PRE-MARKET JAPNESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: BoJ Rate Decision in focus

ANA Holdings (9202 JT) - Co. plans to acquire a company owning regional Japanese airlines to strengthen its domestic flight operations amid weakening demand and rising fuel costs. (Nikkei)

Central Japan Railway (9022 JT) - Co. plans to increase the number of Nozomi high-speed trains operating between Tokyo and Osaka during peak periods amid rising tourism and business travel demand. (Nikkei)

Fujifilm Holdings (4901 JT) - Co.'s Sonosite unit was awarded a US Defense Logistics Agency contract worth up to USD 957.7mln for ultrasound systems, components and accessories. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

IHI Corporation (7013 JT) - Co. is targeting a 70% increase in nuclear power sales over five years, seeking to capitalise on overseas demand for new power plants despite competition from South Korea's Doosan Enerbility. (Nikkei)

KDDI (9433 JT) - Co. plans to build another data centre in London after spending nearly USD 300mln to acquire land for the project, seeking to capitalise on AI-driven demand. (Nikkei)

Komatsu (6301 JT) - Co. raised its FY27 net profit guidance to JPY 382bln, representing a 1% Y/Y increase, from a previous forecast for a 7% decline, supported by stronger construction and mining equipment demand in the Americas. (Nikkei)

Takeda Pharmaceutical (4502 JT) - Co. is targeting up to USD 11bln in combined peak sales from three major drugs expected to launch through 2027. (Nikkei)

Automakers - Toyota Motor (7203 JT), Honda Motor (7267 JT) and Nissan Motor (7201 JT) are reducing production in China amid declining demand for gasoline-powered vehicles and intensifying competition from domestic EV manufacturers, with Honda indefinitely postponing the launch of its GT electric vehicle. (Nikkei)

Japan plans to deploy underwater drones to monitor foreign submarines, seeking to strengthen surveillance capabilities, counter China's expanding submarine fleet and reduce the operational burden on defence personnel. (Nikkei)

Amorepacific (090430 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net fell 14.3% Y/Y to 58.5bln, operating profit rose 25.4% Y/Y to 115.2bln, rev. rose 11.1% Y/Y to 1.12tln. (Yonhap)

Celltrion (068270 KS) - Co. faces a KRW 630mln fine from South Korea's antitrust watchdog over unfair subcontracting practices, including cancelling orders and failing to provide required documents on time. (Yonhap)

Doosan Bobcat (241560 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net rose 15% Y/Y to 94.2bln, operating profit rose 25.3% Y/Y to 167.4bln, rev. rose 16.5% Y/Y to 2.46tln. (Yonhap)

Doosan Enerbility (034020 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net 14.9bln (prev. loss 24bln Y/Y), operating profit rose 90.6% Y/Y to 261.2bln, rev. rose 14.7% Y/Y to 4.44tln. (Yonhap)

Doosan Robotics (454910 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net loss 18.3bln, operating loss 13.4bln (prev. loss 15.3bln Y/Y), rev. rose 59.1% Y/Y to 16.2bln. (Yonhap)

Hanwha Aerospace (012450 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net loss 36.7bln (prev. profit 699bln Y/Y), operating profit fell 46.2% Y/Y to 452bln, rev. fell 6% Y/Y to 6.09tln, weighed down by delayed weapons deliveries and one-off costs. (Yonhap)

Korea Electric Power Corporation (015760 KS) - Co.'s wholly owned subsidiary Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power terminated negotiations with a consortium comprising Daewoo Engineering & Construction (047040 KS) and Doosan Enerbility (034020 KS) over the Czech Republic's Dukovany nuclear power plant project following disagreements over key contract terms. (Yonhap)

Korea Petro Chemical (006650 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net fell 33.5% Y/Y to 28.1bln, operating profit 44.8bln (prev. 42.8bln Y/Y), rev. rose 0.1% Y/Y to 910.7bln. (Yonhap)

Kumho Tire (073240 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net fell 85.7% Y/Y to 13.1bln, operating profit rose 20.3% Y/Y to 130.5bln, rev. rose 11.1% Y/Y to 1.23tln. (Yonhap)

Lotte Shopping (023530 KS) - Co. agreed to sell a department store in Busan to Shinsegae Group as part of its business restructuring. (Yonhap)

Pre-market wraps of this kind hinge on the BoJ decision rather than the stock-specific items beneath it, and the historical pattern is that single-name flows take their cue from the yen once the statement lands. The established sequence around BoJ meetings is an initial move in USD/JPY and the short end of the JGB curve on the headline and vote split, followed by a second, often larger leg during the governor's press conference, when guidance on the timing of further normalisation has tended to matter more than the decision itself. The distinction worth drawing is between a hold framed as patience and a hold framed as the end of the cycle: the former steepens rate expectations modestly, the latter flattens them. Exporter-heavy indices have historically traded as an inverse function of the yen into and out of these decisions, so Toyota, Honda and the broader automaker complex, already carrying the China production headlines, are the natural transmission channel. On the corporate tape, the KHNP termination of Dukovany negotiations with the Daewoo and Doosan consortium is the item with precedent weight: Korean nuclear export bids have been politically and contractually fragile before, and prior episodes have seen terms reopened rather than deals abandoned outright, so follow-on statements from Prague and Seoul are the tell. Defence-adjacent names such as Hanwha Aerospace, coming off a weak quarter on delayed deliveries, sit within the same regional rearmament theme that has re-rated the sector in past cycles.