Asia-Pacific markets rise ahead of U.S. inflation report; South Korea's Kospi up 2% on return after holiday

Goldman Sachs doesn't expect China to immediately shift away from its Covid-zero policy after the upcoming party congress meeting in October, analysts said in a report.

"Policymakers might only pivot away from the 'Dynamic Zero Covid' policy after Two Sessions next year," the economists said in the report. The "two sessions" annual parliamentary meeting usually takes place in early March.

"We expect medium- to long-term policy goals to be maintained," the report said, including "manufacturing upgrading/supply chain security, de-carbonization, and promoting common prosperity."

–Jihye Lee

The "rapid" depreciation of the Indian rupee will continue, and it could weaken to 82 against the dollar by year-end, chief economist at Nomura Sonal Varma said.

She added "higher prices of not just oil, but non-oil commodities like coal, chemicals, [and] fertilizers, [are] also putting an upward pressure on the import bill," she said.

Varma said although the Reserve Bank of India has been "extremely active" in trying to protect the currency, the rupee is expected to face growing depreciation pressures.

The Indian rupee last traded at 79.03 against the greenback.

— Charmaine Jacob

National tourism revenue for the Mid-Autumn Festival reached 28.68 billion yuan ($4.16 billion) — just 60.6% of the 2019 pre-pandemic levels, according to official data.

The revenue has remained below 2019 levels since the pandemic hit in early 2020.

Movie-ticketing site Maoyan showed the long-weekend box office came in at 370 million yuan ($53.44 million), the lowest since 2017.

Online shopping, meanwhile, held up in terms of value, according to data from China's postal authority.

Read the story here.

–Evelyn Cheng

Australian hospital operator Ramsay Health Care's shares dropped as much as 14.6% after the company announced a KKR-led consortium is "not in a position to improve the terms" of a takeover proposal.

Ramsay Health rejected the proposal earlier this year, saying the offer was "meaningfully inferior."

The company's shares later recovered slightly but were still 11% lower.

— Abigail Ng

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese electric vehicle-maker Nio jumped as much as 21% at the open following a bullish report by Deutsche Bank.

Reiterating his buy rating, analyst Edison Yu made minor changes to forecasts and said Nio remains Deutsche Bank's top China EV pick in a note dated Sept. 12.

"The company's efforts around user experience, battery swapping, overseas expansion, and internal battery cell development go very much underappreciated and will eventually show clear differentiation as the local Chinese market gets increasingly competitive," Yu wrote.

The company's shares were last 17% higher.

–Jihye Lee

Coal prices are at record highs and market watchers see prices going even higher as a global energy crisis looms.

"It's almost like any or all companies are a buy," analyst Peter O'Conner said of the booming coal sector, and reveals his favorite stock.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Zavier Ong

Shares of Nintendo jumped more than 5% in Japan's morning trade ahead of the company's live showcase, Nintendo Direct.

The livestreamed event will feature "roughly 40 minutes of information mostly focused on [Nintendo Switch] games launching this winter," the company said.

Nintendo also announced its domestic sales of "Splatoon 3" surpassed 3.45 million in the first three days since launch — the highest sales level for a Nintendo Switch software in Japan.

— Abigail Ng

Bucket Studio Co., which holds a stake in a private company that represents "Squid Game" lead actor Lee Jung-jae, jumped more than 10% as the show eyed a historic victory in the drama series race.

The company's shares jumped more than 20% immediately after Netflix in June posted a letter from the director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, announcing the series will return with a second season.

Other content-related stocks CJ ENM and CJ CGV were also up more than 2.5% in the morning session, and Showbox rose 1.5%.

–Jihye Lee

Real estate investment trusts — or REITs — are coming back to the spotlight after a volatile year for many asset classes.

Analysts from Morgan Stanley and Citi highlight REITs from two sectors that they say could outperform the wider market, and remain resilient in a recession.

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— Weizhen Tan