PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN & JAPANESE STOCK NEWS: Ampol (ALD AT) acquisition of EG Australia was approved by ACCC; South Korean markets are closed for local elections

AUSTRALIA

Ampol (ALD AT) - ACCC approved the Co.’s acquisition of EG Australia. (Newswires)

Megaport (MP1 AT) - Co. secured four new AI infrastructure contracts with combined total contract value of around AUD 458.9mln and launched a fully underwritten entitlement offer to raise AUD 827.3mln to fund the contracts and future growth opportunities. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Tyro Payments (TYR AT) - Co. is reportedly sounding out potential buyer interest as its valuation declines. (The Australian)

Broker Ratings/Price Target

Abacus Storage King (ASK AT) Downgraded to Hold from Buy by Bell Potter.

GrainCorp (GNC AT) Price target cut 12% to AUD 5.20/shr by Bell Potter.

Harvey Norman (HVN AT) Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform, price target cut 32% to AUD 4.50/shr by Macquarie.

Inghams (ING AT) Downgraded to Underperform from Neutral by Macquarie.

JB Hi-Fi (JBH AT) Price target cut 8% to AUD 98.00/shr by Macquarie.

Sigma Healthcare (SIG AT) Price target raised 13% to AUD 3.50/shr by Macquarie.

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE AT) Price target cut 15% to AUD 4.50/shr by Macquarie.

Wesfarmers (WES AT) Price target cut 3% to AUD 84.00/shr by Macquarie.

Woolworths (WOW AT) Price target raised 1% to AUD 34.00/shr by Macquarie.

JAPAN

Hitachi (6501 JT) - Co. and Ricoh (7752 JT) will build low-cost modular EV battery plants, targeting 70% cost cuts to challenge Chinese rivals. (Nikkei)

Kioxia (285A JT) - Co. was considering paying dividends from the next fiscal year and could begin sooner. (Bloomberg)

SoftBank (9984 JT) - Co. was in early talks to back an USD 800mln funding round for Agile Robots and was discussing contributing more than USD 300mln, although final amounts and terms could still change. (Bloomberg)

Toyota (7203 JT) - Co. was set to suspend operations at 13 Japanese plants due to typhoon risks effective 3rd June and unveiled a new racing-inspired GRMN Corolla, with sales set for 2027. (Nikkei)

Automakers - Tokyo will lift EV subsidies to as much as USD 8,100, with Toyota and Tesla set to benefit. (Nikkei)

Other News

BoJ summary of its meeting with investors showed one participant said the need for further tapering of bond purchases was not high and that there was no need for additional reductions in bond buying. A participant said it was appropriate for the BoJ to maintain the current pace of bond purchases at JPY 2.1tln per month, while another noted that operating costs remained under pressure from wage inflation driven by regulatory cost increases. Furthermore, one participant said the BoJ should continue buying JGBs at a certain scale to supply liquidity in line with economic expansion, while another said the BoJ should act nimbly, including through emergency bond-buying operations if markets are destabilised. (Newswires)

BoJ continued to call for a June rate hike, although the government was taking a wait-and-see approach given risks tied to inflation and a weaker JPY. (Nikkei)

Japanese PM Takaichi will decide this month on cutting the food tax to 1%. (Nikkei)

Japan's banks and insurers are accelerating sales of strategic shareholdings as rising stock prices support capital-efficiency measures. (Nikkei)

SOUTH KOREA (Special Holiday for Local Elections)

SK Group (034730 KS) - Chairman Chey Tae-won said SK hynix plans to increase its wafer production capacity twofold over the next five years, while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with Chey in Taipei to discuss future cooperation in AI memory. (Yonhap)

Other News

South Korea and Canada discussed strengthening space and defence cooperation amid a submarine bidding race. (Yonhap)