Asian Equities Trade Mixed Ahead Of Fed Decision

Mar 20 19, 05:57 GMT

General Trend:

IT, Telecom Services, Property, Materials and Energy firms decline in Shanghai
Shanghai banking index out performs in early trading amid renewed RRR cut speculation
Everbright Securities declines in Hong Kong, cut outlook on investment impairment
Iron/Steel and Real Estate firms rise in Japan, Securities brokers decline
Sony and Nintendo decline as Google plans video game service
Resources and financial companies decline in Australia
Australian iron ore producers decline; China iron ore prices decline by 5% on mining resumption by Vale
Australian coal miner New Hope continues to decline post earnings
Crop protection firm Nufarm declines over 20% in Australia, cut outlook and suspended dividend
Samsung Electronics declines on session, CEO made AGM comments
Fedex declined over 5% in afterhours trading, cut earnings outlook
Australia 3-yr yield remains below RBA’s cash rate
Australia Feb labor market data due on Thursday
US dollar trades generally higher ahead of Wed’s Fed decision
New Zealand Dollar (NZD) declines ahead of Thursday’s release of Q4 GDP
Tencent expected to report Q4 earnings on Thursday (after the market close)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.1%
FCG.NZ Reports H1 (NZ$) normalized Net 80M v 35.9M y/y, EBIT 32M v 45M y/y, Rev 9.7B v 9.8B y/y
TLX.AU Announce cGMP manufacturing of TLX250 complete, to start clinical trials in US mid-2019 subject to permission from FDA
(AU) Australia Quarterly Statement by the Council of Financial Regulators (CFR): Housing markets remain weak, particularly in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth; but does not raise stability concerns, will be closely watching
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q4 CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE (NZ$): -3.3B V -3.6BE; CURRENT ACCOUNT TO GDP RATIO YTD: -3.7% V -3.9%E
NUF.AU Reports H1 (A$) Net -13.6M v +12.0M y/y; EBTDA 120.9M v 123.2M y/y; Rev 1.58B v 1.46B y/y; suspends dividend payout
(AU) Australia sells A$900M v A$900M indicated in 2.50% May 2030 bonds, avg yield 1.9459% v 2.0677% prior, bid to cover:3.03x v 3.41x prior
ECX.AU Confirms profit warning, no longer expects to achieve FY19 Net profit consistent with FY18; deal with McMillan Shakespeare may not go ahead
(AU) Australia RBA Assistant Gov Bullock: Further tightening in lending standards might, however, impact both purchasers of new apartments and developers, none planned – speaking at the Urban Development Institute of Australia WA, Perth
(AU) Australia Feb Skilled Vacancies m/m: -0.9% v -0.5% prior

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%
(JP) BoJ Dep Gov Wakatabe: Japan is making progress towards fiscal health – speaking in Diet
6502.JP Toshiba Memory said to plan to postpone plan for Sept IPO – Japanese Press
8028.JP May report FY18/19 Core Op +20% y/y – Japanese Press
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes for Jan 22-23 meeting (2 meetings ago): Reiterates Most: Will take time to reach inflation target of 2%, Appropriate to continue easing persistently
(JP) Japan land prices +1.2% y/y, helped in part by tourists (4th year of increasing) – Nikkei

Korea

Kospi opened -0.3%
(KR) South Korea Feb PPI m/m: +0.1% v -0.2% prior (1st increase since Oct); y/y: -0.2% v +0.1% prior
042700.KR Signs KRW2.6B contract to provide chip manufacturing equipment to Hynix
005930.KR CEO Kim Ki-Nam: difficult management conditions remain this year, to achieve growth based on profitability in TV and home appliance unit this year
(KR) US Dept of Defense has diverted funding for military operations in Korea to build President Trump’s wall along the border with Mexico – Korean press
(KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) sells KRW2.75T in 2-yr Monetary Stabilization Bonds (MSBs), avg yield 1.85% v 1.82% prior
(KR) North Korean propaganda outlet Uriminzokkiri: South Korean military’s Ssangyong and Ulchi Taegeuk exercises are a “vicious challenge” to hopes for peace and a violation of the agreements reached between the two Koreas – Yonhap

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.4%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.2%
(CN) China PBOC may cut RRR in Q2 – China Securities Journal
(CN) China-US trade talks said to be in final stages; Trade Rep Lighthizer and Treasury Sec Mnuchin to fly to Beijing week of March 25th – press
(CN) Some US officials reportedly see China walking back trade offers; some officials said to see China moves as normal part of the process – press
(CN) China said to be considering excluding 737 Max aircraft from US trade deal – press
(US) Pres Trump: China trade talks are going “very well” – press conf Q&A
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO v CNY50B injected in 7-day prior; Net: CNY0B injection v CNY50B injected prior
(CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.7101 v 6.7062 prior
(CN) China President Xi to sign agreements with France and Italy on visit to EU
489.HK Nissan JV cuts 2022 China sales target by 8% to 2.39M autos (prior 2.61M)
(CN) Analysts expected listed China banks will need to raise ~$260B in capital over the next 3-yrs as regulations require shadow bank loans to now be listed on balance sheets – FT

North America

FOXA Disney and 21st Century Fox announce $51.57 per share value in connection with $71B acquisition
(US) NPD: US Feb Total Video Game Spending $1.05B, +4% y/y

Europe

(UK) BBC’s Kuenssberg: PM May’s office has indicated the Brexit extension letter will be sent tomorrow to the EU
(UK) UK PM May has requested to address the 1922 Committee at 17:00 local time (16:00GMT) on Wed – UK Media

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, +0.1%, ASX 200 -0.3%, Hang Seng -0.4%; Shanghai Composite -1.1%; Kospi -0.7%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.5%; FTSE100 -0.6%
EUR 1.1358-1.1342 ; JPY 111.69-111.32 ; AUD 0.7092-0.7056 ;NZD 0.6857-0.6827
Gold -0.1% at $1,304/oz; Crude Oil -0.2% at $59.16/brl; Copper flat at $2.918/lb