered. (Newswires)

26 May 2025 - 00:42- ForexGeopolitical- Source: Newswires