Your daily market briefing

Japan sees slower inflow of foreign professionals as AI crimps hiring

TDK to ramp up production of electronic components for AI servers

FamilyMart hopes to quickly tap into trends with AI-developed sweets

SWIFT's blockchain ledger enters tests with Citi, MUFG for 24-hour cross-border payments

Toyota sees Europe commercial vehicles as way out of hydrogen cost quagmire

Kioxia-linked cloud startup to make it easier to crunch encrypted data

Toyota readies hydrogen-powered Hilux truck for 2028 Europe launch

Thailand and Cambodia begin UN-backed conciliation over maritime claims

MediaTek says new AI phone chip reduces memory use amid supply crunch

Australian tungsten miner joins US efforts to rebuild supply chain

Gold bars increasingly used in scams in Japan The Japan Times

Japan Eyes Defense Spending at 3.5% of GDP After US Pressure

Analysis-Yen rally faces moment of truth as BOJ risks disappointing markets

SoftBank-Backed SB Energy's IPO Seeks $500 Million in Japan

Gold Bars Increasingly Used in Scams in Japan nippon.com

Standard Chartered’s Chong Hoon Park and Nicholas Chia expect the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to deliver a 25bps rate hike in September but maintain a gradual normalisation path.

Kioxia is planning the share sale at a time when concerns about the pace of artificial intelligence development are escalating.

Dollar rises as Middle East conflict lifts oil, Fed hike looms Dollar gains as Middle East conflict lifts oil, Fed hike looms CNBC

Japan's LNG demand stymies response after Putin's disputed-island visit Nikkei Asia

Japan likely sold Treasuries to fund record yen intervention equiti.com

Dollar rises as Middle East conflict lifts oil, Fed hike looms Reuters

Japan Real Estate Developers Boosting Data Center Projects The Japan News

George W. Bush was president. The Euro currency had just gone into circulation. Tom Brady was coming off the first of his seven Super Bowl titles. And Ronaldo…

Japan's Chubu Electric Halts Plans for Nuclear Restart

[International] : Anchor: A recent drone attack shutting down a key Saudi oil pipeline has compounded global energy shortages triggered by the blocked Strait of Hormuz. This disruption directly threatens South Korea, which relies on Saudi Arabia for one-third of its crude imports, driving up market anxiety amid dwindling ...[more...]

Hyundai Motor’s autonomous driving road map is putting its ability to keep pace with Tesla under scrutiny, as the U.S. automaker rapidly gains stronger ground in Korea’s electric vehicle (EV) market. Last week, Hyundai Motor Group’s self-driving arm — 42dot — said it will introduce cars with Level 2+ autonomous driving technology based on Nvidia’s platform in the first half of 2028, followed by Level 2++ technology later that year. Vehicles equipped with the carmaker’s proprietary Atria artificial intelligence (AI) system will also be mass-produced in the second half of 2029, according to 42dot. Under the road map, the automaker seeks to close the gap with Tesla and other overseas autonomous driving leaders. But the timeline for Hyundai Motor's self-driving commercialization still leaves much to be desired, as Tesla has already turned into a consumer-facing product. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised system is already available in Korea in limited form, although regulatory approval for its broader domestic operation remains a key hurdle. Tesla has also been expand

Software company Hancom plans to launch Nomadian, an artificial intelligence (AI) workforce platform that allows solo entrepreneurs to assemble teams of task-specific AI agents, targeting the U.S. market with a beta release planned for December. Hancom said Tuesday it has formed a dedicated task force to develop the web-based platform, which will be offered on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis, with a full subscription service planned for 2027 following the beta release. Nomadian is designed primarily for the growing number of solo entrepreneurs and small businesses in the United States, allowing users to hire AI agents for roles such as data analysis, content marketing and email marketing, and connect them to the tools they need. Users will be able to issue a task in a single sentence, prompting the platform to break it down into smaller tasks and assign them to appropriate AI agents, while they can also create custom agents for roles that are unavailable. The agents can produce documents, spreadsheets and presentations. The agents' work is displayed in a 3D virtual office, allowing

