General Trend:
- US equity futures pare opening gains
- Chinese liquor maker Kweichow Moutai declines, Q3 results miss ests
- HSBC reports better than expected Q3 results
- Japan’s Ricoh declines over 11%, reported H1 results/guidance post close on Friday
- Australia listed Kogan.com drops over 30%, received pricing-related notice from regulator
- LG Chemicals rises over 6% post earnings
- M&A in focus: IBM to acquire Redhat in cash transaction ($34B enterprise value)
- Penn Virginia Corp to be acquired by Denbury Resources
- Australian construction services firm Watpac rises over 40% after receiving takeover bid
- China Industrial Profits slow for the 5 straight month in Sept
- Brazil equity ETF rises in Japan, Bolsonaro wins the presidential elections
- Japan companies expected to report earnings today include Komatsu, Fanuc and Daiwa Securities
- Bank of China and BYD are among the earnings expected out of Hong Kong
- The BoJ is due to hold is next monetary policy meeting on Oct 30-31 (Tuesday-Wed)
Headlines/Economic Data
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.7%
- (JP) Japan Sept Retail Sales m/m: -0.2% v -0.2%e; Retail Trade y/y: 2.1% v 2.1%e
- (JP) Japan Sept Department Store, Supermarket Sales y/y: 0.4% v 0.1%e
- 4502.JP Said to be considering selling European over the counter assets, worth €1B – press
- 3938.JP LINE Financial Asia to acquire 20% stake in PT Bank KEB Hana Indonesia; no terms disclosed
- (JP) Moody’s: Japan planned sales tax hike for October 2019, will aid in further fiscal consolidation over the medium term
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) said to be looking at slightly adjusting bond buying program but wont rush – press
Korea
- Kospi opened flat
- (KR) South Korea FSC: To take measures to stabilize capital markets, KOSDAQ scale-up fund to begin investment in early Nov
- (KR) According to analysts, South Korean economy is expected to post a weak annual growth for this year due to high unemployment and falling corporate investment – Korean press
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) sells KRW900B in 3-month bonds; avg yield 1.7%
- (KR) South Korea sells KRW400B v KRW400B indicated in 3-year bonds: avg yield 1.975%
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BoK) Gov Lee: Various downward pressures on economy exist
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +1%, Shanghai Composite -0.2%
- (CN) China Sept Industrial Profits Y/Y: 4.1% v 9.2% prior (slowest pace since March)
- (CN) According to China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation all but 13 of the 3,491 companies listed on China’s two stock exchanges have pledged their equity as collateral against bank loans
- (CN) China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) urged banks in Beijing against forcing liquidation of pledged shares – financial press
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): skips v skips prior in 7-day reverse repos prior: Net: CNY120B drain v CNY30B injection prior
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan midpoint rate at 6.9377 v 6.9510 prior
- (CN) China President Xi stresses the importance of independent innovation and called for all researchers and workers to strive toward that on inspection of Guangdong
- (CN) China Sept bond issuance totaled CNY4.3T v CNY4.4T prior; Outstanding bond value CNY83T v CNY81.9T prior
- (CN) China legislator approves revisions to Company Law that relax restrictions on buybacks for public companies – Xinhua
- (CN) China companies have announced CNY16.8B in buyback plans – CST
- (CN) China will not ease property control measures even with slowing market – Xinhua
- HSBA.UK Reports Q3 Net $3.9B v $2.9B y/y; adj Pretax $6.19B v $5.3B y/y ($5.73Be); Rev $13.8B v $12.7B y/y ($13.7Be)
- (CN) China expected to announce additional tax cuts – CSJ
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.1%
- KGN.AU [-22%] Reports Q1 Active Customers 1.45M v 1.02M y/y; Kogan Mobile Active Customers +102.9% y/y; Global Brands rev -27.4% y/y (impacted by GST law, at this stage, the company is unable to determine whether the recent widespread avoidance of GST will be temporary)
- WTP.AU [+40%], Entered into bid implementation agreement with BESIX Group regarding unconditional off-market takeover to acquire all issued shares for A$0.92/shr cash
North America
- RHT To be acquired by IBM for $190.00/shr cash for enterprise value of $34B; IBM intends to suspend its share repurchase program in 2020 and 2021
- TLSA Second largest shareholder Baillie Gifford said to note the firm is willing to invest more cash into the company – UK Press
- (MX) Mexico public consultation on Mexico City Airport prefers cancellation of the $13.3B project – US financial press
Europe
- CBK.DE Deutsche Bank says merger with the firm ‘not on table’ – FT
- (DE) In Germany Hesse regional elections, Chancellor Merkel CDU party’s support declined to 28%, down 10 pct points vs 2013 – German Press
- (DE) Following regional elections in Hesse, Germany SPD leader said to give Chancellor Merkel an ultimatum – German Press
- (UK) UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Hammond (Fin Min) said has money buffer in case of ‘Brexit shock’ – financial press
Levels as of 01:20ET
- Hang Seng +0.3%; Shanghai Composite -1.6%; Kospi -0.2%; Nikkei225 +0.3%; ASX 200 +1.1%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.0%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax +0.0%; FTSE100 -0.1%
- EUR 1.1386-1.1404; JPY 111.78-112.05 ; AUD 0.7085-0.7102;NZD 0.6514-0.6542
- Dec Gold -0.1% at $1,235/oz; Dec Crude Oil +0.1% at $67.62/brl; Dec Copper -0.2% at $2.74/lb