The US and Taiwan agreed to a trade pact that would lower tariffs on goods from Taiwan to 15% and see Taiwanese semiconductor companies increase financing for American operations by $500 billion.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. shares climb as much as 2.7% in Taipei after the chipmaker’s strong results and outlook underscored the strength of demand trends related to AI. The shares ended 4.4% higher overnight in the US. Rob Haworth, Senior Investment Strategy Director at U.S. Bank Asset Management Group, talks TSMC, the day's eco data, and what's next for the Fed.

After reporting huge profits in Q4, Wendell Huang, the CFO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. affirmed the company’s strong conviction in the “mega trend of AI demand.” Huang mentions that the company is eyeing smaller tech gap between US and Taiwan chipmaking fabrication plants. While addressing the challenges, Huang says that the key to managing forex exposure is to keep it simple.

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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will call a snap election early in the parliamentary session starting later this month, in a bid to shore up her leadership and secure a mandate for the new ruling coalition. Takaichi told officials from the ruling bloc that she will give more details of the dissolution on Jan. 19, according to Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Shunichi Suzuki and Hirofumi Yoshimura, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party, the LDP's coalition partner. We spoke to Isabel Reynolds, Bloomberg's Tokyo Bureau Chief

Plus - Stocks started Thursday on a softer note after Wall Street gauges retreated as investors rotated out of richly valued technology stocks. We heard from Jason Liu, Head of APAC Equity & Derivative Strategy at BNP Paribas. He spoke to Bloomberg's Paul Allen and Avril Hong.

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Asian shares posted a modest gain at the open, while Japanese equities extended their record-breaking run fueled by a weaker yen. For more on what is moving the markets in the region, we speak to Abhishek Vishnoi, Senior Reporter for Asia Equities.

Plus - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's reported plan for a snap election fueled a rally in stocks while pushing down bonds and driving the yen deeper into the intervention-risk zone. For more on the outlook on Japanese markets, we heard from Zuhair Khan, Senior Portfolio Manager at UBP. He spoke to Bloomberg's Paul Allen and Avril Hong.

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