PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE & SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Quarterly activity updates and earnings including BHP, Bank of Queensland & South 32; Source reports continue to suggest the BoJ will refrain from hiking rates next week

AUSTRALIA

Ampol (ALD AT) - Co. said Q1 Lytton refiner margin was USD 25.45/bbl, Lytton refinery production was 1.43bln litres, fuel supplies are secured until at least end-May, crude supplies are secured into July, suitable crudes for Lytton remain available in the market, and Co. entered Q2 with broad-based momentum and a hedge book positioned to mitigate volatility. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Bank of Queensland (BOQ AT) - Co. H1 (AUD) net fell 20% Y/Y to 136mln, rev. rose 4% Y/Y to 835mln, dividend 0.20. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

BHP Group (BHP AT) - Co. said Q3 iron ore output rose 2% Y/Y to 62.8mln tons, copper output fell 7% Y/Y to 476.8k tons, steelmaking coal output fell 3% Y/Y to 3.8mln tons and energy coal output rose 12% Y/Y to 4.0mln tons, and is assisting the Albanese government with fuel supply expertise amid uncertainty over a prolonged standoff in the Middle East. (Dow Jones Newsplus; The Australian)

Cochlear (COH AT) - Co. cut FY26 underlying net profit guidance and now expects underlying net profit of AUD 290mln-330mln versus previous guidance for the lower end of AUD 435mln-460mln. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Dexus (DXS AT) - A Supreme Court judge said Co. may have acted unethically and immorally when it distributed confidential information on Melbourne Airport during a trial over whether it can continue managing stakes in Australia’s second-biggest airport. (AFR)

Iluka Resources (ILU AT) - Co. said Q1 zircon, rutile and synthetic rutile output fell 64% Y/Y to 47.6k tons, sales fell 40% Y/Y to 70.2k tons, mineral sands rev. fell 43% Y/Y to 147mln, while the production drop reflected the idling of the Cataby mine. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Northern Star Resources (NST AT) - Co. said Q3 gold production was 387.5k oz, all-in sustaining cost was AUD 2,709/oz, group underlying free cash flow was AUD 301mln, net mine cash was AUD 426mln and KCGM is trending toward annual target rates. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Paladin Energy (PDN AT) - Co. said March quarter uranium production rose 5% Q/Q to 1.29Mlb, FY2026 year-to-date uranium production was 3.59Mlb, sales volumes were 1.03Mlb U₃O₈ at an average realised price of USD 68.3/lb and full-year production guidance was increased. (Motley Fool)

Perpetual (PPT AT) - Co. said Q3 assets under management fell 3.6% Q/Q to AUD 219.2bln, net outflows were AUD 2.8bln, average AUM was AUD 225.3bln versus AUD 230.8bln in Q2, corporate trust funds under administration were AUD 1.32tln, wealth management funds under administration were AUD 21.1bln, wealth management net flows were flat, and wealth management average FUA was AUD 21.8bln versus AUD 21.9bln in Q2. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Rio Tinto (RIO AT) - Co. is nearing a USD 2bln sale of its borates business as geopolitical tensions freeze plans for a much larger titanium asset divestment. (The Australian)

South32 (S32 AT) - Co. said Q3 Sierra Gorda copper equivalent output was 20.2k tons, Worsley alumina output was 886k tons, Brazil alumina output was 351k tons and Brazil aluminum output was 33k tons. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Broker Ratings/Price Target

Aristocrat Leisure (ALL AT) price target cut 4.6% to AUD 62.00/share by Jefferies

Hub24 (HUB AT) price target raised 0.5% to AUD 94.00/share by Jefferies

JAPAN

Advantest (6857 JT) - Co. has formed a strategic partnership with Applied Materials (AMAT) to support chip development by clients. (Nikkei)

Hitachi (6501 JT) - Co. is selling its white goods business to Nojima as part of its long-running transformation effort. (Nikkei)

Honda Motor (7267 JT) - Co. and Sony Group (6758 JT) will scale down operations of their Sony Honda Mobility joint venture, citing difficulty in finding ways to bring products and services to market in the short to medium term. (Newswires)

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306 JT) - MUFG Bank is considering comparatively higher deposit rates for a digital bank Co. expects to launch this fiscal year, according to President and CEO Masakazu Osawa. (Nikkei)

Sapporo Holdings (2501 JT) - Co. will sell California-based Stone Brewing, exiting US craft beer production four years after acquiring the company. (Nikkei)

Defence/Industrials - Co. IHI (7013 JT) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011 JT) are set to boost production as Japan eases arms export rules. (Nikkei)

Tech - Japan is considering requiring social media companies to enable age-based content filtering by default and creating a system to assess platform risks to combat addiction among minors. (Nikkei)

Other News

BoJ is to hold rates steady in April and is to make a decision in June after assessing the situation in the Middle East, according to Nikkei sources. (Nikkei)

BoJ is reportedly set to stay on hold in April but keep a hawkish stance, while some officials still favour increasing rates in April, as they expect the Middle East shock to push prices higher. Furthermore, officials remain committed to further hikes when conditions allow, while it was suggested that a June move becomes more likely if the economy holds up, according to Bloomberg citing sources. (Newswires)

SOUTH KOREA

Dongwha Pharm (000020 KS) - Co. is reshaping family control after profit plunged 98% under Yun In-ho. (ChosunBiz)

Autos - Hyundai Motor Co. (005380 KS), Kia Corp. (000270 KS) and two other carmakers will voluntarily recall more than 500k vehicles in South Korea to address defective components, according to the transport ministry. (Yonhap)