Australia/New Zealand
ASX 200 opened -0.2%; closed -0.2%; REIT index -1%, Financials -0.5% Qantas -1%
(AU) RBA Harper (Dove): Excess capacity in labor market likely bigger than thought; Rates meed to stay supportive of the economy; 5% likely not tipping point for wage growth
(NZ) New Zealand Nov Business Manufacturing PMI: 57.7 v 57.3 prior
(NZ) NZ Fin Min Robertson: Comfortable with general trend of Kiwi (NZ$)
(NZ) New Zealand sells NZ$200M in April 2025 bonds, avg yield 2.5601%, implied bid to cover 3.86x
China/Hong Kong
Hang Seng opened -0.6%, Shanghai Composite -0.2%
Hang Seng Energy Index -1.5%, Property/Construction -1.2%, Financials -1%, Information Technology -0.9%
Property company Sunac China -9% (capital raise)
Li & Fung +5% (announced $1.1B asset sale, special dividend)
(CN) PBoC releases pledged financing business management rules; to accept more kinds of bonds for pledged financing; To accept local government bonds as collateral in certain cases; Says seeks to prevent payment and clearing risks.
(CN) PBoC OMO: CNY150B in 7 and 28-day reverse repos v CNY50B injected in 7 and 28 day reverse repos prior; Net injected CNY150B v CNY190B drain prior (leaves yields unchanged vs prior session)
(CN) PBoC sets yuan reference rate at 6.6113 v 6.6033 prior
(CN) China MOF sells 30-year bonds: Avg yield 4.3555% v 4.35%e, bid to cover 2.09x
(CN) China MOF sells 3-month bills: Avg yield 3.9275%
(HK) Hong Kong may seek to limit the voting power of dual-class shares – HK Press
Korea
Kospi opened +0.8%
Kumho Tire +30% (M&A speculation)
Moody’s raises South Korea Banking System Outlook to Stable from Negative; raises South Korea 2017 GDP growth forecast to 3.0% (2.5% prior), 2018 to 2.8% (2.0% prior)
South Korea Blockchain Association: To improve proof of identity for users of cryptocurrency trading on exchanges; new measures take effect on Jan 1, 2018
Thursday’s late session weakness in the Kospi linked to program trading – Analyst
South Korea Nov Trade Balance: $7.6B v $7.8Be
(KR) US North Korea Envoy Yun: US is open to dialogue with North Korea; has not met with North Korea officials in Thailand
(CN) PBoC Gov Zhou said to meet South Korea Vice Premier in relation to financial cooperation
Japan
Nikkei 225 opened -0.3%; closed: -0.6%
Large financials again track declines in the US: Mitsubishi UFJ -1.4%, Sumitomo Mitsui -0.8%
Rakuten’s planned entry into mobile network operator business continues to weigh on telecoms: Rakuten -5.4%, KDDI -5.5%, Softbank -2.4%
Automakers track US declines: Toyota -1.4%; TOPIX Iron & Steel index -1.4% (US Steel ended -3.4%)
Nikkei heavy component Fast Retailing +1%
Q4 Tankan Large Manufacturer sentiment hits 11-year high; Overall Tankan survey mixed
(JP) JAPAN Q4 TANKAN LARGE ALL INDUSTRY MFG INDEX: 25 V 24E (11-year high); LARGE MFG OUTLOOK 19 V 22E; LARGE ALL INDUSTRY CAPEX 7.4% V 7.5%E
Japan auto union said to again seek ¥3K base wage increase – Japanese press
Japan Auto Manufacturers Group (JAMA): Japan auto industry suffers from labor shortage
(JP) BoJ said to ‘tweak’ message as dissenter calls for more easing – US financial press; The BoJ is due to hold its Dec two-day policy meeting on Dec 20-21st (Wed and Thursday)
Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: To implement additional sanctions on North Korea; To freeze assets of 19 groups
Other Asia
(ID) Indonesia Nov Trade Balance: $130M v $844Me; Imports Y/Y: 19.6% v 13.0%e
North America
US equities ended lower amid comments from Republican Senator Rubio: Dow -0.3%, S&P500 -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.3%, Russell 2000 -1.2%
S&P500 Materials Sector -1.1%, Health Care -1%
Oracle: -6.5% afterhours (guided Q3 earnings below ests)
Costco: +2.3% afterhours (Q1 results above ests)
CSX: Announces Medical Leave of CEO E. Hunter Harrison; Names COO James Foote as acting CEO
NPD: US Nov Total Video Game Sales $2.69B, +30% y/y
(US) Senator Rubio said to vote no on tax bill unless working poor tax credit is expanded – Washington Post
(US) Speaker of House Ryan (R-WI) considering retiring from Congress after 2018 – Politico
Europe
(UK) UK PM May said expected to ‘back down’ on Brexit date plan – UK Press
(UK) Germany Chancellor Merkel: EU leaders could move to Brexit Phase 2 on Friday
(ES) Survey shows Catalan separatists have lost their lead ahead of new elections – Spain press
(FR) Bank of France: Sees 2017 GDP +1.8% (v prior forecast 1.3%), sees 2018 GDP +1.7% (v prior forecast 1.5%)
(EU) ECB’s Vasiliauskas (Lithuania): Does not see need for additional QE in 2018; measures implemented are showing results
(RU) EU’s Tusk: The EU is united on the rollover of continuing economic sanctions on Russia
Levels as of 01:00ET
– Hang Seng -0.8%; Shanghai Composite -0.6%%; Kospi +0.5%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 flat
EUR 1.1765-1.1791 ; JPY 112.12-112.41; AUD 0.7655-0.7675 ;NZD 0.6979-0.7023
Dec Gold flat at $1,256/oz; Jan Crude Oil +0.3% at $57.20/brl; Dec Copper +0.2% at $3.079/lb
