General Trend:
- Hang Seng opened higher, but later pared gains amid continued weakness in the property sector
- Shanghai Composite declines in early trading amid weakness in trade-sensitive sectors (IT and Telecom Services)
- Gainers in Japan include Fast Retailing, financials and Softbank are among the decliners
- Japanese companies expected to report earnings later today include Nissan Motor and JFE Holdings
- ASX200 lags after Monday’s outperformance, declining sectors include financials and resources
- NZD declines ahead of Wednesday’s RBNZ rate decision, 2-year inflation expectations drop to multi-year low
- Westpac now expects RBNZ to cut rates at tomorrow’s meeting (previously saw rates on hold)
- Trump is expected to speak at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX200 opened -0.3%
- (AU) AUSTRALIA OCT NAB BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 2 V 0 (FLAT) PRIOR; BUSINESS CONDITIONS: 3 V 2 PRIOR
- (AU) Australia sells A$100M v A$100M indicated in 1.00% Feb 2050 indexed bonds: Avg Yield 0.3075%; Bid-to-cover 3.31x
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Q4 Inflation Expectation Survey: 2-year Outlook: 1.80% v 1.9% prior (lowest since early 2017)
China/Hong Kong
- Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%, Hang Seng opened +0.5%
- (CN) City of Shenzhen to remove home transaction tax related to some second-hand home transactions, move seen as an attempt to increase demand – China Press
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips for 12th consecutive session
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 6.9988 v 6.9933 prior
- (CN) China PBOC Advisor Sheng: China should cut rates but not use monetary flooding; suggests cutting the MLF and LPR rates are more helpful in lowering real financing costs vs RRR cuts – US Financial Press
- (HK) Hong Kong protests cause significant traffic delays; police firing tear gas at protesters; at least nine universities have cancelled classes – financial press
- (HK) US State Dept: Watching situation in Hong Kong with ‘grave concern’
Japan
- Nikkei225 opened flat
- (JP) Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) said to suggest an additional sales hike increase as an option – Nikkei
- (JP) Japan govt is mulling changing its tax system to encourage M&A activity – Japan press
- (JP) Japan Oct M2 Money Supply Y/Y: 2.5% v 2.4%e; M3 Money Supply Y/Y: 2.1% v 2.0%e
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ÂĄ700B v ÂĄ700B indicated in 0.4% coupon 30-year JGBs, avg yield: 0.4580% v 0.3820% prior, bid to cover 3.66x v 3.87x prior
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.3%
North America
- (US) Pres Trump reportedly expected to delay auto tariff decision for six more months – Politico
Levels as of 00:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.4%, ASX 200 -0.3%, Hang Seng +0.2%; Shanghai Composite -0.2%; Kospi +0.3%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax flat; FTSE100 -0.1%
- EUR 1.1039-1.1024 ; JPY 109.18-108.94 ; AUD 0.6855-0.6831 ;NZD 0.6369-0.6325
- Gold flat at $1,457/oz; Crude Oil flat at $56.86/brl; Copper +0.2% at $2.667/lb