APAC Market Wrap – Dec 25
Mainland China stock market:At the close, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.47%, the Shenzhen Component rose 0.33%, and the ChiNext Index rose 0.3%.
From a sector perspective, commercial aerospace concepts remained active, paper concepts surged strongly. On the downside, precious metals, Hainan, energy metals and others led declines.
Hong Kong stock market:Closed for holiday.
Japanese stock market:The Nikkei Index rose 0.13% to 50,407.10 points.
By industry, pulp, metal products, real estate and others rose, while non-ferrous metals, mining, textile products and others declined.
Korean stock market:Closed for holiday.
Australian stock market:Closed for holiday.
Singapore stock market:Closed for holiday.
Malaysian stock market:Closed for holiday.
Key Events
Global auto industry “barometer”: Toyota November production and sales both decline – China market down over 10%
Toyota Motor’s November sales and production both fell, largely due to sharp declines in key markets.
The Japanese automaker said Thursday that global sales (including subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino) fell 1.9% YoY to 965,919 units; production down 3.4% to 934,001 units.
Amid tense trade conditions, regulatory changes, and uncertain economic outlook, global automakers face greater uncertainty. Toyota’s performance serves as an industry “barometer” as firms balance long-term strong demand with short-term economic and policy headwinds.
In detail, Toyota (including Lexus) sales in China fell 12% in November. Toyota said subsidy reductions in China, more customers waiting for new policies, and model changeovers for key vehicles like RAV4 contributed to the YoY decline.
2026 the year robots enter homes? LG teases self-developed robot in two weeks
Will 2026 be the year robots enter households? Las Vegas in two weeks may provide an initial answer.
Hours ago, Korean home appliance giant LG Electronics announced it will unveil the home robot LG CLOiD at CES January 6–9 next year, showcasing the vision of “zero housework, more quality time” — using technology to genuinely reduce daily chores and free time for what truly matters.
Currency crisis alarm! Wall Street bear Peter Schiff slams dollar, calls for silver above $100 next year
Famous Wall Street economist and Euro Pacific Capital CEO/Chief Global Strategist Peter Schiff recently discussed Fed policy, U.S. inflation, surging precious metals, and other hot topics in an interview.
Schiff said as markets head into 2026, the Fed has quietly resumed policies that previously fueled inflation crises. He noted the Fed’s new $40 billion/month Treasury purchase plan marks a new debt monetization phase — reshaping inflation expectations, precious metals markets, and investor behavior.
The Fed cut rates 25 bps earlier this month as expected and announced starting December 12 a ~$40 billion/month short-term Treasury purchase plan. This marks a rapid policy shift — just weeks ago the Fed was shrinking holdings. However, the Fed stressed this is technical liquidity operations, not QE.
Institutional Views
UBS Wealth Management: Bullish on structural opportunities in Asian tech – focus on “value uplift” theme
UBS Wealth Management explicitly remains bullish on Asian tech in December, supported by attractive valuations, earnings resilience, and China’s innovation strategy. The bank highlights two key trends: accelerating China chip self-sufficiency (domestic GPU share in China consumption expected to 40% by 2027); and humanoid robots/automation explosion (global potential market over $400 billion in ten years, China dominant in supply chain and applications).
Meanwhile, UBS sees an emerging “value uplift” rally in Asian stocks as regulatory strengthening, active shareholder engagement, and corporate reforms drive transformation — high-governance markets like Japan, China, Singapore, with active buybacks/dividends, as main beneficiaries.
DBS Bank: Maintain “overweight” Asia ex-Japan, 2026 APAC target +20%
DBS Bank December 22 outlook maintains optimistic view on Asia ex-Japan, setting end-2026 target 1,103 points — ~20% upside. The bank says 2025 regional stocks rose over 30% — best since 2017 — driven by AI breakthroughs and flows amid dollar weakness.
For China, DBS maintains “overweight,” citing improved U.S.-China trade certainty, export diversification, and stabilizing industry margins — recommending focus on internet platforms, digital retail, new energy ecosystems, and high-dividend financials. Regionally, “overweight” China, India, Singapore, Indonesia; sector overweight tech, discretionary consumer, financials.
Huibo Research: Bearish mid-term Japan/Korea stocks, warns AI stock valuation pullback pressure
Huibo Research December 20 report notes Nikkei 225 clear pullback after BOJ hike, expecting further hikes next year with high tech valuations implying mid-term downside pressure. For Korea, the bank sees AI assets temporarily overvalued — even short-term oversold rebound faces subsequent adjustment.
The report also warns APAC emerging indices like KOSPI and India SENSEX30 could fluctuate due to fundamentals, trade policy, and valuation issues — caution on AI-related stocks with overextended gains.