PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE & SOUTH KOREAN STOCK NEWS: SK Hynix (000660 KS) debuted on the Nasdaq on Friday with its ADRs climbing nearly 13%

AUSTRALIA

Ampol (ALD AT) - Co. closed a AUD 400mln delayed-draw subordinated notes facility, supported by KKR's private credit and insurance platforms and Clifford Capital Asset Management. (Dow Jones Newswires)

BHP Group (BHP AT) - Co. sought Fair Work Commission intervention ahead of a potential Port Hedland iron ore strike that could put AUD 129mln of daily output at risk, while separately considering the sale of a Chilean desalination plant and electricity transmission assets. (The Australian; Newswires)

Coles Group (COL AT) - Co. is reportedly nearing a more than AUD 4bln acquisition of Petbarn and veterinary-services operator Greencross, with a deal expected within days. (The Australian)

Fonterra (FSF AT) - Co. lowered its FY27 forecast farmgate milk price to NZD 9.25/kg of milk solids from NZD 9.75/kg, citing softer-than-expected demand amid strong global supply. (Dow Jones Newswires)

oOh!media (OML AT) - Co. said Pacific Equity Partners, I Squared Capital and Oaktree Capital reaffirmed bids of at least AUD 1.60/shr, with the highest at AUD 1.65/shr, and expects the sale process to conclude within four weeks. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Regis Resources (RRL AT) - Co. will not submit a counterproposal for Vault Minerals, expects the scheme implementation deed to be terminated and anticipates receiving a break fee of about AUD 50.7mln. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Yancoal Australia (YAL AT) - Co. and Glencore fear the NSW Net Zero Commission could block an extension of their Hunter Valley coal mine, putting 1,500 jobs at risk. (The Australian)

Other News

RBA is reportedly concerned about rising defaults across the expanding private credit sector and believes any financial shock could be amplified by fund managers' concentrated exposure to property loans. (AFR)

Broker Ratings/Price Target

AGL Energy (AGL AT) - Downgraded to Underperform from Neutral by Macquarie, price target cut 12% to AUD 7.75/shr.
Coles Group (COL AT) - Price target raised 4% to AUD 25.10/shr by Macquarie.
Domino's Pizza Enterprises (DMP AT) - Price target cut 3% to AUD 16.90/shr by Macquarie.
Guzman y Gomez (GYG AT) - Price target raised 1.2% to AUD 25.50/shr by Macquarie.
Insurance Australia Group (IAG AT) - Price target raised 5.9% to AUD 9.00/shr by Citi.
Nickel Industries (NIC AT) - Price target raised 4% to AUD 1.26/shr by Macquarie.
Origin Energy (ORG AT) - Price target cut 9.7% to AUD 10.16/shr by Macquarie.
QBE Insurance (QBE AT) - Downgraded to Neutral from Buy by Citi, price target raised 14% to AUD 27.20/shr.

JAPAN

ABC-Mart (2670 JP) - Co. aims to increase overseas sales to half of total revenue from less than one-third by expanding across Southeast Asia. (Nikkei)

ANA Holdings (9202 JP) - Co. is incorporating employees' use of AI into performance evaluations as part of efforts to accelerate workplace adoption. (Nikkei)

Eisai (4523 JP) - Co. presented clinical data showing its LEQEMBI subcutaneous autoinjector demonstrated similar efficacy and safety to the IV formulation in early Alzheimer's disease at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2026. (Newswires)

Honda Motor (7267 JP) - Co. is offering employee incentives to spearhead the adoption and use of AI. (Nikkei)

Marubeni (8002 JP) - Co. aims to expand its machine-tool business in India and other emerging markets after acquiring a Swiss distributor to strengthen factory automation sales. (Nikkei)

Mitsubishi Estate (8802 JP) - Co. plans to invest about JPY 1.5tln to construct large-scale data centres in Japan amid rising AI-driven demand. (Nikkei)

Mizuno (8022 JP) - Co. has entered the esports market with an athlete-led approach and launched its first competitive gaming equipment. (Nikkei)

Seven & i Holdings (3382 JP) - Co. is in talks to accept an investment of up to JPY 300bln from SoftBank Corp. (9434 JP) and PayPay to strengthen its convenience-store operations and loyalty-points ecosystem. (Nikkei)

Subaru (7270 JP) - Co. plans to revive its six-speed manual transmission as it seeks to reinforce its performance-car image while expanding electrified vehicles. (Nikkei)

Takeda Pharmaceutical (4502 JP) - Co. announced a landmark collaboration with the Indonesian government to strengthen healthcare resilience and expand access to lifesaving plasma-derived medicinal products. (Newswires)

Toyota Motor (7203 JP) - Co. and its major suppliers sold shares in dozens of companies during the last fiscal year as they continued unwinding cross-shareholdings. (Nikkei)

Other News

Japan's government reportedly plans to encourage the GPIF to increase investment in alternative assets within its existing 5% allocation ceiling. (Nikkei)

A growing number of Japanese small and medium-sized companies are exiting China amid prolonged Sino-US tensions, slowing economic growth and concerns over China's espionage law. (Nikkei)

SOUTH KOREA

Lotte Shopping (023530 KS) - Lotte Mart opened its 16th store in Vietnam, marking its first new outlet in the country in about three years as it accelerates Southeast Asian expansion. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. is reportedly preparing to begin operations at the first semiconductor fabrication plant in its Yongin chip cluster in 2029, one to two years earlier than planned. (Yonhap)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. debuted on Nasdaq through an ADR listing and is expected to inject a significant amount of US dollars into South Korea’s FX market after raising about KRW 40tln. Co. senior official said they are positively reviewing the purchase of South Korean government bonds. (Yonhap)