PRE-MARKET TAIWAN AND SINGAPORE STOCKS NEWS: TSMC (2330 TT) and Sony (6758 JT) plan to invest in an advanced image-sensor plant in Kumamoto, targeting mass production from 2029 through a new joint venture

Compal Electronics (2324 TT) - Co. is expanding capacity in Taiwan, Vietnam and the US as it increases its focus on AI servers amid strong demand for computing infrastructure. (Nikkei)

Siliconware Precision Industries - Co. has begun construction of a TWD 100bln chip-packaging plant in Yunlin County to expand capacity amid AI-driven supply constraints. (Newswires)

TSMC (2330 TT) - Co. and Sony (6758 JT) plan to invest in an advanced image-sensor plant in Kumamoto, targeting mass production from 2029 through a new joint venture; Co. also approved a USD 29.44bln capital budget for expansion amid continued AI demand. (Nikkei/Focus Taiwan)

Tech - Nasdaq 100 was lacklustre during US trade and finished with mild losses, although futures attempt a modest rebound overnight.

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT SP) - Co. H1 (SGD) distributable income rose 13.3% Y/Y to 466.7mln, DPU rose 7.1% Y/Y to 0.0602. (Business Times)

Frasers Property (FPL SP) - Co. will seek shareholder approval on Aug. 28 for a proposed optimisation of Frasers Hospitality Trust's portfolio as part of efforts to unlock capital from stabilised assets and sharpen its hospitality strategy. (Business Times)

Keppel (KEP SP) - Co.'s wholly owned connectivity subsidiary Keppel Kruger Holdings was granted a facilities-based operator licence by Singapore's IMDA, allowing it to own and operate telecommunications infrastructure and provide services linked to the Kruger Cable System. (Business Times)

Singapore Exchange (SGX SP) - Co. July securities market turnover rose 37% Y/Y to SGD 46.2bln, derivatives traded volume rose 16% Y/Y to 33.9mln contracts, while derivatives daily average volume rose 16% Y/Y to 1.5mln contracts. (Newswires)

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (YZJ SP) - Co. H1 (CNY) net rose 28.4% Y/Y to 5.4bln. (Business Times)

This is a pre-market regional roundup with one item carrying the headline weight: a TSMC-Sony joint venture for an image-sensor fab in Kumamoto, which extends a partnership template the two have used before rather than breaking new ground. Joint ventures of this kind have tended to be read as capacity validation for the leading foundry and as a geography play, siting supply near the Japanese customer base while drawing on host-government support, a combination that has characterised cross-border semiconductor expansion in this cycle. The approved capital budget alongside it fits the established pattern of AI-linked capex commitment across the Taiwanese supply chain, echoed in the packaging and server-assembly expansion noted elsewhere in the roundup; the transmission runs through the equipment and materials peer set rather than the foundry's own margin line in the near term. The long-dated production target means the near-term read is sentiment on capex intensity rather than supply. The Singapore items are a mixed corporate and exchange-data slate, with the turnover and derivatives volumes of note as a gauge of regional activity rather than a directional signal. Worth watching are formal terms of the venture, any subsidy detail, and how the capex cadence feeds the next round of guidance from the equipment complex.