General Trend:
- Markets in HK and Shanghai lag amid the data out of China; Decliners in Shanghai include IT, Consumer Discretionary and Industrial cos.
- Kweichow Moutai drops over 6% in China
- Semiconductor Manufacturing (biggest Chinese chipmaker) rose by over 240% in Shanghai debut
- Financials and tech firms trade generally lower in HK; Geely drops over 6%
- ANTA Sports drops over 5% in HK on guidance
- Electric Appliances and Securities firms are among the decliners in Japan
- Decliners in Australia include Resource, Energy and Financial cos.
- Taiwan Semi expected to report Q2 results later today
- Indonesia Central Bank expected to cut rates by 25bps
- China’s Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) sometimes holds weekly news conferences on Thursday
- Companies expected to report during the NY morning include Abbott Labs, Bank of America, JNJ, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened flat
- (AU) AUSTRALIA JUN EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: 210.8K V 100KE; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 7.4% V 7.3%E (FIRST JOBS ADDED SINCE MARCH); Increase in unemployment is largely the result of people moving back into the labor force
- (AU) Victoria state reports record 317 coronavirus cases v 238 prior
- (AU) Victoria reported to be considering stage 4 virus lockdown (update) – Press
- (AU) Australia PM Morrison: Announces A$2.0B Job Skilling plan; Expects to see impact of coronavirus job restrictions in July job data – Comments on Victoria State
- *(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q2 CPI Q/Q: -0.5% V -0.6%E (first decline since Dec 2015); Y/Y: 1.5% V 1.3%E
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.3%, Shanghai Composite opened -0.2%
- (CN) China Stats Bureau Liu Aihua: China economic recovery under pressure; Global economy faces great difficulties in restarting
- (CN) China President Xi: China Fundamentals of economic growth will not change; Pledges reform, opening up China more – Letter to Global CEOs
- *(CN) CHINA Q2 GDP Q/Q: 11.5% V 9.6%E; Y/Y: 3.2% V 2.4%E
- *(CN) CHINA JUN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Y/Y: 4.8% V 4.8%E
- *(CN) CHINA JUN FIXED ASSETS INVESTMENT (EX-RURAL) YTD Y/Y: -3.1% V -3.3%E
- *(CN) CHINA JUN RETAIL SALES Y/Y: -1.8% V 0.5%E; YTD Y/Y: -11.4% V -11.2%E
- (CN) China Jun Surveyed Jobless Rate: 5.7% v 5.9%e
- *(CN) CHINA JUN PROPERTY INVESTMENT YTD Y/Y: 1.9% V 1.0%E
- *(CN) CHINA JUN NEW HOMES PRICES M/M: 0.6% V 0.5% PRIOR; Y/Y: 3.7% V 4.9% PRIOR
- (CN) US reported to consider travel ban on China Communist party, but Trump may ultimately reject possible travel ban – NYT
- (CN) Pres Trump reportedly leaning against US sanctions on Chinese officials for the moment, tells aides he doesn’t want to escalate tensions – press
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.9913 v 6.9982 prior (Strongest since Mar 12th)
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY50B via 7-day reverse repos v Skips reverse repos prior; Net injection CNY50B
- Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical [2196.HK]: Receives China govt approval to start coronavirus vaccine trial
- (CN) China Film Administration: To allow cinemas in low risk areas to resume operations from July 20th
Japan
- Nikkei225 opened -0.2%
- Sony Financial [8729.JP]: To be replaced in Nikkei225 index by Japan Exchange
- (JP) Tokyo reports >280 coronavirus cases v 143 prior (Previous record was 243 cases) – Press
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: Japan will address Go To Travel campaign after meeting with experts; Inbound tourism ‘almost zero’, very tough for some Japan regions
- (JP) Japan Online brokerage firms consider creating clearing house – Press
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.1%
- *(KR) BANK OF KOREA (BOK) LEAVES 7-DAY REPO RATE AT 50BPS AS EXPECTED
- Bank of Korea Gov Lee: Economy weaker than expected; recovery of exports may be delayed; to meet tomorrow to decide setup of Special purpose vehicle
Other Asia
- (TH) Thailand Fin Min: Resigns effectively immediately , says there was no pressure to resign from post; Thailand Deputy PM Somkid: Resigns
North America
- Twitter [TWTR]: Says it has detected coordinated social engineering attack [comments on earlier reported hack]
- (US) US Treasury: US Treasury Sec Mnuchin spoke with counterparts in Australia, UK and Canada [second of a series of regular calls among the countries]
- (BZ) Brazil Econ Min Guedes: Discussing financial transaction tax
Europe
- Astrazeneca [AZN.UK]: UK’s Telegraph: Oxford scientists may have a ‘breakthrough’ on COVID-19 vaccine; drug triggers response that may offer ‘double defense’ against the virus
- IMF Chief Georgieva: Factors such as job loss, bankruptcies, and restructurings could pose significant challenges to financial sector; second coronavirus wave could cause further disruptions
Levels as of 1:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, -0.9%, ASX 200 -0.9% , Hang Seng -1.5%; Shanghai Composite -2.1% ; Kospi-0.9 %
- Equity S&P500 Futures: -0.5%; Nasdaq100 -0.8%, Dax -0.7%; FTSE100 -0.6%
- EUR 1.1418-1.1400 ; JPY 107.03-106.83 ; AUD 0.7015-0.6982 ;NZD 0.6579-0.6551
- Gold flat at $1,813/oz; Crude Oil -0.8% at $40.89/brl; Copper -1% at $2.8643/lb