PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Japanese PM Takaichi reportedly relayed to BoJ Governor Ueda her reservations about further rate hikes

Honda (7267 JT) - Co. suspended operations at its Guadalajara, Mexico plant amid cartel violence, although it has now resumed output. (Newswires/FT)

Nippon Steel (5401 JT) - Co. announced it will raise JPY 600bln via overseas convertible bond issuance. (Nikkei)

Tokyo Electron (8035 JT) - Co. aims to leverage its network of roughly 160 companies in South Korea to respond to increased investment by manufacturers of cutting-edge semiconductors there. (Nikkei)

Yamaha (7951 JT) - Co. has embarked on a full-scale effort to capture the US guitar market and rebuild its capacity to generate profit. (Nikkei)

Rare Earths - Japan plans to offer subsidies beginning in fiscal 2026 for infrastructure to be used in recycling rare-earth materials. (Nikkei)

Geopolitics - Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force plans to deploy surface-to-air missiles in fiscal 2030 on Yonaguni, an island about 110km from Taiwan. (Nikkei)

Japanese PM Takaichi reportedly relayed to BoJ Governor Ueda her reservations about further rate hikes, according to Mainichi citing sources. (Mainichi)

A new revision to Japan's corporate governance code could reportedly free up some of the USD 840bln in cash held by listed companies and drive another wave of Japanese stock market buying, with the FSA to present draft rules to an expert panel on Thursday that would require firms to verify that they are using cash effectively, according to Bloomberg. (Newswires)

LG Electronics (066570 KS) - Co. is stepping up its expansion strategy across priority markets such as India, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, positioning them as core drivers of its medium- to long-term growth. (Newswires)

Other News - South Korea announced a KRW 2.1tln financial package to support the restructuring project of Lotte Chemical Corp. (0111170 KS) and HD Hyundai Chemical at the Daesan industrial complex. (Yonhap)