Indonesia stocks higher at close of trade; IDX Composite Index up 0.71%

Investing.com -- Japan has approved GSK’s (LON:GSK) twice-yearly asthma and nasal polyps drug Exdensur, marking the company’s third major regulatory clearance for the treatment.

GSK on Tuesday said Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Exdensur, also known as depemokimab, for patients with bronchial asthma whose symptoms cannot be controlled with existing treatments and for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps that remains inadequately controlled with standard therapy. 

The decision was based on results from the phase III SWIFT and ANCHOR clinical trial programs. In the SWIFT-1 and SWIFT-2 trials, patients treated with depemokimab experienced fewer asthma attacks over 52 weeks compared with those who received placebo. 

GSK reported a rate ratio of 0.49 in SWIFT-1 and 0.52 in SWIFT-2, with p-values of less than 0.001 in both trials. The annualised asthma exacerbation rate was 0.56 per year for patients treated with depemokimab compared with 1.08 per year for those given placebo.

Results from the ANCHOR-1 and ANCHOR-2 trials showed improvements in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. 

According to GSK, patients receiving depemokimab had statistically significant reductions in nasal polyp scores at 52 weeks compared with placebo, with treatment differences of -0.7 in ANCHOR-1 and -0.6 in ANCHOR-2. Improvements were also reported in nasal obstruction severity during weeks 49 to 52 in both studies.

Across the SWIFT and ANCHOR trials, depemokimab was reported to be well tolerated, with patients experiencing similar adverse events to those receiving placebo. The drug is designed to be administered twice a year and is described by the company as an ultra-long-acting biologic.

“Building on other recent regulatory milestones, the approval of Exdensur in Japan marks an important step forward in care for patients with severe asthma or CRSwNP,” said Kaivan Khavandi, senior vice president and global head of respiratory, immunology and inflammation at GSK. 

“By delivering sustained suppression with just two doses a year, physicians can now provide an ultra-long-acting option to help reduce exacerbations and the debilitating symptoms of CRSwNP.”

GSK said patients in Japan with severe asthma can experience frequent exacerbations that may lead to hospitalisations, while people with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps often face ongoing daily symptoms despite standard treatments. 

Depemokimab was developed with an extended half-life intended to allow sustained suppression of inflammation with twice-yearly dosing.

The Japanese approval follows earlier clearances for depemokimab by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. 

GSK said the drug has also received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use and is under regulatory review in other countries, including China.

Investing.com -- Prudential Plc (HK:2378)(LON:PRU) on Tuesday said it will return $1.2 billion to shareholders through a share buyback, a move that would reduce its share count by about 3% based on issued capital as of early January.

The insurer said the program will involve the purchase of ordinary shares up to a maximum aggregate amount of $1.2 billion and will run from Jan. 6, to Dec. 18. The company said the purpose of the buyback is to reduce its issued share capital and return capital to shareholders.

Prudential said the buyback will comprise $500 million of recurring capital returns and $700 million related to net proceeds from the initial public offering of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited.

The company said the remaining balance of net IPO proceeds is expected to be returned to shareholders during 2027.

Investing.com — 2026 has barely kicked off, and InvestingPro members—who took the opportunity to subscribe for less than $9 a month—are already collecting results that would otherwise take years to achieve.

After finishing its second year of market outperformance, pulverizing the S&P 500 with a fantastic +163.68% return since launch in November 2023, more than 100% higher than the benchmark during that same period, our AI started the new year again on the right foot.

Amid geopolitical challenges and worries that the AI play might be running out of breath, Investing.com’s flagship machine-learning-based compilation of investor-grade models decided to look into deeper value, contrarian plays, surfacing under-of-the-radar names with explosive growth potential for January.

Amongst these names was the telecommunications giant B Communications (OTC:BCOMF), added to our AI’s list of top picks on January first. Since then, the Israel-based giant has gapped up a MASSIVE +77.93% in just two market sessions, rewarding InvestingPro members with an unmatched start to the year.

But B Communications is not the only winner on this month’s list. In fact, within the list, there are several other names that are already gaining big time in January, such as:

• SanDisk: +15.46%  in the first two sessions of the month

• Onto Innovation: 12.87%  in the first two sessions of the month

• Amkor: +21.91% in the first two sessions of the month

• Rayonier Advanced Materials: +19.19% in the first two sessions of the month

Among several others...

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But why did the AI pick B Communications and can it continue to gain?

One of the coolest features of our AI model is that it not only selects stocks but also explains to InvestingPro members why it made those choices, helping users with their decision-making process.

