Asia Summary
Asian equity markets opened mixed before falling to the downside, again the stand out is the Kospi rising 0.5%. Fed meeting minutes weighed on the dollar in the session, as the outlook on inflation remains subdued. South Korea President Moon affirmed that nothing would happen with North Korea without South Korea’s approval. Onshore yuan gained over 0.3%, the largest advance in 1-week after China govt data showed that outflows have eased. The USD/CNY had its first strengthening in 3 days by 0.1% to 6.6709. Market had little reaction the Japan trade figures, most of Japan, including the Nikkei, has been under pressure from the stronger yen. Australia employment figures gave some strength to the A$ before giving most of it back later in the session. In Australia Telstra reported results and suspended its dividend reinvestment plan, sending the stock down over 8%, this weighed on the ASX200 of which it is a major component. Earnings continue to ramp up in China and Hong Kong with property and retail names showing positive results, tech players will look ahead to Lenovo, reporting on Friday.
Key economic data
(AU) AUSTRALIA JULY EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: +27.9K V +20.0KE (5TH CONSECUTIVE INCREASE); UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 5.6% V 5.6%E
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q2 PPI INPUT Q/Q: 1.4% V 0.8% PRIOR; PPI OUTPUT Q/Q: 1.3% V 1.4% PRIOR
(JP) JAPAN JULY TRADE BALANCE: ¥418.8B V ¥327.1BE; ADJ TRADE BALANCE: ¥337.4B V ¥195.3BE
(SG) SINGAPORE JULY NON-OIL DOMESTIC EXPORTS M/M: -2.5% V -0.4%E; Y/Y: 8.5% V 9.1%E; ELECTRONIC EXPORTS Y/Y: 16.3% V 15.0%E
(PH) PHILIPPINES Q2 GDP Q/Q: 1.7% V 1.9%E; Y/Y: 6.5% V 6.4%E
(AU) Australia Jul RBA Govt FX Transactions (A$): -1.03B v -1.12B prior
Speakers and Press
China/Hong Kong
(CN) China Hebei province to meet capacity cutting targets by end of September – Chinese press
(CN) China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC): expect prices to be stable in H2
Korea
(KR) South Korea President Moon: Critical to address minimum wage and stability in housing; Only S Korea can decide any military option on peninsula – 100 day press conference
Taiwan
(TW) Taiwan planning to reshuffle cabinet in Sept – Taiwan press
Asian Equity Indices/Futures (00:00ET)
Nikkei -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.1%, Shanghai Composite +0.4%, ASX200 0.0%, Kospi +0.5%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.2%, Dax -0.1%, FTSE100 +0.1%
FX ranges/Commodities/Fixed Income (00:00ET)
EUR 1.1790-1.1765; JPY 110.16-109.66; AUD 0.7949-0.7922; NZD 0.7330-0.7303
Dec Gold +0.8% at $1,292/oz; Sept Crude Oil +0.3% at $46.91/brl; Sept Copper +0.3% at $2.97/lb
USD/CNY *(CN) PBOC SETS YUAN REFERENCE RATE AT: 6.6709 V 6.6779 PRIOR
(CN) China PBoC OMO injects CNY100B v CNY280B in 7 and 14-day reverse repos; injects net CNY50B v CNY180B prior
USD/PHP (PH) Philippines Economic Planning Sec Pernia: See no reason for concern on peso, its unlikely to gyrate wildly, will curb volatility
JGB (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥4.38T v ¥4.4T offered in 3-month bills; avg yield -0.1275%; bid-to-cover 5.21x
JGB (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥1.81T v ¥2.2T offered in 0.1% JGBs; avg yield -0.0830%; bid-to-cover 4.46x
Equities notable movers
Hong Kong/China
Tencent, 700.HK Reports Q2 (CNY) Net 18.2B v 13.5Be, Rev 56.6B v 52.9Be; +5.3%
Cathay Pacific, 293.HK Reports Q1 (HK$) Net -2.1B (1st loss in ~20-yrs) v -1.2Be; Rev 45.9B v 45.7B y/y; +1.5%
Australia
Telstra, TLS.AU Reports FY17 Net A$3.89B v A$3.82Be; EBITDA A$10.7B v A$10.5B y/y; Rev A$26.0B v A$26.7B y/y; suspends dividend reinvestment plan; -8.5
Godfreys,GFY.AU Reports FY17 Underlying Net A$5.9M v A$9.2M y/y; EBITDA A$14.1M v A$17.5M y/y; Rev A$174.1M v A$179.3M y/y; +16.7%
RungePincockMinarco,RUL.AU Guides FY17 Rev A$74.7M v A$57.1M y/y; +15.6%
