APAC Market Wrap – Dec 9

Mainland China stock market: At the close, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.37%, the Shenzhen Component fell 0.39%, and the ChiNext Index rose 0.61%. In terms of sectors, computing hardware, retail and others led the gains, while non-ferrous metals, coal and others were among the biggest decliners.

 

At the close, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.37%, the Shenzhen Component fell 0.39%, and the ChiNext Index rose 0.61%.

 

Hong Kong stock market: Hong Kong stocks were weak today, with all three major indices closing lower. At the close, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.29% to 25,434.23 points; the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.90% to 5,554.68 points; the H-Shares Index fell 1.62% to 8,936.41 points.  

 

From market performance, infrastructure, non-ferrous metals, insurance, semiconductors and most other stocks weakened, while some pharmaceutical and computing stocks saw modest gains.

 

Japanese stock market: The Nikkei Index rose 0.14% to 50,655.10 points.  

 

By industry, rubber products, shipping, pharmaceuticals and many others rose, while other products, real estate, pulp, fisheries and a few others declined.

 

Korean stock market: The KOSPI fell 0.27% to 4,143.55 points.

 

Professional retail, electronics, non-ferrous metals and others rose, while home appliances, autos, building products, electronics and others fell.

 

Australian stock market: The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.45% to 8,585.900 points.

 

Aerospace, medical distribution, forestry products and others rose, while building materials, apparel, industrial distribution and others declined.

 

Singapore stock market:The FTSE Singapore Straits Times Index STI rose 0.14% to 4,513.24 points.

 

Personalized services, forestry products, industrial products and others rose, while industrial distribution, oil & gas, building materials, cyclical retail and others fell.

 

Malaysian stock market:The FTSE Malaysia KLCI rose 0.09% to 1,614.17 points.

 

Real estate, plantations, healthcare and others rose, while construction, telecom & media, tech and others edged lower.

Key Events  

Japan 2025 IPO fundraising hits $8 billion – 7-year high  

 

Japan’s 2025 IPO fundraising reached a 7-year high, driven by multi-billion-dollar equity offerings from JX Advanced Metals, SBI Shinsei Bank and others, highlighting Asia’s booming stock market.  

 

Data shows Japan’s IPO market raised ¥1.2 trillion ($7.7 billion) this year, the highest since 2018. Deals like Human Made (backed by designer Nigo) and Orion Breweries saw over 60× oversubscription.  

 

Japan is riding Asia’s IPO wave, with India also hitting record highs.

 

Korea central bank governor: Potential growth rate now below 2%  

 

Bank of Korea Governor Lee Chang-yong said Korea’s potential growth rate has fallen from ~5% in the early 2000s to below 2% recently. If the trend continues, it could drop to near 0% in the 2040s.

 

Speaking at a joint policy seminar hosted by the BOK and Korea Money & Finance Association, Lee said weakening growth potential stems from insufficient corporate investment and lack of productivity innovation, which cannot offset labor shrinkage from rapidly falling birth rates and aging.

 

Battle for India market: U.S. AI giants visit India in droves, deploy “free” strategy  

 

Rare free strategies: Microsoft opens AI assistant Copilot free to Indian students; OpenAI offers one year of free ChatGPT Go to all Indian users; Google via Reliance Jio provides $400, 18-month Gemini 2.5 Pro service to 500 million Indian users; Perplexity embeds premium service in millions of Airtel devices.  

 

Global AI giants are competing fiercely for India, with leaders from Microsoft to OpenAI visiting New Delhi to lock in the world’s most populous country with unprecedented free strategies.

Institutional Views 

 

Morgan Stanley recently upgraded Asia equities to “overweight,” with the core logic being the dollar's likely continued weakness, enhancing appeal of Asian currency assets. Meanwhile, its fund managers noted that A-shares and Hong Kong stocks remain in mid-low valuation percentiles, with market earnings shifting from bottoming out to repair pricing.

 

The bank recommends focusing on mid-to-high-end manufacturing on top of dividend and cash flow factors, and believes RMB-denominated assets – with mild core inflation, improving margins, and low correlation to USD assets – offer diversification and anti-disruption attributes, with global allocation potential continuing to rise. Additionally, it gave a positive rating to China Ping An, raising its H-share target 27% to HK$89, citing its layouts in wealth management, medical health and AI empowerment to drive core operational improvements.  

 

 

Goldman Sachs updated its APAC “conviction buy” select list in December, adding India’s Maruti Suzuki, Australia’s CSL and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, while removing Australia’s Goodman Group, Japan Exchange Group and four others.

 

This reflects GS’s latest judgments on APAC sub-sectors, focusing on high-growth premium companies through position adjustments to provide investors precise APAC equity directions, indirectly showing bullishness on India autos and Australia medical tech.  

 

 

Citi recently adjusted its HKEX forecast, lowering the target from HK$515 to HK$505 and cutting 2025–2027 EPS estimates by 1%. The downgrade is mainly due to pessimism on HK trading turnover, reducing average daily turnover forecasts by 1%–3%, as thin volume will impact HKEX’s core revenue.

 

However, Citi maintains “buy” on HKEX, with the current price ~HK$400 vs. target HK$505 leaving upside potential, reflecting recognition of long-term value in HK’s core financial assets.  

 

 

JPMorgan recently upgraded China equities to “overweight,” becoming one of the major international banks bullish on China stocks. The view is backed by market fund flows; per Morgan Stanley, foreign long funds bought ~$10 billion in mainland China and Hong Kong stocks through November 2025, contrasting with $17 billion outflows in 2024, driven mainly by passive index-tracking investors.

 

This trend confirms rising appeal of China stocks in global allocation and echoes JPM’s positive rating.  

 

 

BofA Global Research APAC Equity Strategist Winnie Wu is positive on China stocks, believing core factors like improving corporate earnings will provide bullish support.

 

The bank specifically notes the next rebound will be driven by global funds. This is based on changing global liquidity and China asset valuation advantages; with rising Fed cut expectations, global capital is expected to flow further to cost-effective China stocks, becoming a key force pushing market upside.