PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Tech stocks in focus after the sell off in the sector stateside, while SK Hynix cancels plan to list Solidigm unit on the Nasdaq

Dai-ichi Life Holdings (8750 JT) - Co.'s insurance subsidiary has begun investing in gold to hedge inflation and market risks, targeting a 1% allocation of assets under management. (Nikkei)

Dentsu (4324 JT) - Co. will continue to handle Coca-Cola's media operations in Japan and South Korea following the completion of Coca-Cola's global marketing operating system review, with WPP Open X retained globally and Omnicom selected for North America. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Hitachi Construction Machinery (6305 JT) - Co. is reportedly set to sell its Taiwan-based sales subsidiary to Itochu by the end of 2026 amid robust construction demand from semiconductor-related facilities. (Nikkei)

Honda Motor (7267 JT) - Co. has agreed to begin selling Mitsubishi Motors-made pickup trucks in 2028, primarily targeting Southeast Asian markets. (Nikkei)

Itochu (8001 JT) - Co. is reportedly set to acquire Hitachi Construction Machinery's Taiwan-based sales subsidiary by the end of 2026 to capitalise on robust construction demand for semiconductor-related facilities. (Nikkei)

Mitsubishi Motors (7211 JT) - Co. has agreed to supply Honda Motor with its Triton pickup trucks from 2028, primarily targeting Southeast Asian markets. (Nikkei)

Nippon Steel (5401 JT) - Co. reportedly plans to invest around USD 3bln to upgrade US Steel's Mon Valley works in Pennsylvania, as part of its USD 11bln US investment commitment through 2028. (Nikkei)

Subaru (7270 JT) - Co. plans to reintroduce a manual-transmission version of its WRX sports sedan in Japan following a successful limited run earlier this year. (Nikkei)

Japan's government plans to establish a specialised entity to promote Japanese content, including anime and video games, in international markets, with a task force holding its first discussions on Thursday. (Nikkei)

Hyundai Motor (005380 KS) - Co. plans to increase investment in its Illinois manufacturing operations to USD 600mln and expand its job commitment to 3,750 full-time positions, with a third production shift adding USD 150mln in investment and 1,250 jobs. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Samsung E&A (028050 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net rose 37.7% Y/Y to 216.7bln, driven by growth in large-scale projects and improved profitability. (Yonhap)

Samsung Heavy Industries (010140 KS) - US Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel highlighted the potential for greater shipbuilding cooperation between Washington and Seoul following a visit to the Co.'s Geoje shipyard. (Yonhap)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. has cancelled plans to list its subsidiary Solidigm on the Nasdaq. (Newswires)

South Korea sent a letter to the UN Security Council president over a land mine explosion near the inter-Korean border last month that injured three South Korean soldiers, calling on North Korea to apologise and take responsibility. (Yonhap)

South Korea's Labour Ministry plans to fine Coupang (CPNG) and its subsidiaries a combined KRW 1.96bln for more than 100 labour and workplace safety violations. (Yonhap)

Pre-market wraps of this kind set the regional tone off the prior US session, and the lead here is the follow-through of a stateside tech selloff into Asian semis, a transmission that has historically run through the memory and foundry names first given their weight in the Kospi and Nikkei. The SK Hynix decision to shelve the Solidigm Nasdaq listing fits a familiar pattern: spin-off and listing plans announced near a cycle peak tend to be pulled when conditions turn, and cancellations of this kind are usually read as a signal about the parent retaining cash flows rather than conceding valuation. Elsewhere the tape is a mix of item-specific stories: the Nippon Steel commitment to US Steel spending is the standing condition attached to that acquisition's approval, the Honda and Mitsubishi Motors pickup arrangement is standard Japanese badge-engineering for Southeast Asia, and the Dai-ichi Life gold allocation is the kind of incremental real-asset hedge that life insurers have periodically added during inflation-sensitive stretches. The geopolitical note on the inter-Korean border is the type that has historically faded from market pricing unless it escalates. The calendar tell is whether the US tech pressure extends into the next session, since Asian semis typically trade as a proxy for it.