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PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN AND JAPANESE STOCKS NEWS: Japanese markets reopen after the silver week holiday closures, while South Korean markets are shut

This is a standard pre-market wrap rather than a single event, and the items split into cases that trade differently.

Newsquawk StaffPublished On the live feed at , 20 minutes before this page
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PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN AND JAPANESE STOCKS NEWS: Japanese markets reopen after the silver week holiday closures, while South Korean markets are shut

Iran's President Pezeshkian held meetings with regional and European leaders, while he discussed with Iraq's PM bilateral ties and joint projects

Venezuela's Acting President Rodriguez tells UNGA that energy deal with the US will help global energy balance, while she urges Guyana to resume negotiations

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AUSTRALIA

BHP Group (BHP AT) - Co. suspended operations indefinitely at the Escondida copper mine in Chile following the death of a worker, as a strike looms amid failed union talks. (The Australian)

Nine Entertainment (NEC AT) - Co.'s broadcast and streaming boss Amanda Laing has resigned after 18 months in the role. (The Australian)

NRW Holdings (NWH AT) - Co.'s Fredon unit was awarded a contract worth around AUD 115mln for a package of works at Stack Data Centre MEL03, with work commencing in September and expected to be completed by March 2028. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Premier Investments (PMV AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net fell 62% Y/Y to 129.2mln, continuing operations rev. fell 2.8% Y/Y to 808.0mln, dividend 0.36, while Peter Alexander sales rose 3.2% Y/Y to 565.3mln and Smiggle sales fell 13% Y/Y to 230.2mln; Co. said its brands entered FY27 with clean inventory, with like-for-like sales and gross profit less than 1% different from the year-earlier period in constant-currency terms during the first seven weeks, while key trading periods remain ahead and its previously announced buyback will continue. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Ramsay Health Care (RHC AT) - Co. said Nonexecutive Director Michael Siddle will retire following the November 24 AGM, while Tracey Batten will become a Nonexecutive Director effective January 1, 2027. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Reliance Worldwide (RWC AT) - Strategic rivals have reportedly begun evaluating a counter-bid for the Co. after Brookfield struck an AUD 3.6bln "go shop" deal. (The Australian)

Star Entertainment (SGR AT) - Co. is reportedly expected to learn within days the size of the fine it faces from Austrac. (The Australian)

Washington H Soul Pattinson (SOL AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net rose 502% Y/Y to 2.19bln, operating net profit fell 10% Y/Y to 319mln, rev. rose 96% Y/Y to 1.87bln, dividend 0.63 (prev. 0.59), while statutory net profit included 1.5bln of nonrecurring items; Co. closed FY26 with AUD 2.7bln in net cash and liquid investments, has approved AUD 662mln in offshore private markets commitments since July 31 and expects FY27 market conditions to remain uncertain. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Westpac (WBC AT) - Co. will overhaul pay and bonus structures for small business bankers to address risk management and compliance issues after an internal audit found some employees breached loan approval authority limits and others failed to properly assess fraud risks, amid scrutiny from APRA. (AFR)

JAPAN

Chugai Pharmaceutical (4519 JT) - Co. plans to increase annual investment in facilities and equipment by around 50% to JPY 100bln by 2028 as it reduces outsourcing and expands in-house production to cut costs. (Nikkei)

Hitachi (6501 JT) - Co.'s Hitachi Rail will install and maintain a next-generation signalling system for Austria's national rail network under a 30-year contract worth EUR 1.3bln. (Nikkei)

Kyushu Railway (9142 JT) - Co. has partnered with SBI Holdings (8473 JT) to offer financial services through an app featuring banking, securities and cryptocurrency services. (Nikkei)

NEC (6701 JT) - Co. is participating in Meta Platforms' (META) Petal project to build an ultrafast subsea fibre-optic cable connecting the US and France, handling the design and construction of the cable. (Nikkei)

Sharp (6753 JT) - Co. plans to develop a universal antenna capable of connecting to multiple satellite communications networks, allowing users to switch between providers rather than relying on specific services such as SpaceX's Starlink. (Nikkei)

Sojitz (2768 JT) - Co. is considering investing JPY 100bln in renewable power grids and other infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand over the next three years. (Nikkei)

Other News

Japan's PM Takaichi is reportedly growing cautious about committing to a defence spending target as a share of GDP within five years, with Tokyo viewing the 3.5% level sought by the US as difficult to achieve over that timeframe. (Nikkei)

Context

The one with cross-asset reach is the indefinite suspension at Escondida: stoppages at the world's largest copper mines have historically tightened concentrate supply and lent support to copper prices and the Chilean and Peruvian supply chain, with the key distinction being whether the halt is brief and safety-related or merges with the looming strike into a prolonged outage, since the latter is what moves the curve rather than just the prompt. The Reliance Worldwide counter-bid speculation following a go-shop deal fits the familiar pattern where strategic interest surfaces only after a financial sponsor sets a floor, and go-shop periods rarely produce overbids but do anchor valuation debate. The Premier Investments and Soul Pattinson prints are single-stock stories where the market has typically looked through statutory swings to the operating line and capital return. The Takaichi defence-spending caution is the macro thread: hesitation on explicit GDP-linked targets has in past episodes tempered the defence-name bid without reversing the broader fiscal direction, and the follow-on is whether Washington presses the issue. Japan reopening after Silver Week while Korea is shut means thinner regional participation and catch-up moves in Tokyo against moves made elsewhere during the closure.

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