General Trend
- Asian markets have remained mixed; Modest moves have been seen thus far.
- Hang Seng has extended gains [TECH index has risen by over 3% (Lenovo rises over 13% amid talk of higher laptop prices); HK companies continue to report earnings (BYD Co. declines after reporting; Bank of China and WH Group are expected to report today)]
- Shanghai Composite continued to rise during morning session [Consumer Staples index outperformed]
- S&P ASX 200 reversed the opening gain [Financials reversed gains; Resources index dropped after prior gain]
- Nikkei 225 is currently near the opening level amid more than 1,700 ex-dividends [Topix lagged; Nomura weighs on Securities index, Banks index also drops; Transport indices rise]
- NZD and AUD outperform amid higher 10-year government bond yields; Quarter and month-end flows in focus; Japan’s fiscal year ends in March.
- Turkish Lira (TRY) drops as central bank shake-up continues.
- Bank of Japan (BOJ) announces bond purchases for the month of April on Mar 31st (Wed).
- Macau monthly casino revenues are expected to be released this week.
- Companies expected to report during the NY morning include Granite Construction, Kandi Technologies, LMP Automotive, McCormick, QIWI.
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.1%.
- TER.AU Responding to media speculation: TerraCom nor Blair Athol mine are at center of fake coal sampling noted in article.
- AIR.NZ Notes domestic and corporate travel is returning to 90% of pre-covid levels; has added more seats and more business-timed flights, cites increased demand.
- (AU) Former Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) member Edwards: Think the A$ is headed to 0.80 to the USD, which will be a problem, so RBA will need to keep buying bonds in order to keep currency weaker – press.
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%.
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Japan economy likely to improve as a trend thanks to recovery in external demand along with effects of easy policy and govt stimulus package; reiterates to buy up to ¥12T in ETFs with a close eye on the markets even after pandemic eases – press interview ahead of speech.
- (JP) JAPAN FEB JOBLESS RATE: 2.9% V 3.0%E; Job to applicant ratio: 1.09x v 1.09xe.
- (JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: Recovery in availability of jobs has slowed due to state of emergency during Jan and Feb.
- (JP) JAPAN FEB RETAIL SALES M/M: 3.1% V 0.8%E; Y/Y: -1.5% V -2.9%E.
- (TW) Japan said to have asked Taiwan Chip Maker in Taiwan for chips after Renesas factory fire – Press.
- (JP) Japan MOF sells ¥3.0T v ¥3.0T indicated in 0.10% 2-year JGBs: avg yield: -0.1260% v -0.0990% prior; bid to cover 3.62x v 4.27x prior.
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.1%.
- (KR) North Korea leader Kim sister criticizes South Korea President Moon for speech on recent missile launches.
- (KR) US President Biden does not intend to meet with North Korea Leader Kim – White House press Sec.
- 003605.KR SK Bioscience said to halt production of flu vaccine SKY Cellflu to focus on production of Novavax coronavirus vaccine – South Korea press.
- (KR) South Korea plans to increase tax incentives by KRW3.0T in 2021 – local press.
- (KR) South Korea issues 2022 budget guidelines: to maintain an expansionary fiscal policy to underpin an economic recovery from the pandemic, but it will also seek to enhance fiscal soundness and try to curb debt growth – Yonhap.
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.8%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.1%.
- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net CNY0B v CNY0B prior.
- BYD, 211.HK Reports FY20 (CNY) Net 4.2B v 1.6B y/y; Rev 153.5B v 121.7B y/y; Guides Q1 Net CNY200-300M v 112.6M y/y.
- (CN) China steel industry said to target peak emissions before 2025 – Chinese press.
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5641 v 6.5416 prior (Weakest since Dec1, 2020).
- (HK) China Top Legislative body said to have endorsed and passed the Hong Kong Election law changes.
- (CN) FTSE Russell: China government bonds to be 5.25% of index (WGBI); China bonds to be included in the WGBI over a period of 36 months, effective from Oct 29th 2021; Malaysia to retain membership in the FTSE World Government Bond Index.
Other
- (SA) SAUDI ARABIA REPORTEDLY PREPARED TO BACK OPEC+ OIL CUT EXTENSIONS INTO MAY AND JUNE; READY TO EXTEND ITS VOLUNTARY CUTS.
- 2357.TW ACER and Asustek said to be increasing laptop prices by up to 10% in Q2 – Press.
- 2337.TW Chairman: Clients are triple booking orders for NOR flash-memory chips due to surging demand and limited manufacturing capacity; expect chip supply issues to last for 2 .years, will take that much time to build new chip factories – Taiwan press.
- (TW) US President Biden and Japan PM Suga are expected to note the Taiwan Strait in joint statement – Japanese press.
North America
- (US) Archegos Capital Management: This is a challenging time for the office, our partners and employees; all plans are being discussed as Mr. Hwang and the team determine the best path forward.
Europe
- (DE) Germany IG Metall Union: Agrees to 2.3% net wage increase for period through Oct 2022 just for state of North Rhine Westphalia – Union.
- (TR) Turkey Pres Erdogan fires Turkish Central Bank Deputy Gov Cetinkaya; names Mustafa Duman to replace him – press.
- (UK) PM Johnson: we must prevent new virus variants coming from overseas; see nothing in data to deviate from lockdown easing plan.
- (UK) Trade Sec Truss: Urge President Biden administration to “desist” from tit for tat tariffs on UK goods; US needs to find a fair way to tax tech companies – FT.
- (DE) Germany constitutional court ordered the president not to sign the EU recovery fund into law until the court has examined a motion brought by a handful of Eurosceptics – FT.
- (EU) ECB’s Vasiliauskas (Lithuania): Reiterates Council concern of shifting policy too quickly.
Levels as of 01:15ET
- Hang Seng +1.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.7%; Kospi +1.0%; Nikkei225 -0.1%; ASX 200 -0.7%.
- Equity Futures: S&P500 0.0%; Nasdaq100 -0.2%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.3%.
- EUR 1.1774-1.1761; JPY 110.00-109.75; AUD 0.7663-0.7629; NZD 0.7034-0.6995.
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.4% at $1,707/oz; Crude Oil -0.1% at $61.53/brl; Copper +0.2% at $4.04/lb.
