General Trend:
- Nikkei opened higher, Softbank rose over 9% on M&A news; Topix Air Transportation and Insurance indices are among the gainers; Marine Transportation index drops after recent gains
- Samsung Electronics rises over 2%, said to have won mobile application processor order over Taiwan Semi
- Resource and Energy firms rise in Australia, Consumer and Financial cos. lag; Macquarie drops after guidance
- Shanghai Composite rose by ~0.6% during morning session; Consumer and IT firms were among the gainers, financials lagged
- Gainers in Hong Kong include Tech and Property firms
- NZD outperforms as NZ PM announced plan to ease coronavirus-related restrictions (excluding Auckland)
- US energy-related FUTs (crude oil, nat gas, gasoline) rise as oil cos. make preparations for possible hurricane
- China 10-year government bond yield rises over 3bps, MLF funds are due to mature this week
- China Aug data (including industrial production) due on Tuesday (Sept 15th)
- The new US sanctions on Huawei are due to take effect on Tuesday (Sept 15th); The new sanctions will ban the supply of chips made with US components to Huawei [without prior approval from the US]
- RBA Sept Minutes are due on Tuesday (Sept 15th)
- US Fed due to hold policy meeting Sept 15-16th (Tues-Wed), BOJ to hold policy meeting Sept 16-17th (Wed-Thurs.)
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.2%
- (AU) Victoria state (Australia) reports 35 additional coronavirus cases (lowest number of daily cases since late June)
- Macquarie Group [MQG.AU]: Guides H1 of FY21 results to be lower by ~35% y/y (down ~25% vs H2 2020)
- (AU) Australia said to propose paying refining cos. to remain open, proposed to invest A$211M this year on fuel storage – financial press
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Skips offering to buy bonds v skips prior (2 straight skips)
- (NZ) New Zealand PM Ardern: New Zealand is extending Level 2 virus restrictions (in Auckland) by 1 week; Ex Auckland to move to alert Level 1 effective Midnight Sept 21st
- (NZ) NZIER forecasts New Zealand 2020-2021 economy contracting ~7.2% (previously saw a contraction of 9%)
- (NZ) New Zealand Aug Performance of Services Index: 46.9 v 54.4 prior
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) buys NZ$480M v NZ$440M prior in government bonds as part of QE v NZ$480M sought
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.3%, Shanghai Composite +0.5%
- (CN) ~CNY200B in medium-term lending facility (MLF) funds are due to mature this week – US financial press
- (CN) China PBOC said to tighten rules related to the financial businesses of conglomerates – financial press
- (CN) Chinese virologist (Dr. Li-Meng Yan) claims she has evidence that COVID-19 was made in govt controlled lab in Wuhan; says she is planning to release scientific proof in the next few days – NY Post
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY80B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY90B in 7-day prior; Net drain CNY20B v Net drain CNY10B prior
- (US) China begins anti-subsidy probe into certain US Glycol Ethers exports
- *(CN) CHINA AUG NEW HOMES PRICES M/M: 0.6% V 0.5% PRIOR; Y/Y: 4.8% V 4.8% PRIOR
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.8361 v 6.8389 prior
- *(CN) CHINA AUG M2 MONEY SUPPLY Y/Y: 10.4% V 10.7%E (from Sept 11th)
- *(CN) CHINA AUG NEW YUAN LOANS (CNY): 1.280T V 1.250TE (from Sept 11th)
- Tianjin Real Estate Group said to default on domestic private bond
Japan
- Nikkei225 opened +0.1%
- Softbank [9984.JP]: Executives said to restart talks about taking the firm private – FT
- Softbank [9984.JP]: Confirms it will sell ARM to NVIDIA for up to $40B [cash and stock transaction], $2.0B will be paid to Arm in cash; Softbank Group and Vision fund to receive $10B in cash; to receive $21.5B worth of NVIDIA shares
- (JP) Outgoing Japan PM Abe has made another visit to a Tokyo hospital – Japanese press (from Sept 12th)
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga (LDP Ruling Party Leadership Candidate) Expected to win race for LDP party leadership (in line) – Press [Reminder: LDP Leadership election to be held today (Sept 14th)]
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga (leading LDP Party leadership candidate): if the pandemic worsens, govt will do whatever is necessary to protect jobs and businesses in Japan; no plans to raise sales tax for 10 years, but can’t rule out future tax hikes; No rush to change BOJ’s easing policy; must maintain 2% inflation target – PM candidates debate
- (JP) Japan reaches reached a broad agreement with UK in trade talks on a ministerial level (from Sept 11th)
- (JP) Japan PM Abe (outgoing):to identify policies to address the severe security environment by the end of the year (from Sept 11th)
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.9%
- (KR) South Korea ends level 2.5 social distancing, Level now set at Level 2 – Yonhap
- Samsung Electronics: Follow Up: Awarded KRW1.0T (~$842M) order from Qualcomm, the order relates to next-generation mobile application processor for premium 5G smartphones – Press
- (KR) South Korea confirms 109 additional coronavirus cases v 121 prior (12 straight days of <200 cases)
- (KR) South Korea sells 10-year bonds at 1.540% v 1.380% prior
Other Asia
- (PH) Philippines Central Bank (BSP) Gov Diokno: Central bank can lend more to Govt under new law; Lending cap increased from 20% to 30%
- (SG) Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund Temasek upgrades its medium term note program from $20B to $25B; To use the proceeds to fund ordinary course of business.
- (TW) Taiwan Central Bank said to urge FX traders to spread out selling of the USD and not sell large amounts in a single trade – financial press
- North America
- (US) Pres Trump tweets: Just signed a new Executive Order to LOWER DRUG PRICES!
- (US) President Trump: Reiterates China did not handle coronavirus properly – Campaign Rally
- NVIDIA [NVDA]: Follow Up: Says ARM transaction to be immediately accretive to non-GAAP gross margin and EPS
- Merck [MRK]: Begins human testing of its Covid-19 vaccine – press (from Sept 11th after market close)
- Pfizer [PFE]: Proposes BNT162 Phase 3 Pivotal COVID-19 Vaccine Trial expansion (from Sept 12th)
- Immunomedics [IMMU]: Confirms to be acquired by Gilead Sciences for $88.00/shr in ~$21B cash-debt deal
- Scientific Games [SGMS]: Executive Chairman Ronald Perelman nears agreement to sell 40% stake in Co to Caledonia (Australia fund), the transaction could value the co. at ~$2.0B (~11% premium to current market cap) – Press
- Oracle [ORCL]: Reportedly now considered as most likely buyer of TikTok’s US ops – Axios
- (US) NHC: Tropical Storm Sally is forecast to become a hurricane on Monday
- Nasdaq FUTs rolled over to the Dec 2020 contract.
Europe
- AstraZeneca [AZN.UK]: Oxford and AstraZeneca resume coronavirus vaccine trial
- (DE) Germany Fin Min Scholz: European economy is recovering much better than many had feared at the start of the pandemic
- (DE) China bans pork imports from Germany after confirmation of first case of African swine fever last week – press
Levels as of 1:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.6%, ASX 200 +0.4% , Hang Seng +0.4%; Shanghai Composite +0.3% ; Kospi +1.2%
- Equity S&P500 Futures: +1.1%; Nasdaq100 +1.4%, Dax +0.8%; FTSE100 +0.2%
- EUR 1.1851-1.1832 ; JPY 106.16-106.01 ; AUD 0.7290-0.7268 ;NZD 0.6701-0.6661
- Gold +0.3% at $1,954/oz; Crude Oil +0.5% at $37.53/brl; Copper +0.2% at $3.0482/lb
