US Stocks Ended Thursday Mostly Lower

Jul 20 18, 06:18 GMT

General Trend:

Asian equity markets pare early gains amid focus on China, US stocks ended Thursday mostly lower
Taiwan Semi bucks the overall trend and rises after recent earnings report
Shanghai Composite at risk of declining for 6 straight sessions; Property index underperforms
Hang Seng trades near 10-month low
China PBoC set the yuan fixed for the 7th straight session
The yuan is ‘dropping like a rock’, says US President Trump
Yuan weakness weighs on Asian and commodity currencies
China State-Owned Banks said to have been seen selling US dollars (USD) in the yuan market around 6.81 (financial press)
PBoC to keep ‘loose bias’ in H2, says the China Securities Times
Japan June CPI data was mixed, core figure rose for the first time since Feb
Australia 3-month bank bill rate fixed below 2.00%, first time since early June
The G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors is due to be held on July 21-22 (Saturday-Sunday)
Australia Q2 CPI data due next week (Wed July 25th)
Tokyo Steel expected to report quarterly earnings after the close

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.2%
ASX 200 REIT index +0.8%, Telecom +0.8%, Energy +0.6%, Consumer Discretionary +0.5%, Utilities +0.4%, Financials +0.3%
(NZ) New Zealand Jun Net Migration SA: 4.8K v 5.1K prior
(NZ) New Zealand ANZ Q2 Quarterly Business Micro Scope survey noted confidence among small companies hit a 9-year low – US financial press
(NZ) New Zealand Jun Credit Card Spending M/M: +2.1% v -1.6% prior; Y/Y: 5.7% v 3.7% prior

China/Hong Kong

Shanghai Composite opened -0.1%, Hang Seng +0.2%
Hang Seng Industrial Goods index -1.8%, Materials -1.7%, Property/Construction -1.2%, Consumer Goods -1.1%, Info Tech -1%, Financials -0.7%; Utilities +0.9%
(CN) CHINA PBOC SET YUAN REFERENCE RATE AT 6.7671 V 6.7066 PRIOR (7th straight weaker yuan fix, weakest fix since July 14, 2017)
(CN) For the week, the PBoC injected a net CNY540B in its OMOs v CNY90B drain w/w
(CN) China said to plan to tighten supervision of equities market in H2 2018 – China Securities Journal
(CN) PBoC Stats Dept Head: China at leverage stabilization stage – Chinese Press
(CN) China Finance Ministry (MOF) sells 30-year bonds: yield 3.97% v 3.93%e; bid to cover 1.68x v 1.75x prior

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%
TOPIX Marine Transportation index -1.8%, Iron & Steel -1.7%, Securities -1.2%
(JP) JAPAN JUN NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: 0.7% V 0.8%E; CPI EX FRESH FOOD (CORE): 0.8% V 0.8%E (first rise since Feb)
(JP) BoJ said to start discussion in Aug on post-Libor benchmark – Japanese Press
(CN) China and Japan to hold talks on Belt and Road in Sept – Japanese Press

Korea

Kospi opened flat
(KR) South Korea Jun PPI Y/Y: 2.6% v 2.2% prior
(KR) South Korea President Moon said to consider meeting North Korea leader Kim again at the end of Aug – South Korean Press

Other

North America

US equity markets ended mostly lower: Dow -0.5%, S&P500 -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.4%, Russell 2000 +0.5%
S&P500 Financials -1.5%, Telecom -0.7%; Real Estate +1%, Utilities +0.9%
(US) Commerce Sec Ross: too soon to say if auto market trade probe will result in a national security ruling – hearing on auto imports
(US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets for week ending July 18th: $4.34T, +$5.2B w/w, -$183.3B y/y; Reserve Bank Credit $4.26T, +$5.4B w/w, -$184.2B y/y

Europe

(DE) Germany H1 Tax Revenue Y/Y: +7.3% – Finance Ministry Monthly Report
(DE) Germany Bundesbank Beermann: Target2 balances are not at risk – German Press

Levels as of 01:30ET

Nikkei 225 -0.5%, ASX 200 +0.3%, Hang Seng -0.1%; Shanghai Composite +0.6%; Kospi +0.2%%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax -0.2%; FTSE100 flat
EUR 1.1626-1.1660 ; JPY 112.27-112.64 ; AUD 0.7317-0.7377 ;NZD 0.6720-0.6756
Aug Gold -0.5% at $1,218/oz; Aug Crude Oil -0.2% at $68.14/brl; Jul Copper -0.6% at $2.701 /lb