Japanese Prime Minister for the first time in seven weeks, its actually an unusually short periods between talks for the two. Tells us perhaps its a bit of a shifting approach for the boj in terms of the yen direction and we could perhaps get the boj joining Government Officials in verbal intervention. This we know they are closely attuned to the economic impacts. Automaker stoxx, for instance, traditionally a key beneficiary of the weaker yen are now starting to see the negatives. Today we have the nikkei coming on a bit under pressure. Quite a rangebound day on wall street. So perhaps we are unlikely to see any major moves, especially ahead of key earnings from the likes of toyota. Lets switch to korea now. At the start of the day here, that outlook for korea is under pressure. But look at that big trading debut at the bottom, that is hd hyundai Marine Solution. Its and Ship Repair Company. It just started trading this morning in seoul after raising 500 550 million in its ipo, the biggest in asia since january of 2022. It cements south koreas position as one of the key markets for companies fundraising through equity sales this year. A small amount of shares being traded today, around 10 . Many funds will be restricted from selling because of lockout periods. That pop is significant. Although 40 is impressive. Haidi look at what we are tracking in the last couple of minutes of the staggered open here in sydney. Looking flat at the moment. Across the region, we are looking for reaction to the tech names when it comes to the apple announcement overnight. Here in australia we are, still percolating through the mixed messaging from the rba. The take away is that rates will stay where they are. Potentially flagging the possibility of a hike is inflation and these data sets dont come into view for what is manageable for the rba. It is taking some of the wind out of the sales of this equity rally. Looking at treasury futures and australian bombs, the supply is the main focus when it comes to american markets as well as australian debt markets. A good result for the three year note in the u. S. Government debt in the u. S. Propelled higher. We are seeing that followthrough in asia as well. The aussie dollar is Holding Steady at 65. 8 six cents. We had a big move in the u. S. Dollar in the upside so some weakness is expected across asia and fx. Today brent crude is holding above the 83 level. Geopolitical issues continue to weigh on it. Trackers are following the tensions across the middle east, the lack of the ceasefire deal over gaza, and a mildly bearish u. S. Stockpiles report as well. Wti is tracking close to 78 a barrel. And treasuries, this is the picture for u. S. Treasuries after the threeyear auction. We heard more commentary from the fed as well, Neel Kashkari of minneapolis saying, policy tightness in being questioned as inflation continues to stall. The take away from the conversation is really he thinks it is likely the fed will keep rates where they are for an extended periods of time. Annabelle lets get more on the market open. Japan is just coming online. Set for a bit of lackluster trading. But our next guest says valuation still looks attractive versus other developed markets. Ken wong is asian equity portfolio specialist at eastspring investments. Lets kick off with japan. Its a broader question facing investors, the rally we are seeing so far, are there enough catalysts for it to extend . Are we looking stretched, or do you think there is further from here for the upside . Ken you have to look at the specific segments. Large caps have run up quite a bit. You look at the middle and small caps and the japanese market, they are attractive. 40 in the middle and small caps space are still trading below book. The past couple of years we have seen a solid rally but we think this year it will be important for stock selections. You have to be more careful when it comes to not trying to chase may be the flavor of the month or the previous winners but really, focusing on momentum stocks. Because valuations on those stocks have gone up a bit but there are still a number of sectors that are attractive in japan. Annabelle we were just thinking about the japanese equity reporter, talking about the impact of the weaker yen. It has traditionally held to the exporters in particular. Do you think it is starting to have a negative bearing . Ken some of the exporters will have a bit of an impact, but when you look at japanese markets as a whole, our cap first assumption is 2. 5 . We have a big buffer in the margin of safety already given where Interest Rate levels are now. When we look at a specificallys companies, we look at a lot of the, i would say the unloved companies, companies who have a contrarian point of view. We still see a lot of opportunities there. Over the past six months, there has been a lot of push towards momentum, around Growth Stocks. Everyone assumes that with strong growth and everything, reviving capex reviving, that Growth Stocks will do very well. Which they have. At the same time, because of that you might want to start looking at the value stocks which are definitely becoming much more attractive again. Haidi speaking of rotation into more attractive perhaps geographies, i wanted to ask you about china. Look at this chart when it comes to asia and hung when it comes to shanghai. Shanghai is seeing fresh tactical signals that perhaps is the true revival. Shanghai composite, 16 gain from average. 