Global X, the New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced Tuesday the launch of a new fund that seeks to invest in the manufacturers of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and related components. A key building block of many modern electronic devices, MLCCs are used in artificial intelligence (AI) servers, electric vehicles, smartphones and other items. Roughly 85 percent of the global MLCC industry is controlled by five manufacturers based in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The Global X MLCC & Electronic Components ETF provides exposure to all of these companies, which can be difficult for U.S. investors to access directly. Its portfolio includes Murata Manufacturing, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Yageo Corp., TDK Corp. and many others. "The manufacturers of these components sit at a genuine chokepoint in the AI supply chain and could be difficult to access directly through U.S.-listed shares," said Pedro Palandrani, head of product research & development at Global X. Global X has long been known for thematic ETFs, including innovations such as its AI and technology ETF,

Samsung SDS has become the first Korean company to earn Select-tier status in Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network (CPN), strengthening its ability to help businesses adopt and operate Claude-based artificial intelligence (AI) services. The designation comes about two months after the company signed a strategic partnership with the U.S. firm in July at an AI summit in San Francisco to expand enterprise AI business opportunities in Korea. The CPN’s Select tier recognizes partners with certified technical expertise and experience deploying Claude-based solutions in customers’ production environments. Samsung SDS said the new status strengthens its end-to-end AI adoption framework, covering consulting on Claude deployment, access to the model through Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Amazon Bedrock platform, service implementation and operations and ongoing technical support. “By combining Anthropic's frontier AI technology with Samsung SDS's digital transformation expertise across industries, we will accelerate domestic companies’ AI adoption and help create tangible business value,”

Hyosung Heavy Industries has secured 386.5 billion won ($277 million) worth of ultra-high-voltage transformer orders from two major U.S. Big Tech companies this month, strengthening its position as a key power infrastructure supplier amid the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The company said Tuesday that the transformers will be installed at newly built AI data centers in the northern and southern United States. The orders include 220 billion won worth of 765-kilovolt transformers and 166.5 billion won worth of 345-kilovolt transformers. The equipment will supply electricity to power-intensive data center facilities. The latest deals reflect Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon’s yearslong efforts to establish a local production and solutions network in the U.S. Cho has described the surge in demand for power infrastructure as a “once-in-60-years supercycle” driven by AI. He has set a goal of making Hyosung Heavy Industries one of the world’s top three power equipment companies within five years by offering a broad portfolio ranging from transformers and ci

Choi Jae-boong, professor of interdisciplinary AI service design at Sungkyunkwan University, said education in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) should focus on cultivating humanity, while universities should move away from simply trying to restrict students’ use of AI and instead rethink how their curricula are designed. Choi shared such visions during his keynote speech at the 2026 Korea Times Global Conference at Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building in Seoul, Tuesday. Under the theme of “Beyond AI: building human-centered leadership for the next era,” he stressed that AI innovation is an inevitable future and that both leadership and education must undergo a fundamental shift to prepare for it. “Many Big Tech companies carried out layoffs over the past several years, but when I looked at their headcounts again earlier this year, they had increased because the companies were hiring more AI talent,” Choi said. “However, the focus of Korean universities last year and even this year was how to prevent students from using AI to do their assignments. Almost no

Saudi pipeline strike raises alarm over Korea’s crude oil supply Korea JoongAng Daily

[Economy] : The government and local refiners say they expect the closure of Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline to have a limited short-term impact on domestic crude oil supplies, with more than 90 percent of September-October needs already secured. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on Monday held an ...[more...]

