Kiwi Rises After Better Than Expected Q2 Retail Sales: Geely Trades Higher Amid H1 Earnings Report And Comments

Aug 22 18, 07:13 GMT

General Trend:

Asian equity markets trade mixed, Australia and Shanghai underperform
New Zealand Q2 retail sales rise more than expected, hardware and building supplies had the largest increase
US Fed minutes due for release on Wed
Australia’s Qantas is expected to report financial results on Thursday

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.2%
ASX 200 Utilities index -1.6%, Financials -1.1%, Resources -1%, Energy -0.4%; Telecom +6.5% (Telstra +6.2%)
(AU) AUSTRALIA Q2 CONSTRUCTION WORK DONE: 1.6% V 0.8%E
(AU) RBA Assist Gov Debelle: We would like to be more confident inflation will be sustained at target (2-3%), current accommodative stance of monetary policy will assist this outcome
(AU) Australia PM Turnbull: Tax cuts for big businesses have failed to pass the Senate, government will not take tax cuts to the next election
(AU) Australia sells A$1B v A$1B indicated in Nov 2022 bonds, avg yield 2.1415%, bid to cover: 4.6x
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q2 RETAIL SALES EX INFLATION Q/Q: 1.1% V 0.3%E

China/Hong Kong

Shanghai opened -0.1%, Hang Seng +0.3%
Hang Seng Energy index +2%, Info Tech +1.8%, Consumer Goods +0.7%, Services +0.6%, Financials +0.4%; Telecom -0.7%, Materials -0.5%, Utilities -0.4%, Property/Construction -0.1%
(CN) China PBoC set yuan reference rate at 6.8271 v 6.8360 prior
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO v CNY50B injected in 7-day reverse repos prior
(CN) China Hebei Province said to plan low-emission campaign related to steel companies – Xinhua

Japan

Nikkei 225 opens +0.2%
TOPIX Iron & Steel index +2%, Securities +1.2%, Marine Transportation index +1.1%, Electric Appliances +1%; Real Estate -0.2%, Info & Communications -0.1%

Automakers generally outperform

(JP) Japan Finance Aso and China Vice Premier Liu might meet in Beijing – Japanese Press
(JP) Former BoJ Official Ishida: BoJ could ‘whittle down’ stimulus before inflation hits the 2% target
(JP) Japan Jun All Industry Activity Index M/M: -0.8% v -0.8%e

Korea

Kospi opened +0.2%
(KR) South Korea Q2 Short-term External Debt: $125.1B v $120.5B prior
(KR) South Korea government said to be discussing measures on the housing market – Local Press

Other

North America

US equity markets ended higher: Dow +0.3%, S&P500 +0.2%, Nasdaq +0.5%, Russell 2000 +1.1%
S&P500 Consumer Discretionary +0.8%
(MX) US said to announce ‘handshake’ NAFTA deal related to Mexico on Thursday – Politico
(MX) Mexico said to deny the existence of a ‘handshake’ deal related to NAFTA
(US) Former Trump lawyer Cohen enters guilty plea at court hearing; says he violated campaign law at direction of the ‘candidate’, sought to influence the election
(US) Trump Attorney Giuliani: Government’s charges against Cohen contain no allegation of any wrongdoing against the President
(US) Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort found guilty on eight counts including tax fraud, bank fraud charges – press
(US) Weekly API Oil Inventories: Crude: -5.2M v +3.7M prior

Levels as of 01:30ET

Nikkei 225 +0.4%, ASX 200 -0.4%, Hang Seng +0.4%; Shanghai Composite -0.6%; Kospi +0.3%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.3%; Nasdaq100 -0.3%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.2%
EUR 1.1583-1.1567 ; JPY 110.51-110.02 ; AUD 0.7371-0.7345 ;NZD 0.6721-0.6686
Aug Gold +0.2% at $1,202/oz; Sept Crude Oil +0.5% at $66.16/brl; Sept Copper +0.1% at $2.689 /lb