General Trend:
- Asian equity markets trade mixed, in line with Thursday’s US session
- Finance Ministers from Japan and China are holding talks in Beijing
- Bank of Japan is expected to release its bond buying schedule for Sept after the market close
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.2%
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): High debt levels could complicate future policy decisions – Corporate Plan for 2018/19
- (AU) Australia July Private Sector Credit M/M: 0.4% v 0.3%e; Y/Y: 4.4% v 4.4%e
- (NZ) New Zealand ANZ Aug Consumer Confidence Index: 117.6 v 118.4 prior; m/m: -0.7% v -1.3% prior
China/Hong Kong
- Shanghai Composite -0.3%, Hang Seng -1.3%
- (CN) Pres Trump reportedly tells aides he is ready to implement the proposed $200B in new China tariffs as soon as next week, though final decision is still pending – press
- (CN) CHINA AUG OFFICIAL GOVT MANUFACTURING PMI: 51.3 V 51.0E; Non-manufacturing PMI: 54.2 v 53.8e
- (CN) China PBoC set yuan reference rate: 6.8246 v 6.8113 prior
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO (8th straight skip)
- (CN) China Finance Min Liu Kun: China and Japan should enhance macro-policy coordination
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -0.6%
- (JP) JAPAN JUL JOBLESS RATE: 2.5% V 2.4%E; Job-To-Applicant-Ratio: 1.63 v 1.63e (highest since Jan 1974)
- (JP) JAPAN JUL PRELIM INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: -0.1% V +0.2%E; Y/Y: 2.3% V 2.7%E:
- Japan government cuts assessment of industrial output.
- (JP) Japan Aug Tokyo CPI Y/Y: 1.2% v 1.0%e; CPI EX-Fresh Food (core) Y/Y: 0.9% v 0.8%e
- (JP) JAPAN JULY ANNUALIZED HOUSING STARTS: 958K V 926KE; Y/Y: -0.7% V -4.1%E
- (JP) Japan Finance Min Aso: Monetary policies are normalizing in developed nations; meeting with China to improve financial cooperation
- (JP) Japan PM Abe likely to meet US President Trump on Sept 25th (during the UN General Assembly in NY) – financial press
Korea
- Kospi opened -0.4%
- (KR) BANK OF KOREA (BOK) LEAVES 7-DAY REPO RATE UNCHANGED AT 1.50%; AS EXPECTED
- Bank of Korea Gov Lee: Today’s decision was not unanimous, board member Lee Il-Houng voted for a rate hike
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BoK): Reiterates to maintain accommodative policy stance, carefully judge if necessary to adjust policy further
- (KR) South Korea July Industrial Production M/M: +0.4% v -0.2%e; Y/Y: 0.9% v 0.5%e
Other
- (ID) Rupiah (IDR) currency extends decline, trades at lowest level since 1998; Indonesia 10-yr bond yield trades above 8.02% (highest since Dec 2016)
- (ID) Indonesia Central Bank Official: Says intervening in the forex and bond markets ‘decisively’
North America
- US equity markets ended lower: Dow -0.5%, S&P500 -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.3%, Russell 2000 -0.1%
- S&P500 Materials -1.1%
- (US) Pres Trump: will withdraw from WTO if it doesn’t ‘shape up’; don’t regret naming Powell as Fed Chair – press interview
- (AR) Argentina Treasury Min Dujovne is said to plan to travel to Washington DC on Monday to meet with the IMF – US financial press
- (CA) Canada Trade Min: Sees possibility of US trade deal on Friday, looking for points of alignment with the US on trade deal
- (CA) Canada Foreign Minister: Had brief conversations with USTR Lighthizer, will reconvene in the morning
Europe
- (AT) ECB’s Nowotny (Austria): Italian situation should not delay interest rate hikes; sees Italy as a special situation
- (EU) ECB’s Weidmann (Germany): Euro zone budget could be counterproductive
- (UK) UK Aug GfK Consumer Confidence: -7 v -10e
- (UK) UK Aug Lloyds Business Barometer: 23 v 29 prior
- (TR) Turkey extends tax exemption on wealth repatriation by 6 months
Levels as of 01:30ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.1%, ASX 200 -0.4%, Hang Seng -0.8%; Shanghai Composite +0.2%; Kospi +0.4%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax +0.3%; FTSE100 +0.1%
- EUR 1.1691-1.1659 ; JPY 111.14-110.88 ; AUD 0.7270-0.7242 ;NZD 0.6663-0.6635
- Aug Gold +0.5% at $1,210/oz; Sept Crude Oil flat at $70.27/brl; Sept Copper +0.2% at $2.707/lb