50day moving average now above the 200day moving average. Is the first bullish crossing since last year. Is it a fundamental rewriting, or is that still in question depending on further policy execution and signs of a recovery . Ken that is a great question. Fact is, when you look at where we are today compared to a year ago, the fact is that we are still lit roughly at 10 to 15 below the level of the war a year ago. We had a very solid firstquarter gdp number and it had a bit of a surprise, i would say, to some of the market participants. But when you look at valuations from, say, the csi 300 perspective, it is still below its 10 year historical average. From a valuation perspective, it is more enticing. And while we have had a strong rally especially here in hong kong with a lot of the hshares, red chips and some of the p chips, a lot of the asian stocks havent seen the strong early we have seen here in hong kong. So we believe on the onshore platform that there will be quite a bit of opportunities right now for investors, especially given where valuations are, and given such a low starting point compared to where levels were last year. Haidi is it going to get hotter for hong kong now, 120 bull run in the past three months, seems to be the set up for multiple headwinds from here. Ken i think that first wave that we saw was short covering. Now we are definitely seeing a bit more interest from Institutional Investors wanting to hear more about what is happening in this part of the world again, wanting to see specifically whether or not from an economic and policy perspective that things can be accommodated in order to support the markets in the second half of the year. Also at the same time, because of where valuations are, there is actually a bit more certainty in terms of investing in this part of the region and that is where you are getting more interest in terms of Investor Sentiment here in hong kong and eventually we feel, as well, in the china market. Annabelle the International Fund investors you are speaking to, which areas are they most excited about at this point in time . Ken at the moment, they want to hear the whole macro story specifically whether or not growth is sustainable. We hear about 5 gdp growth for this year, whether or not that will be achievable. And if so, how . They want to know specifically from that standpoint. Whether or not we will see further cycles improving and increasing in china, that will also be important. And from an economic perspective, how things will involve during the second half of the year. Right now it is more of a feel from the International Investor base. As time progresses, we might see a bit more interest in terms of specific sector rotations and stock selections. Annabelle there is always an opportunity cost, but how much does india risk possible inflows into china . Ken we are in election month right now, a lot of in investors investors in the past 12 to 18 months, there has been a strong focus on india. So there could be a slight pullback. But that said, from a medium to longer term perspective, there is still a lot to like in india. While valuations are a bit high at the moment, when you look at the longerterm perspective in terms of Economic Growth and, more importantly, Earnings Growth and the increase in cycles, as well there is a lot of opportunity to invest in india in the medium term and longer term. Annabelle ken wong is asian equity portfolio specialist at eastspring investments. Thank you for coming on this morning. A few minutes into the session so far in trading in tokyo and sydney but one stock is standing out, a Ship Repair Company hd hyundai Marine Solution making its trading debut this mornings urging more than 40 after it raised 550 million in its ipo it was. Priced at the top of the range. Also Strong Demand for it. The stock is, only about 10 of its shares that will be traded on the first day of trading, for these gains were sort of predicted by the analysts that we spoke to including ds investment and securities. They say that many funds will be restricted from selling by lockup periods, but this is certainly a debut that is cementing south korea as one of the key fundraising venues in asia over the course of 2025. We a head. This is bloomberg. We will. This is bloomberg. Annabelle tiktoks owner has launched a formal legal challenge to the law forcing it to divest or face a ban. That has set up a what could be a prolonged battle pitting freespeech rates against National Security interests. For more lets bring in chief north asia correspondent Stephen Engle the company had said it would to make this move. What are the details of the challenge . Stephen i will take a step back and say what the ban is going to entail. They have until january 17 of next year to essentially, from bytedance, to divest its chinese ownership and potentially sell the app to another company in the United States. They said they have spent 2 billion to make sure that it will isolate its u. S. Customers from any concerns of National Security grounds also kind of the also agreed to oversight from Software Company oracle. That didnt matter because biden signed bipartisan law last month. So they have until, as i said, january 17. Now in the filing of the lawsuit by tiktok saying, listen, we will not necessarily comply with this. They might seek an injunction closer to that date but now are they are still operating in the United States and at the same framework they have all along but now what will happen with potential buyers that we heard Steven Mnuchin, former treasury secretary of the United States looking at if they can join the board by them, if they will not be selling, they may look at the algorithm and come up with a different typ. Excuse me, he is more for regulation against a ban. There are so many moving parts. Now that this will be a long, drawn court battle potentially that could end up in the Supreme Court it just prolongs this whole saga