General Trend:
- Chinese high-performance computer maker Dawning Information addressed press speculation about US restrictions on supercomputing technology
- Chinese telecom equipment firms underperform on concerns about possible US 5G restrictions; ZTE -2.7%
- Aussie outperforms as RBA Gov Lowe spoke and USD trades generally weaker; Traders focused on expected G20 meeting between Trump and Xi
- Gold Futures extend gain in the face of US dollar weakness and Iran concerns
- The G20 leaders meeting is due to be held in Osaka from June 28-29th (Friday-Saturday)
- China and US negotiating teams could meet as soon as Tues (June 25th) – Chinese press
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is due to hold its official cash rate (OCR) decision on June 26th (Wed)
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.2%
- (AU) RBA Gov Lowe: Risks to global economy are tilted to the downside; legitimate to ask how effective monetary easing would be globally; if everyone is easing, the impact on exchange rates is offset
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) rate cut is fully priced in for the Aug 2019 meeting – US financial press
China/Hong Kong
- Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%, Hang Seng -0.3%
- (CN) China confirmed President Xi to attend G20 summit in Osaka from June 27th to June 29th – Xinhua
- (CN) China Vice Commerce Min: Confirms US and China trade teams are having discussions; both China and US should make compromises in trade talks
- (CN) China Assistant Foreign Min: Confirms China and US teams are making preparations for Xi, Trump [G20] meeting
- (US) VP Pence said to postpone China policy address indefinitely amid “positive signs” of progress ahead of Trump/Xi meeting – press
- (US) US said to consider requiring 5G equipment for domestic use to be made outside of China – US financial press
- (CN) US Commerce Dept to issue new export restrictions on China supercomputing technology – press
- (CN) China PBoC Dep Gov Gousheng: Policy room for countries to deal with economic slowdown is limited
- (CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8503 v 6.8472 prior
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO v CNY30B prior; Net Nil v CNY30B injected prior
- (CN) China volume-weighted avg benchmark overnight repo rate declines below 1.00% (10-year low); 7-day repo rate declines to 1.10% (over 4-year low)
- HSBC: Raises HK$ denominated 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month time deposit interest rates; Lowers USD$ denominated 12-month and 18-months time deposit interest rates
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -0.2%
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.2%
- (KR) South Korea sells KRW506B v KRW500B indicated in 20-year bonds: avg yield: 1.605% v 1.83% prior
Other
- (IN) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Gov Acharya said to resign 6 months before his term ends- Indian Press
North America
- (US) Markets are pricing in a 28% chance of 50bps US Fed rate cut in July – US financial press
- (US) Fed’s Harker (hawk, non-voter) did not comment on economic nor monetary policy outlook at event in Colorado
- (IR) Pres Trump: moving ahead with additional sanctions on Iran aimed at preventing it from getting a nuclear weapon; military action is still on the table
- Fedex [FDX]: Said an operational error prevented one of Huawei’s packages from being delivered to the US; China Global Times said Fedex is likely to be added to China’s ‘unreliable entities’ list
Europe
- (IT) EU expected to pause budget crackdown on Italy, EU to this week hold off on launching disciplinary process against Italy – FT
- (TU) Turkey opposition CHP party won the Istanbul mayoral election, CHP candidate Imamoglu is leading by a 54% to 45% margin over the ruling AKP (99% of the ballots counted) – FT
- Daimler [DAI.DE]: Cuts Mercedes-Benz Vans FY19 outlook: Now sees FY19 Group EBIT to be in the magnitude of the prior year; Guides Mercedes-Benz Vans FY19 return on sales -4% to
- 2% (vs 0 to +2% prior) ; Notes increase in provisions
Levels as of 1:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.2%, ASX 200 flat, Hang Seng +0.1%; Shanghai Composite -0.1%%; Kospi flat
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.3%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax +0.3%; FTSE100 +0.3%
- EUR 1.1387-1.1367 ; JPY 107.45-107.26 ; AUD 0.6962-0.6926 ;NZD 0.6602-0.6587
- Gold +0.4% at $1,405/oz; Crude Oil +0.7% at $57.84/brl; Copper +0.1% at $2.704/lb