PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Japanese PM Takaichi warned that the government is ready to take action against speculative moves amid a weakening currency and surge in bond yields

Eisai (4523 JT) - US FDA accepted LEQEMBI's supplemental biologics licence application as a subcutaneous starting dose for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease under priority review. (Newswires)

TEPCO (9501 JT) - Co. is seeking to sell about JPY 200bln in assets within three years and is seeking proposals from potential alliance partners, while it is targeting JPY 3.14tln in cost reductions, according to a restructuring plan. (Newswires/Nikkei)

Crypto - Japan is to greenlight crypto ETFs as soon as 2028 with Nomura and SBI seen in the running for the first round of listings. (Nikkei)

Japanese PM Takaichi warned that the government is ready to take action against speculative moves amid a weakening currency and surge in bond yields, according to Bloomberg. (Newswires)

Public support for Japanese PM Takaichi's government fell below 70% for the first time since she took office last October, according to a weekend poll by Nikkei and TV Tokyo, which showed the cabinet's approval rating slipped to 67% from 75% in the December poll. (Nikkei)

BoJ Governor Ueda said on Friday at the post-meeting press conference that they will keep raising rates if the economic outlook is realised, and that April price behaviour is a factor to mull a rate hike. (Newswires)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. is to offload KRW 175bln of its own shares for executives’ payment, while it was separately reported that its chairman warned against complacency following a strong rebound in earnings. Furthermore, Samsung is set to ship HBM4 to NVIDIA (NVDA) ahead of rivals in February. (Newswires/Yonhap/Korea Economic Daily)

More than half of economic experts expect South Korea's economic growth to remain in the 1% range for the time being, according to a local survey. (Yonhap)