General Trend:
- Nikkei 225 underperforms
- Japanese telecoms decline after major telecoms indicate they will cut mobile pricing (under pressure from Govt)
- Docomo drops over 9% after confirming intention to cut prices for its phone plans
- Nomura declines by over 5%, reported H1 net loss
- Panasonic down after Q2 Op profit missed ests
- BHP rises over 4%, to return $10.4B to shareholders
- Australia’s Woolworth’s rises after Q1 sales rise y/y
- ASM Pacific notes in the short-term, trade dispute is casting uncertainties in the market
- British Pound (GBP) rises over 0.5%, PM May said to reach Brexit deal with the EU related to financial services
- Commodity currencies gain amid stimulus speculation related to China, NZD/USD +0.9%
- China Oct business outlook for output hits 11-month low amid trade concerns (Caixin PMI Manufacturing Survey)
- China to maintain the stamp duty on securities at 0.1%
- BoJ plans to purchase 1-3 and 3-5 yr JGBs four times per month (vs 5 times prior)
- Australian housing prices decline for the 13th straight month (CoreLogic)
- South Korea President Moon seeks a larger role for fiscal policy
- There is press speculation that South Korea’s Finance Minister could be replaced
- Japanese companies expected to report earnings include Suzuki and KDDI.
- Apple expected to report Q4 earnings after Thursday’s US close
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.3%
- (NZ) New Zealand Oct ANZ Job Advertisements M/M: +1.4 v -0.2% prior
- NAB.AU Reports FY18 (A$) Cash profit 5.70B v 6.64B y/y; Net Op 17.9B v 17.9B y/y
- BHP.AU Plans to return $10.4B to shareholders through $5.2B off market buyback and $10.2B special dividend
- (AU) Australia government has granted 7 new offshore petroleum exploration permits
- (AU) Australia Oct CoreLogic House Prices m/m: -0.6% v -0.6% prior (13th consecutive month of decline)
- (AU) Australia Q3 Exports Price Index q/q: 3.7% v 2.2%e; Import Price Index q/q: 1.9% v 1.0%e
- (NZ) New Zealand sells NZ$100M v NZ$100M indicated in 2.5% 2040 bonds, avg yield 1.6952%, bid to cover 2.67x
- (AU) AustralianSuper’s Ridout: The economy shoud get stronger before it gets weaker; Will be hard for Australia to avoid next global downturn
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%
- (JP) Japan Investors Weekly Net Buying of Foreign Bonds: -ÂĄ1.08T v +ÂĄ27.2B prior; Foreign Buying of Japan Stocks: -ÂĄ349.0T v +ÂĄ223.7B prior
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) announces Bond purchases for month of Nov (3rd straight month of tweaks) (after the close yesterday)
- NTT Docomo, [-11%], 9437.JP Reports H1 Net ÂĄ407.1B v ÂĄ392.1B y/y, Op ÂĄ610.5B v ÂĄ559.9B, Rev ÂĄ2.4T v ÂĄ2.30T y/y; Raises Q2 dividend, to buyback 600B, to reduce plan prices
- (JP) Japan Oct Final PMI Manufacturing: 52.9 v 53.1 prelim
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ÂĄ2.2T v ÂĄ2.2T indicated in 0.10% 10-yr JGBs, avg yield 0.135% v 0.141% prior, bid to cover 4.33x v 4.21x prior
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.3%
- (KR) South Korea said to be planning to replace Fin Min Kim and chief of policy Cheong Wa Dae; may not happen until early 2019 – Korean press
- (KR) US denies talk of sanctions on South Korea banks – Korean press
- (KR) SOUTH KOREA OCT CPI M/M: -0.2% V -0.2%E; Y/Y: 2.0% V 2.0%E
- (KR) South Korea Oct Trade Balance: $6.6B v $7.4Be
- (KR) South Korea Oct PMI Manufacturing: 51.0 v 51.3 prior
- (KR) South Korea President Moon: Expect 2% GDP level growth for awhile; markets volatility rises, thorough monitoring needed; time that fiscal policy plays more of a role – speaking to parliament
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +1%, Shanghai Composite +0.6%
- (CN) CHINA OCT CAIXIN PMI MANUFACTURING: 50.1 V 50.0E
- (CN) China Politburo: China will take timelier measures to address increasing challenges facing the economy; external environment has changed profoundly – Caixing
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): skips v skips prior in 7-day reverse repos prior: Net: CNY100B drain v CNY150B injection prior (5th consecutive skip)
- (CN) China PBOC Vice Gov: Will step up monetary policy support for rural areas; to continue to maintain low RRR for rural financial institutions
- (CN) Some listed companies in China said to be borrowing from shareholders for liquidity – Securities Times
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan Midpoint Rate at 6.9670 v 6.9646 prior
- (HK) Hong Kong SFC CEO: To issue new rules for cryptocurrency exchanges later today
- (CN) China seeks feedback on draft stamp duty law related to CDRs
- (CN) China PBoc Deputy Gov Pan: Reiterates China capital markets to be more open to foreigners; China stocks at low level
- (CN) Moody’s Report: China plan to cut the personal income tax is Credit Negative for regional and local governments
- 3308.HK CEO: May consider take private bid on share decline, no time line for any potential deal
- (HK) Macau Oct Gaming Revenue MOP27.3B v MOP22.0B m/m, y/y: +2.6% v 3.5%e
North America
- US equity markets ended higher: Dow +1%, S&P500 +1.1%, Nasdaq +2.0%, Russell 2000 +0.3%
- (BR) BRAZIL CENTRAL BANK (BCB) LEAVES SELIC TARGET RATE UNCHANGED AT 6.50%; AS EXPECTED
- (IE) Ireland Foreign Min Coveney: it’s possible to reach Brexit deal in Nov; its up to the UK side in particular to intensify negotiations
- (US) President Trump: There is sufficient supply of petroleum and related products from countries other than Iran to permit a significant reduction in purchases from Iran
- PPC Reports Q3 $0.12 adj v $0.93 y/y, Rev $2.70B v $2.8B y/y
- ALL Reports Q3 $1.93 v $2.17e, Rev $10.5B v $8.56Be; approves new $3B share repurchase (9% of market cap)
- ESRX Reports Q3 $2.43 v $2.42e, Rev $25.6B v $25.0Be; positive 2019 outlook
Europe
- (UK) Brexit Dept spokesperson: there is no fixed date for Brexit talks with the EU to conclude
- (UK) UK PM May said to reach Brexit deal with the EU related to financial services – UK Press; GBP rose 0.2% on the news
- Levels as of 01:30ET
- Hang Seng +2.0%; Shanghai Composite +1.1%; Kospi +0.3%; Nikkei225 -1.0%; ASX 200 +0.2%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 -0.4%
- EUR 1.1302-1.1416; JPY 112.72-113.05 ; AUD 0.7072-0.7134;NZD 0.6514-0.6584
- Dec Gold +0.4% at $1,219/oz; Dec Crude Oil -0.6% at $64.91/brl; Dec Copper -0.2% at $2.66/lb