General Trend:
- Asian equity markets trade mostly lower
- Energy sector weighs on the Australian market
- Japanese automakers trade broadly higher, US said to be planning to hold off on implementing auto tariffs for now
- Tencent shares in focus ahead of upcoming earnings report
- Japan Q3 GDP contracts, natural disasters and trade impact cited
- Australia Q3 wages rise at the fastest pace since 2015, matches ests
- China Industrial Production and Fixed Asset Investments data beat ests, gov’t says support measures are starting to show impact
- Some analysts suggest, China government’s policies are not strong enough to be effective; Notes recently released Oct banking data which missed ests (Hong Kong Press)
- Sri Lanka Central Bank unexpectedly hikes rates amid currency weakness
- Australia Oct labor data due on Thursday
Headlines/Economic Data
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.2%
- (JP) Japan considering start of next ordinary Diet session on Jan 4th – Japan press
- (JP) JAPAN Q3 PRELIM GDP Q/Q: -0.3% V -0.3%E; ANNUALIZED Q/Q: -1.2% V -1.0%E; NOMINAL Q/Q: -0.3% V -0.3%E; Exports -1.8% q/q (largest decline since Q1 2015); GDP Business Spending q/q: -0.2% v 0.2%e (1st decline since Q2 2016)
- (JP) Japan Economy Min Motegi: Q3 GDP contraction due to temporary hit to consumption from natural disasters, export decline; no change to view domestic economy recovering moderately
- (JP) Japan said to consider ending 30-month age cap on US beef imports – Japanese Press
- (JP) Japan Sept Final Industrial Production M/M: -0.4% v -1.1% prelim; Y/Y: -2.5% v -2.9% prelim; Capacity Utilization M/M: -1.5% v 2.2% prior
- (JP) Japan Sept Tertiary Industry Index M/M: -1.1% v -0.4%e (largest decline since 2016)
Korea
- Kospi opened flat
- (KR) South Korea Oct Unemployment Rate: 3.9% v 4.0%e
- (KR) South Korea Fin Min nominee Hong: Job situation is still grave, considering more steps on jobs – Korean press
- 005380.KR Govt putting pressure on union to join new plant in Gwangju as part of efforts to create new jobs and breathe new life into the local economy – Press
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.3%, Shanghai Composite -0.3%
- (CN) MSCI announced constituent changes to China Indexes
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO):Skips OMO v skipped prior (14th straight skip)
- (CN) CHINA PBOC SETS YUAN REFERENCE RATE: 6.9402 V 6.9629 PRIOR
- 2378.HK Prudential: Gives update ahead of conference: 9-month New Business Profit ÂŁ2.76B v ÂŁ2.35B y/y, APE Sales ÂŁ4.97B v ÂŁ4.96B y/y
- (CN) China NBS Spokeswoman Liu Aihua: China economy still facing many external uncertainties; economy is slower but stable; Room for policy adjustments remains relatively large as inflation remains mild
- (CN) China Oct Property Investment y/y: 9.7% v 9.9% prior
- (CN) CHINA OCT FIXED ASSETS EX-RURAL YTD Y/Y: 5.7% V 5.5%E
- (CN) CHINA OCT RETAIL SALES Y/Y: 8.6% V 9.2%E; YTD Y/Y: % V 9.3%E
- (CN) China Oct Surveyed Jobless Rate: 4.9% v 4.9% prior
- (CN) CHINA OCT INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Y/Y: 5.9% V 5.8%E; YTD Y/Y: 6.4% V 6.3%E
- (CN) China MoF sells 2-yr bonds at 2.7265% v 2.88%e; 5-yr bonds at 3.0737% v 3.23%e
- (CN) CHINA OCT AGGREGATE FINANCING (CNY): 728.8B V 1.380TE
- (CN) CHINA OCT M2 MONEY SUPPLY: 8.0% V 8.4E (matches record low); M1 MONEY SUPPLY Y/Y: 2.7% V 4.2%E
- (CN) CHINA OCT NEW YUAN LOANS (CNY): 697.0B V 904.5BE
- Looking ahead: 700.HK Tencent: Expected to report earnings later today
- (CN) China speculated to hold meeting on coal imports later today – Local Press
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened flat
- AOG.AU Warns FY19 sales now at risk as residential markets continue to soften; will not affirms FY19 EPS – AGM [-7%]
- (AU) Australia Nov Westpac Consumer Confidence Index:104.3 v 101.5 prior; M/M: 3.9% v 1.0% prior
- (AU) Australia sells A$1.0B v A$1.0B indicated in Nov 2029 bonds, avg yield 2.7366%, bid to cover 3.91x
- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q3 WAGE PRICE INDEX Q/Q: 0.6% V 0.6%E; Y/Y: 2.3% V 2.3%E (matches the highest growth since 2015)
- RAP.AU Receives ISO 13485 certification for quality management system [+15%]
Other Asia
- (SL) SRI LANKA CENTRAL BANK (CBSL) RAISES KEY RATES (NOT EXPECTED)
North America
- US equity markets ended mostly lower: Dow -0.4%, S&P500 -0.2%, Nasdaq flat, Russell 2000 -0.3%
- (US) Fed’s Quarles (hawk, FOMC voter): Fed is taking a number of measures to improve transparency – Congressional testimony
- MMM Authorizes $10B share repurchase program (9% of market cap)
- (US) US planning to hold off on implementing auto tariffs for now after Trump meeting
- BA FAA denies reports it is conducting investigation into safety of 737 MAX planes following crash of Lion Air flight 610
- SNAP Said to be cooperating with US regulators on inquiries possibly related to IPO, has responded to subpoenas and other requests from the DoJ and SEC – financial press
Europe
- (UK) Five pivotal senior ministers reportedly back UK Prime Min May’s draft Brexit proposal – Sun’s Newton Dunn; Raab, Hunt, Javid, Gove and Cox support the plan; Leadsom and Grayling also McVey and Mordaunt do not support the plan
- (IT) Italy Dep PM Di Maio: confirms Italy govt maintaining its 2019 budget deficit and growth targets
- (IT) Italy 5 Star League Official: Italian Government agrees on 2.4% budget deficit for 2019 – Comments on draft reply to EU
- (IT) Italy publishes letter to the EU: Asks EU for flexibility for extraordinary events. Sets privatization target at 1% of GDP for 2019; Plans €1B for infrastructure maintenance in 2019; Targets 2021 debt-to-GDP ratio of 126%
- (UK) Tory Whip Julian Smith: Confident that PM May will get Brexit deal through Parliament – financial press
Levels as of 12:50ET
- Hang Seng -0.6%; Shanghai Composite -0.6%; Kospi -0.3%; Nikkei225 0.0%; ASX 200 -1.7%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 -0.5%
- EUR 1.1217-1.1320; JPY 113.76-113.99 ; AUD 0.7214-0.7238;NZD 0.6756-0.6783
- Dec Gold +0.2% at $1,203/oz; Dec Crude Oil -0.7% at $55.30/brl; Dec Copper -0.3% at $2.67/lb