Asia Summary
Asian markets opened mostly higher after strong US employment data on Friday. Commodity names especially seeing strength in Australia. Quotes on China rebar reach a 4-yr high after a report said that Hebei Province will curb steel production during the winter (Hebei province is China largest iron and steel producer). According to Citi, winter steel curbs could cut daily production by 8%.
NZD fell slightly to 0.7397 after Q3 New Zealand inflation expectation survey generally showed a decline in expectations. The only rise in the survey was 2-yr GDP, which rose to 2.64% from 4.89% seen in Q2. Korean won and equities moved a bit higher after UN approved fresh sanctions against North Korea that was also supported by China and Russia.
Key economic data
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q3 INFLATION EXPECTATION SURVEY: 2-YEAR INFLATION EXPECTATION 2.09% V 2.17% PRIOR
(JP) JAPAN JULY OFFICIAL RESERVE ASSETS: $1.260T V $1.249T PRIOR
(AU) AUSTRALIA JULY CONSTRUCTION INDEX: 60.5 V 56.0 PRIOR (highest since 2005)
(AU) AUSTRALIA JUL ANZ JOB ADVERTISEMENTS M/M: 1.5% V 2.7% PRIOR
Speakers and Press
China
(CN) China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said to have extended June deadline for banks to submit risk assessments until mid-August
(CN) China Foreign Min Wang Yi: China and the US are reluctant to fight trade war
(US) US Army to no longer use drones made by China based SZ DJI Technology Co, citing ‘cyber vulnerabilities’ – financial press
(CN) Shanghai Stock Exchange to increase scrutiny of M&A, transfer of control deals and other corporate actions that could lead to financial risk in the market –Xinhua
(CN) PBOC to include internet finance into macro prudential assessment (MPA) – China Daily
New Zealand
(NZ) New Zealand Treasury: Economic growth may lift slightly over the next year
Korea
(KR) UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose new sanctions on North Korea, includes cutting $1B in exports related to North Korea
Europe
(UK) Said that is prepared to pay up to €40B to the EU to settle its Brexit bill – Telegraph
Asian Equity Indices/Futures (00:00ET)
Nikkei +0.6%, Hang Seng +0.3%, Shanghai Composite -0.2%, ASX200 +1.1%, Kospi +0.4%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax +0.2%, FTSE100 +0.2%
FX ranges/Commodities/Fixed Income (00:00ET)
EUR 1.1802-1.1766; JPY 110.85-110.60; AUD 0.7949-0.7912; NZD 0.7417-0.7397
Dec Gold -0.1% at 1,263/oz; Sept Crude Oil -0.3% at $49.42/brl; Sept Copper -0.4% at $2.88/lb
(CN) China PBOC OMO injects CNY250B in 7 and 14-day reverse repos v CNY120B prior
USD/CNY *(CN) PBOC SETS YUAN REFERENCE RATE AT: 6.7228 V 6.7132 PRIOR
(KR) South Korea Treasury sells 5-yr pre-issuance Govt bonds at 1.98%
(KR) South Korea sells KRW700B v KRW700B offered in 6-month monetary stabilization bonds; avg yield 1.33% v 1.32% prior
(TH) Thailand sells THB5B in 3-month bills; avg yield 1.05074%; bid-to-cover ratio 3.65x
Equities notable movers
Hong Kong/China
China Resources Cement, 1313.HK Reports 1H net HK$1.64B v HK$0.26B y/y, Rev HK$13.2B v HK$11.3B y/y; +3.4%
Japan
Square Enix, 9684.JP Reports Q1 Net ¥8.4B v ¥5.3B y/y; Op ¥12.9B v ¥8.9B y/y; Rev ¥57B v ¥51.1B y/y; +7.4%
Toshiba, 6502.JP Auditor is said to be considering endorsing FY16 securities or financial report – Japanese Press; +6.5%
Korea
Samsung Engineering,028050.KR Awarded KRW1.13T order; +9.1%
Australia
Starpharma, SPL.AU Two phase 3 trials related to VIVAGEL met primary objective; +8%
AirXpanders, AXP.AU Received A$15M under a debt financing transaction with Oxford Finance; +5.7%
Other
TMUS Sprint said to be resuming prelim talks on merger with T-Mobile – financial press