and tiktok fighting for its survival in the u. S. Market where they say they supply this platform to many small and Mediumsized Companies and individuals who make a living off of tiktok. Haidi haidi its not the only saga, right, in the space. We have heard more action taken against huawei in the United States. Stephen thats right. They are according to sources, expanding export restrictions against huawei. According to sources at the u. S. Government, it has reversed licenses allowing huawei to purchase semiconductors from qualcomm and intel basically affecting u. S. Sales of chips used in huawei phones and laptops. The Commerce Department confirmed the withdrawal of certain licenses for export to huawei but declined to offer specifics. We have heard from the likes of the House Foreign AffairsCommittee ChairmanMichael Mccaul republican from texas, who says this will block any chips sold to huawei. Saying that intel and, our two companies they are worried about being a little too close to china. For qualcommss sake, they say their business with huawei is already pretty limited and will surely shrink down to nothing over time. It has been allowed to sell older 4g network trips to huawei, but again, not 5g and advanced chips. Huawei doesnt rank in the list of top 10 customers for qualcomm or intel according to bloombergs supply chain analysis. U. S. Is also said to be considering sanctions against six chinese firms they suspect could be supplying chips to huawei. U. S. Also of course, we have been reporting that they have been pressing allies like japan, like south korea, netherlands, germany, also amped up pressure and not sell to Companies Like huawei. , chief north asia correspondent Stephen Engle there in hong kong. The former u. S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin says he is still interested in buying tiktoks u. S. Operations from bytedance. He spoke to us at the Milken Institute global conference in Beverly Hills its all very interested in buying it to the extent they want to sell it or spin it off we very much want to pursue that. I support that Congress Passed the bill and has signed into law. It says had incredible overwhelming support with republicans and democrats, this may be the only thing that everybody agrees on. The fact that it is 160 million phones i think is a security issue does the deal still work in the algorithm doesnt come with stake . The Chinese Government has been very clear that they will not give an export license on the algorithm. I understand that. We have Sensitive Technology that we dont want to transfer and they dont want to transfer this stadia u. S. I have spoken to a lot of u. S. Tech companies on rebuilding this i believe the algorithms can be rebuilt. So my plan if we were to purchase it would be to rebuild the technology under u. S. Leadership, make sure that it is all disconnected from bytedance going forward, and that it is very robust and secure. Annabelle that was the former u. S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin speaking to wall street week anchor david westin. Sticking with the theme of china and tensions, chinese president xi jinping has arrived in serbia on the second leg of the european tour, looking to bolster ties with that country that is embracing chinese investment. For more, lets bring in economy correspondent Rebecca Choong wilkins. Looking to bolster ties. I believe both sides are expected to sign at least 30 agreements here. Really bolstering it. Rebecca quite a few in the offing. Its a fascinating portion of the trip to me, serbia and hungary, these are two countries that are just open to china but geopolitically, much closer to china, two rare offerings in europe. They have a much closer relationship to russia they are trying to read this relationship between russia and the west fred the relationship they are trying to tread this relationship between russia and the west. They are buyers of the idea that russia and china promote of the multipolar world order. So this is not just about economic benefits that showcase the benefits to the rest of europe of engaging with china. These are two pri nations, for example,. This is signaling that reaffirmation of closer ties to putin. We are expecting putin to visit to china in the days after xi jinping returns. Haidi we spoke about how that has been these goodwill, carefully selected visits, meetings, and maybe some of the tougher conversations have been around the periphery. That a with the European Commission was all frank about what youre up one from china and what could potentially happen if confessions are not made. Rebecca yes. This is the sort of major Sticking Point and the whole discussion here is around this issue of overcapacity. It is a major obstacle for beijing because any more trade fiction tariffs and so on good pose a major obstacle to chinas socalled new three drivers of growth looking at batteries, solar and evs. The issue there is that we have seen the European Union increasingly move closer to the u. S. s position, lockstep, when it comes to introducing this litany of probes. But it does seem like despite those frank conversations in some ways, that may be a marker of forthright and deeper discussions that can happen. Compare, for example, discussions between russia and the u. S. Versus china in the e. U. , its more forthright, more concrete, more deep discussion and debate. China very firmly saying there is no problem with overcapacity when it comes to key industrial sectors. That we will perhaps see more of this effort to move, for example, some of the chinese ev makers and so on into onshoring europe, i. E. , opening a factory or using currently unused factories to sell operations, create local