Below is the AI’s rationale for the stock, published on the first of January, along with new the list of AI-powered stock picks for the month:

Lucrative Liquidation Value Play

• B Communications offers a compelling investment case as it executes a shareholder-friendly liquidation, distributing approximately $760 million (~NIS 2.8 billion) to investors at NIS 26.5 per share.
• The stock has delivered extraordinary returns with a 128% price increase over the past year and 43% over six months, reflecting market confidence in the company’s value-creation strategy.
• Despite being in liquidation, the company maintains impressive profitability metrics with a 78% gross margin and 22% operating margin, supporting the substantial cash distribution.
• Trading at a P/E of just 9.6 with an extremely low PEG ratio of 0.07, the stock appears significantly undervalued compared to the InvestingPro Fair Value of $10.24 (versus current price of $7.84).
• This special situation represents an opportunity to participate in the final phase of B Communications’ successful 315% share price appreciation strategy since 2019.

Similarly, the AI published its rationale for every stock it decides to either add to or remove from the portfolio.

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How the AI Models Works

At the start of each month, our AI refreshes each strategy with up to 20 stock picks. These selections are based on a blend of more than 150 well-established financial models compiled by our machine learning model on over 15 years of financial data worldwide.

Some stocks are added, others retained, and a few are removed, reflecting how the model reassesses each company’s medium-term growth potential.

To track performance, each strategy uses equal weighting across all selected stocks. While you’re not required to follow that weighting exactly, it offers a consistent benchmark to evaluate how well the model identifies opportunities across the board.

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Since launch, the model has done just that — delivering more than a few standout success stories along the way.

Disclaimer: Subscription prices mentioned in articles are accurate at the time of publication. We regularly test different offers for our members, which may vary by region.

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Utilities, Consumer Staples and Financials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.52%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bluescope Steel Ltd (ASX:BSL), which rose 20.57% or 5.03 points to trade at 29.48 at the close. Meanwhile, DroneShield Ltd (ASX:DRO) added 18.13% or 0.60 points to end at 3.91 and Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) was up 14.50% or 0.25 points to 1.93 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX:LOV), which fell 4.45% or 1.31 points to trade at 28.15 at the close. Virgin Australia Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX:VGN) declined 4.32% or 0.15 points to end at 3.32 and Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX:JDO) was down 3.92% or 0.07 points to 1.72.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 643 to 533 and 350 ended unchanged.

Shares in Bluescope Steel Ltd (ASX:BSL) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 20.57% or 5.03 to 29.48. Shares in Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) rose to 52-week highs; rising 14.50% or 0.25 to 1.93.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.38% to 10.42.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.69% or 30.90 to $4,482.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.31% or 0.18 to hit $58.14 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.23% or 0.14 to trade at $61.62 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.27% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY rose 0.25% to 105.24.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 97.94.

Investing.com-- Buyout firm Hg Capital (LON:HGT) is in advanced talks to acquire financial software maker OneStream Inc (NASDAQ:OS), Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report said that a deal could be announced as soon as the coming days, though the timing could change and the discussions could still end without an agreement.

OneStream and shareholders, including KKR & Co (NYSE:KKR) raised about $563.5 million in a 2024 initial public offering. Reuters reported in November that the company was exploring strategic options, including a possible sale, and that Hg was among the potential bidders.

Hg manages more than $100 billion in assets and owns stakes in dozens of software companies, Bloomberg reported.

Investing.com-- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is offering zero-interest and ultra-low interest rate loans on its Model 3, Model Y and YL vehicles in China until end-January, the company’s website showed on Tuesday.

The company is offering zero-interest loans of up to five years, and ultra-low rate, seven-year loans for models purchased before January 31, checks by Investing.com showed.

The promotions are the latest attempt by the electric vehicle maker to shore up its slowing sales. Tesla had last year also rolled out similar promotions on some of its models. 

Tuesday’s promotions, which were also announced on social media, come just a day after data showed Tesla’s China shipments fell 7% in 2025 from a year earlier. 

Earlier data showed Chinese rivals, specifically BYD (HK:1211), overtaking Tesla in sales over the past year. 

Tesla is grappling with a prolonged decline in global sales, hit by a mix of stiff competition from Chinese EV makers and as cost-conscious customers sought better value in hybrid vehicles.

Consumer backlash over CEO Elon Musk’s increased political presence also hurt Tesla’s sales, especially in Europe, where the EV maker’s market share dropped to a fraction of its rivals. 

In addition to weakening sales, Tesla is also facing deteriorating margins, largely due to a bitter price war in China.

CEO Musk has flagged a pivot into artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and robotics, to offset the impact of slowing vehicle sales.