RBNZ Indicates No Rush For Raising Rates

Aug 09 18, 06:35 GMT

General Trend:

Asian equities trade mostly higher
Shanghai Composite Property index rises over 2%
Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) pushes back rate hike view
NZD/JPY declines over 1%, NZ bond yields drop over 10bps
New Zealand’s Fonterra said there may be a variation from its prior earnings guidance
Shares of Mazda, Yamaha and Suzuki decline amid emissions testing concerns
Various Japanese oil companies seen reporting results today
Japan June Machine Orders miss ests, government cuts assessment
Japan sells 30 yr JGBs at lower bid to cover
China Commerce Ministry confirmed retaliatory tariff on $16B of US goods, to take effect on Aug 23rd
China’s inflation accelerates in July, remains below target
Philippines Q2 GDP misses ests, central bank expected to hike rates later today on inflation
Japan prelim Q2 GDP due for release on Friday
New Zealand expected to sell April 2029 bonds on tomorrow’s session

Headlines/Economic Data

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.2%
TOPIX Securities index -1%, Real Estate -0.7%, Retail Trade -0.4%, Marine Transportation -0.4%
(JP) Japan Investors Net Buying of Foreign Bonds: ¥1.17T v ¥526.5B prior; Foreign Buying of Japan Stocks: -¥225.2B v -¥63.4B prior
(JP) JAPAN JUN CORE MACHINE ORDERS M/M: -8.8% V -1.0%E; Y/Y: +0.3% V 10.5%E; Japan Govt cuts assessment of machine orders
(JP) Japan July Money Supply: M3 y/y: 2.6% v 2.7%e; M2 y/y: 3.0% v 3.1%e
(JP) Japan Government: Suzuki, Mazda and Yamaha Motor conducted improper tests
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥700B v ¥700B indicated in 0.7% (0.8% prior) 30-yr bonds; Avg yield: 0.850% v 0.704% prior; Bid to cover: 4.68x v 5.01x prior

Korea

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.4%, Shanghai Composite -0.5%
Hang Seng Info Tech index +2.9%, Consumer Goods +1.8%, Telecom +1.6% Materials +1.6%, Financials +1.4%, Property/Construction +0.9%
(CN) CHINA JULY CPI M/M: +0.3% V -0.1% PRIOR; Y/Y: 2.1% V 2.0%E (matches highest reading since March)
(CN) CHINA JULY PPI Y/Y: 4.6% V 4.5%E
(CN) China said to have started evaluations of the asset management businesses of insurance companies – Chinese Press
(HK) Large banks in Hong Kong are expected to increase mortgage rates on Aug 13th – US financial press
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO for the 15th straight session
(CN) CHINA PBOC SETS YUAN REFERENCE RATE AT 6.8317 V 6.8313 PRIOR
(CN) China Commerce Ministry confirms retaliatory tariff on $16B of US goods to take effect on Aug 23rd, reiterates stance that it was forced to retaliate (after the close yesterday)

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened flat
ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary index +1.5%, Financials +1.4%; Utilities -1.8%
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND CENTRAL BANK (RBNZ) LEAVES OFFICIAL CASH RATE (OCR) UNCHANGED AT 1.75%, AS EXPECTED; delays first rate increase
(NZ) RBNZ Gov Orr: Risk to cash rate (OCR) outlook are balanced, in no rush to move rate – post rate decision press conference
BHP.AU Settles class action over Samarco dam failure, to pay plaintiffs $50M with no admission of liability
SUN.AU Reports FY18 (A$) net 1.06B v 1.0Be; to sell Australia life insurance business to Tal Dai-ichi Life; declared special dividend of A$0.08/share
FCG.NZ Trading halted: Seeing variation from earnings guidance

Other Asia

North America

US equity markets ended mixed: Dow -0.2%, S&P500 flat, Nasdaq +0.1%, Russell 2000 -0.1%
S&P500 Consumer Staples -0.8%; Technology +0.3%
RAD Agrees to terminate merger with Albertsons
DNB To Be Acquired by Investor Group Led by CC Capital, Cannae Holdings and Thomas H. Lee Partners for $145/shr cash or $6.9B
(MX) Mexico Economy Minister Guajardo: Definitely encouraged to keep on working, covering all the items that we have to cover for the NAFTA talks

Europe

(UK) PM May writes letter to Tory grassroots seeking support for Chequers plan – financial press

Levels as of 01:30ET

Hang Seng +1.3%; Shanghai Composite +1.9%; Kospi -0.1%; Nikkei225 -0.1%; ASX 200 +0.5%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.6%
EUR 1.1601-1.1619; JPY 110.71-111.44; AUD 0.7416-0.7453;NZD 0.6664-0.6763
Dec Gold +0.1% at $1,222/oz; Sept Crude Oil +0.1% at $67.02/brl; Sept Copper +1.1% at $2.78/lb