South Korea's KOSPI rose as much as 2.00% intraday.

Ukraine President Zelenskiy said intelligence again indicates Russia is preparing a new large-scale strike and urged people to stay safe and heed air-raid alerts.

Masahiro Ichikawa, strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, said 10-year JGB yield could reach 3% by year-end if Japan’s economy remains on a solid growth path. He said a large-scale government investment plan that stimulates private-sector capex would leave further upside for Japanese equities. He added Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has signaled intent to preserve market confidence, lowering the risk of fiscal indiscipline. 10-year JGB yield was up 6bps at 2.830%.