PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: SoftBank (9984 JT) is reportedly discussing a USD 50bln investment plan in Malaysia, while SK Hynix (000660 KS) reportedly plans a KRW 16.0tln special dividend from gains on its Kioxia investment

JFE Holdings (5411 JT) - Co.'s JFE Steel will build a new blast furnace at its Indian joint venture with JSW Steel, aiming to double crude steel production capacity by 2030. (Nikkei)

Kameda Seika (2220 JT) - Co. will exit the Indian market to focus on expanding its North American business, while leaving open the possibility of returning to India in the future. (Nikkei)

Mitsubishi Materials (5711 JT) - Co. plans to increase thermal sensor production capacity sixfold at its Thai facility amid rising demand for optical communications equipment driven by AI. (Nikkei)

Mitsubishi Motors (7211 JT) - Co. is reassessing its strategic focus on Southeast Asia amid intensifying competition from Chinese EV manufacturers, instead seeking to expand market share in the US and Japan. (Nikkei)

SoftBank Group (9984 JT) - Co. is reportedly discussing a USD 50bln investment plan in Malaysia focused on AI and data centres, as it expands its AI infrastructure investments across Asia. (Nikkei)

Subaru (7270 JT) - Co. reportedly plans to withdraw from the gasoline-powered vehicle market in Europe. (Newswires)

Tokyo Gas (9531 JT) - Co. has reportedly scrapped its Fukushima wind power project due to rising costs. (Nikkei)

Tokio Marine Holdings (8766 JT) - Co. will begin offering insurance for AI-powered robots from November, becoming Japan's first nonlife insurer to provide such coverage, with premiums expected to be around 20% higher than those for conventional industrial robots. (Nikkei)

Japan's PM Takaichi plans to ask German Chancellor Merz to extend preferential EU treatment for EVs to Japanese manufacturers during their meeting on October 28. (Nikkei)

Celltrion (068270 KS) - Co. reportedly secured exclusive US supply contracts this month for allergy treatment Omliclo and autoimmune disease treatment Aptozma with a major US healthcare company. (Chosun)

Hyundai Motor (005380 KS) - Co. September China sales fell 47% Y/Y to around 4,000 units, while Kia (000270 KS) sales fell 31% Y/Y to around 5,000 units, bringing combined sales down 39% Y/Y to approximately 9,000 units, with their joint market share declining to 0.6%. (Yonhap)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. reportedly plans a KRW 16.0tln special dividend from gains on its Kioxia investment, equivalent to 70% of the proceeds from its stake sale. (DongA)

Pre-market regional wraps of this kind bundle genuine capital allocation events with routine headlines, and the two flagged items behave differently. The SoftBank item fits a familiar pattern with this group: large, loosely specified infrastructure pledges tied to AI and data centres, which have historically traded as conviction signals on the AI capex theme more than as near-term earnings events, given the group's record of headline ambitions that are later phased, financed, or resized. The tell is whether a framework agreement or committed tranches follow rather than a memorandum of intent. The SK Hynix special dividend is mechanically simpler: monetisation of an investment stake passed through to shareholders, a payout type that in past episodes has supported the shares on announcement and then traded off the ex-date mechanics and the size of the retained portion. The rest of the note carries the usual sector texture: Japanese incumbents repositioning against Chinese EV competition in Southeast Asia, AI-linked component capacity additions, and continued Hyundai and Kia share erosion in China, a trend already well established. The political item on EU EV treatment for Japanese makers is a watch point for the autos complex rather than a tradeable headline on its own.