Asia Mixed After Advance On Wall St

Nov 25 20, 06:57 GMT

General Trend

Transportation and Iron/Steel firms are among the gainers in Japan; Nissan Motor rises over 7% amid broker commentary
Hang Seng Financials index rises over 2% [HSBC rises over 7% amid positive broker comments] ; Property index also rose ahead of policy speech; TECH index drops [Xiaomi declines following earnings report]
Sinopharm rises over 9% in HK, submitted vaccine application in China [vaccine could enter the market by the end of 2020 (SCMP from July 24th)]; Hong Kong to add Eligible biotech companies to the stock connect program with China
Shanghai Composite lags, Consumer and Industrial firms drop
China issues warning related to certain NEV projects
Australia’s Energy index rises over 3.5%; Resource and Financial firms also gain
AUD and NZD consolidate after gains seen on Tues
NZ 10-year bond yield rose above 1% (highest since July) after Tuesday’s comments from Fin Min; New Zealand is due to sell bonds on Thursday
FOMC minutes are due on Wed (Nov 25th) amid focus on the Dec Fed meeting
Bank of Korea (BOK) is due to hold policy decision on Thurs (no changes expected)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.3%
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Gov Orr: Economy performed as well as possible; low interest rates are necessary; Low rates ensured NZ$ remains competitive – post FSR comments
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Semi-Annual Financial Stability Report (FSR): financial system has not been tested as severely as it could have
(NZ) RBNZ buys NZ$325M v NZ$320M prior in government bonds as part of QE v N$325M sought
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Offers to buy A$1.0B in Semi Govt bonds v A$1.0B prior
(AU) AUSTRALIA Q3 CONSTRUCTION WORK DONE Q/Q: -2.6% V -2.0%E
(AU) Australia sells A$2.0B v A$2.0B indicated in 1.25% May 2032 bonds, avg yield 1.0446%, bid to cover 2.52x
(AU) Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA): commenced a consultation to update the insurance capital and reporting frameworks in recognition of the implementation of Australian Accounting Standards Board 17 Insurance Contracts

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +1.2%
(JP) Japan Oct PPI Services Y/Y: -0.6% v -0.5%e
(JP) Japan PM Suga: Extremely important to properly protect jobs; Paying full attention to impact of coronavirus on employment
(JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Kato: Confirms talked to China Foreign Min; raised concerns on Hong Kong and Senkaku islands
(JP) Panel tells Japan health Ministry that medical services will come under “incredible” strain if the coronavirus outbreak continues, putting lives that could be saved under normal circumstances in danger – Japan press
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥500B v ¥500B indicated in 0.50% 40-year JGBs, Avg Yield: 0.665% v 0.6100% prior, bid to cover: 2.67x v 2.65x prior (remains at lowest bid to cover since 2015)

Korea

Kospi opened +0.8%
(KR) South Korea Dec Business Manufacturing Survey: 81 v 76 prior (2nd consecutive rise)
(KR) South Korea said to consider delaying Cryptocurrency tax by 3 months – Press
000270.KR Union said to stage partial strike from Nov 25-27th
(KR) According to recent poll by Korea Trade International Association, exporters see the Won as too strong currently and main concern for 2021 is currency volatility; Note 1,133 against the dollar is the pain threshold between profits and losses [vs current level of ~1,106]

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.9%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.7%
(HK) Hong Kong Chief Exec Lam: Foreign Govts and Legislatures have intensified interference in Hong Kong Affairs, which are squarely China internal affairs – annual policy address
(HK) Hong Kong chief Exec Lam: confirms Hong Kong to cut double stamp duty for commercial property, effective tomorrow; will not adjust residential stamp
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY120B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY70B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net inject CNY20B v Net inject CNY20B prior
763.HK US FCC denies ZTE petition for reconsideration of a US national security threat to communications networks
1810.HK Reports Q3 (CNY) Net 4.88B v 3.31Be, Rev 72.2B v 72.02Be
(CN) China Premier Li Keqiang: Reiterates stance to active fiscal and stable monetary policy, see GDP returning to “proper” range in 2021 – roundtable comments
(HK) Hong Kong govt plans to abolish commercial property stamp duty – press
(CN) China Finance Ministry sells CNY5.0B v CNY5.0B indicated in 2-year and 5-year bonds in Hong Kong

North America

PFE The first 6.4M doses of coronavirus vaccine should ship in mid-December – US press

Europe

(EU) ECB signals lifting of ban on bank dividends next year – financial press
(UK) According to a UK Cabinet Office briefing from Sept, the Govt thinks that the UK is facing an increased likelihood of systemic economic crisis against the backdrop of simultaneous risks this coming winter – Guardian

Levels as of 12:15ET

Hang Seng +0.7%; Shanghai Composite -0.3%; Kospi -0.6%; Nikkei225 +0.7%; ASX 200 +0.6%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax -0.3%; FTSE100 +0.5%
EUR 1.1910-1.1889; JPY 104.60-104.43; AUD 0.7373-0.7352; NZD 0.6989-0.6970
Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,802/oz; Crude Oil +0.9% at $45.30/brl; Copper +0.2% at $3.31/lb