Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia Edition

Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.
Asian equities fell and oil rose to its highest level since August as escalating tensions in Iran weighed on sentiment. We get perspective from Paul Dobson, Bloomberg's Executive Editor for Asia Markets.
Plus - The US military is stationing a vast array of forces in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, fighter jets and refueling tankers, with President Donald Trump saying that Iran had 10 to 15 days at most to strike a deal over its nuclear program. We heard from Barbara Slavin, Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center. She spoke to Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Avril Hong.
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Sanae Takaichi was reappointed as Japan's Prime Minister following her resounding electoral win, a formality that allows her to turn her attention to expediting passage of the annual budget and implementing a trade deal agreed with US President Donald Trump.
Shifting drinking patterns and rising health concerns are leading to a long term decline in alcohol consumption worldwide. Many liquor companies are being forced to diversify. Kirin is no exception. It is a Japanese beer company. The company is diversifying and making a full scale push into health sciences to help drive growth. We heard from Toru Yoshimura, Senior Executive Officer at Kirin. He spoke to Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Avril Hong.
Plus - A rebound in stocks gained traction amid easing jitters around artificial-intelligence disruption while a slew of data showed the US economy is holding up. We spoke to Tim Pagliara, Chief Investment Officer, CapWealth.
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Japan plans to invest $36 billion in US oil, gas and critical mineral projects, the first tranche of its $550 billion commitment under the trade agreement it struck with President Donald Trump. "Our MASSIVE Trade Deal with Japan has just launched!" Trump posted Tuesday on social media. "The scale of these projects are so large, and could not be done without one very special word, TARIFFS." The most significant investment is a natural gas facility in Ohio that's expected to generate 9.2 gigawatts of power, according to a statement from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a massive project which Trump described as "the largest in History." We spoke to Isabel Reynolds, Bloomberg's Tokyo Bureau Chief.
Plus - Traders struggling to assess the outlook for artificial intelligence whipsawed stocks in another volatile session on Wall Street. We spoke to Jed Ellerbroek, Portfolio Manager at Argent Capital Management.
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Asian stocks were poised for a subdued start Tuesday, with holiday-thinned trading keeping volumes light as investors await a fresh round of economic data later this week for direction. Mainland China and Hong Kong are shut for Lunar New Year holidays. Investors are also paying attention to the shifts in sentiment around artificial intelligence, which may reverberate far beyond the technology sector with the emergence of the so-called AI scare trade. We speak to Stephanie Leung, Chief Investment Officer at StashAway.
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Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.

Japan's economic output in the fourth quarter of 2025 was much weaker than expected, registering anemic growth after a deep contraction in the previous period, underscoring the case for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's proactive spending policies following her election triumph. For more on the latest reading and the market moves, we spoke to Mark Cranfield, Bloomberg's MLIV Strategist.
Plus - we go to earnings news. In Australia, the country's biggest steel maker, BlueScope said its first half net profit more than doubled. The company signaled higher payouts to shareholders over the next 12 months. BlueScope Steel recently rejected a takeover bid by conglomerate SGH and U.S. steelmaker 'Steel Dynamics'. For more on the latest results, we heard from Tania Archibald, CEO of BlueScope. She spoke to Bloomberg's Paul Allen and Shery Ahn on the Asia Trade.
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