PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (8309 JT) H1 FY27 (JPY) net rose 46.0% Y/Y to 250.1bln, ordinary income rose 16.6% Y/Y to 1.602tln

Mitsubishi HC Capital (8593 JT) - Co. H1 FY27 (JPY) net fell 71.8% Y/Y to 25bln, rev. fell 1.6% Y/Y to 1.109tln, EPS 17.37 (prev. 61.73 Y/Y); FY27 net profit guidance cut to 130bln (prev. 160bln) and EPS guidance lowered to 90.62 (prev. 111.57). (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Nomura Holdings (8604 JT) - Co. and CC Capital-backed Aventus launched Misura Asset Management, a joint venture focused on securitised products and private credit. (Newswires)

Seibu Holdings (9024 JT) - Co. revised FY27 (JPY) net profit guidance to 26bln (prev. 27bln), operating profit to 56bln (prev. 53bln), revenue to 619bln (prev. 559bln) and EPS to 102.24 (prev. 106.22). (Newswires)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (8309 JT) - Co. H1 FY27 (JPY) net rose 46.0% Y/Y to 250.1bln, ordinary income rose 16.6% Y/Y to 1.602tln, EPS 90.40 (prev. 60.61 Y/Y). (Newswires)

Toyota Motor (7203 JT) - Co. is recalling approximately 314k Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the US over Takata front passenger airbag inflators that could rupture. (Newswires)

Japan PM Takaichi is reportedly reluctant to implement a large tax increase to fund defence spending.

KEPCO (015760 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net fell 78% Y/Y to 835.89bln, operating profit fell 70.9% Y/Y to 1.64tln, rev. fell 2.6% Y/Y to 26.85tln, impacted by higher fuel costs and weaker electricity sales. (Yonhap)

Kia (000270 KS) - Co. and its suppliers plan to invest approximately USD 2bln in a second manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh, India, with production expected to commence in early 2030 and the project anticipated to create around 12k direct and indirect jobs. (Newswires)

LG Corp. (003550 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net fell 31.3% Y/Y to 256.5bln, operating profit fell 21.8% Y/Y to 327.7bln, rev. rose 2.2% Y/Y to 2.04tln. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong announced plans to develop its Onyang semiconductor operations into a major advanced chip packaging hub, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM), with construction of a new production facility underway as part of a government-backed AI innovation initiative. (Yonhap)

A pre-market Asian wrap of this kind tends to trade selectively rather than as a block, and the established pattern with Japanese financials is that the tape responds more to guidance and trajectory than to a headline Y/Y jump, since trust bank earnings have been flattered through the rate-normalisation phase by base effects and one-off items. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust's strong half fits that template, while Mitsubishi HC Capital's guidance cut is the more telling item: downward revisions to full-year net and EPS at a leasing and credit name have historically drawn scrutiny on asset quality assumptions rather than being treated as idiosyncratic. In Korea, the earnings split is familiar: KEPCO's results remain hostage to fuel costs and regulated tariffs, a cycle that has repeated whenever input costs outrun tariff adjustments, while the Samsung advanced-packaging announcement extends a government-backed buildout pattern in which capex pledges of this kind are sequenced over years and priced as strategic positioning rather than near-term earnings. The Toyota Takata recall is a legacy exposure that has surfaced in tranches for years; prior rounds have tended to be absorbed through existing provisions rather than fresh balance-sheet hits, though the size of the affected fleet is the variable worth tracking. The follow-ons are the guidance detail and management commentary from the reporting names, and whether the Takaichi defence-funding remarks gain traction, since Japanese fiscal headlines of this kind have historically mattered more for JGB supply expectations than for equities.