PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Toshiba (6502 JT) is in talks with Rohm (6963 JT) to integrate their power semiconductor businesses

JAPAN

Honda Motor (7267 JT) - Co. cancelled three planned electric vehicle launches in North America and revised its FY25/26 outlook to a loss of JPY 420bln-690bln versus prior expectations for a JPY 300bln profit, citing JPY 2.5tln in expected expenses and losses tied to asset write-offs on the scrapped EV projects. (Nikkei)

Kaga Electronics (8154 JT) - Co. is building a circuit board assembly plant in Singapore and aims to begin operations as early as spring to meet rising demand from Chinese companies shifting production overseas amid US-China tensions. (Nikkei)

SoftBank Group (9984 JT) - Shares of SoftBank-backed digital payments firm PayPay (PAYP JP) surged in their Nasdaq debut, valuing the company at about USD 12.7bln. (Newswires)

Toshiba (6502 JT) - Co. is in talks with Rohm (6963 JT) to integrate their power semiconductor businesses, according to people familiar with the matter. (Nikkei)

Property - Norinchukin Bank is reportedly looking to expand into Japan’s real estate market alongside CBRE after suffering heavy losses on its bond portfolio. (Nikkei)

SOUTH KOREA

Hyundai Motor Group (005380 KS) - Co. signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese company to cooperate in the battery recycling business in Indonesia. (Yonhap)

Korean Air Lines (003490 KS) - Co. will bring Korean Air Lines CND Service, which handles in-flight meal supply and duty-free sales, back as a subsidiary after about five years. (ChosunBiz)

Nongshim (004370 KS) - Co. will cut ramyeon prices in line with government cost stabilisation efforts, with peer Samyang Foods (003230 KS) also set to lower prices. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. is accelerating next-generation NAND development with NVIDIA (NVDA), while its unit Samsung Display is reportedly set to increase panel supplies to Apple (AAPL) to as much as 20mln units versus prior forecasts of 13mln-15mln units. (Newswires)

Other News

South Korea could reportedly see KRW 20tln in additional budget spending on the back of the semiconductor boom. (Chosun)

South Korea’s government said it will implement a temporary fuel price cap system this week to ease cost burdens amid supply concerns linked to the Middle East crisis. (Yonhap)