Inflation has thinned consumers’ wallets, yet budget and midrange smartphones are losing ground just when buyers need affordable options most. Soaring component costs, particularly for memory chips, are making it harder for manufacturers to sustain a low-margin, high-volume business model. As manufacturers focus on expanding their premium foldable phone lineups, consumers are increasingly turning to repairs and secondhand devices. iPhone 17e surpasses 1 million won Rising prices for budget and midrange smartphones are putting further pressure on consumers. According to smartphone industry observers Monday, Apple raised the price of its entry-level iPhone 17e, released in March, by 16.1 percent on Thursday, from 990,000 won ($726) to 1.15 million won. The company repriced the existing model as it launched its new iPhone 18 series at substantially higher prices amid so-called “chipflation” driven by global chip shortages. Samsung Electronics has also raised prices for its entry-level Galaxy A series. The Galaxy A37, released in Korea in June, costs 598,400 won, up 19.8 percent from la

E-commerce giant Coupang Corp. said Tuesday it has launched an information-dedicated committee to overhaul its security system and bolster public confidence in the company. The move comes months after the company was slapped with a record fine of 624.7 billion won ($460 million) by the Korean government in June over a massive customer data leak late last year. "We will continue to improve our security system by incorporating the expertise and know-how of specialists, while striving to exceed global standards," a Coupang official said. The Information Security Advisory Committee consists of seven experts in information security, law, management and information technology (IT), the company said. They include Coupang Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Brett Matthes, Eumene Kang, a senior adviser at law firm Kim & Chang, and Kim Hyun-kyung, a professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. At their first meeting Tuesday, the committee members discussed changes in relevant laws and regulations, growing security threats in the market and possible countermeasures. U.S.-li

Kim Ji-ho stared at his stock trading app in confusion on Monday evening. He knew that the after-hours market was opening and noticed that a stock he was interested in had risen 10 percent. But by the time he returned from the bathroom, all the gains had disappeared. "It was a little scary, so I don't think I'll be trading in the after-hours market for a while," said Kim, a 25-year-old college student. For investors who eagerly jumped in, the experience was not entirely satisfying either. Some brokerages experienced technical glitches, while some investors said the new system was confusing because they could not easily distinguish regular-session closing prices from prices in the after-hours session. Others said the separate Korea Exchange (KRX) and Nextrade after-hours markets made trading more cumbersome and confusing, as investors had to choose between two different order screens. The KRX extended stock trading hours Monday, allowing almost all listed stocks to be traded between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Until now, Nextrade, an alternative trading system, had been the only option for after-hou

South Korea's AI Jobs Grow by 250,000, but 80% Concentrated in Seoul Metro Area; Employment Falls for Those in Their 20s finance.biggo.com

S. Korean won weakens against U.S. dollar amid surging bond yields Yonhap News Agency

Korea targets 45 gold medals at Asian Games, with prime opportunities in fencing, swimming and pentathlon Korea JoongAng Daily

South Korea Baseball Team Begins Training for Fifth Asian Games Gold 조선일보

South Korea Is on Track to Hit One Trillion Dollars in Exports on AI Chips Startup Fortune

Finance minister nominee vows to tackle inflation, bolster economic recovery The Korea Herald

[Economy] : The average retail price of gasoline and diesel at gas stations nationwide fell on Tuesday. According to the Korea National Oil Corporation’s price information system, Opinet, as of 9 a.m., the national average price of a liter of gasoline was one-thousand-858-point-six won, or approximately one U.S. ...[more...]

Bank of Korea Warns Prolonged Middle East War Could Push Oil Prices Higher, Weigh on South Korea Growth NewsCord

[Economy] : The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dipped 57-point-11 points, or zero-point-85 percent, on Tuesday to close at six-thousand-627-point-26. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ gained five-point-62 points, or zero-point-seven percent, to close at 812-point-41. The South Korean won weakened against the U.S. ...[more...]

South Korea Develop New Security Guidelines Autonomous AI Agents

Diablo Gold Medals Sell Out in Minutes as KOMSCO Mints 500 [2026] shattered.io

[Economy] : The government has proposed a one-point social dialogue involving labor and business groups to discuss introducing special exemptions from labor regulations for businesses operating in semiconductor megaclusters. Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said in a press briefing on Tuesday that the labor measures ...[more...]

[Economy] : The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 25-point-12 points, or zero-point-38 percent, on Tuesday to open at six-thousand-659-point-25. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ fell zero-point-three points, or zero-point-04 percent, to open at 806-point-49.[more...]

South Korea Finance Chief Nominee Says Economy at Turning Point