Asian Steel Makers Said To Raise Prices

Sep 11 18, 05:59 GMT

General Trend:

Japan’s Renesas to pay $6.7B to acquire Integrated Device Technology
Macquarie Group reaffirms FY outlook
Steelmakers Nippon Steel and Baoshan said to raise prices
Tier 1 US brokerage firm sees US tariff announcement related to China later this week
China PBoC says banking liquidity is at ‘reasonable and plentiful’ level; skips OMO for 15th straight session
Japan Fin Min reiterates not seeking a bilateral trade deal with the US
Australia NAB business confidence matches the lowest level since 2016

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.1%
ASX 200 Telecom index +2.6%, Energy +2.1%, Financials +0.9%, REIT +0.8%, Resources +0.7%;Consumer Discretionary -0.3%
(AU) AUSTRALIA AUG NAB BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 4 V 7 PRIOR (lowest since Oct 2016): CONDITIONS: 15 V 12 PRIOR
(AU) Australia ABARES cut 2018/19 wheat output forecast by ~13% vs June estimate; wheat crop now seen at 19.1M tons v 21.9M prior
(NZ) New Zealand ANZ Aug Inflation Gauge M/M: 0.6%; Y/Y: 2.8% v 2.5% prior
(NZ) New Zealand Aug Card Spending Retail M/M: 1.0% v 0.5%e; Card Spending Total M/M: 1.1% v 0.5% prior

China/Hong Kong

Shanghai Composite opened flat, Hang Seng flat
Hang Seng Services index -2.5%, Materials -1.3%, Consumer Goods -1%, Industrial Goods -1%, Info Tech -0.8%; Energy +0.5%, Financials +0.3%
(CN) China Environment Ministry said to consider ending the requirement for provinces to set ‘specific’ output cuts for heavy industry during the winter heating season – financial press
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO (15th straight skip); sees banking liquidity at ‘reasonable and plentiful’ level
(CN) China PBoC set yuan reference rate: 6.8488 v 6.8389 prior
(CN) China CPI to keep ‘modest’ growth in the long-term – China Securities Journal

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +0.4%
TOPIX Securities index+1.1%, Info & Communications +0.9%; Iron & Steel -1.7%
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Reiterates view that does not want to pursue a bilateral FTA with the US
(JP) Japan Economy Min Motegi: US and Japan are still negotiating a date for bilateral trade talks, if they are held it would be before the Abe-Trump summit
(JP) Japan PM Abe reportedly mulling a cabinet reshuffle in early Oct – Japanese press
(JP) Japan Aug Money Stock M2 Y/Y: 2.9% v 3.0%e; M3 Y/Y: 2.5% v 2.6%e
(JP) Japan Q3 real GDP is expected to slow to 0.1% q/q or 0.5% annualized (vs. 0.7% and 3.0% in Q2), cites poll of private-sector economists; notes the impact of natural disasters

Nikkei

(JP) 60% of the top companies in Japan said a trade war would likely hurt their profits – Nikkei
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥700B v ¥700B indicated in 0.70% 30-year JGBs, avg yield 0.8380% v 0.850% prior, bid to cover 4.23x v 4.68x prior

Korea

Kospi opened -0.1%
(US) White House Press Sec Sanders: Trump has received second letter from North Korea Leader Kim about scheduling second meeting; US is open to it

Other

North America

US equity markets ended mixed: Dow -0.2%, S&P500 +0.2%, Nasdaq +0.3%, Russell 2000 +0.3%
S&P500 Healthcare -0.3%; Utilities +0.5%, Industrials +0.5%, Real Estate +0.5%
Integrated Device Technology [IDTI]: Renesas to pay $6.7B or $49/share to acquire the company (vs ~$6.0B speculated)

Europe

(UK) UK Tory ‘Eurosceptics’ said to have been unable to reach agreement on alternate Brexit plan – FT
(RU) Russia Energy Min Novak: OPEC and allies to discuss cooperation post 2018 in Algeria; OPEC+ has the tools to use quotas if the market needs; OPEC+ cooperation can continue without output quotas post 2018

Levels as of 01:30ET

Nikkei 225, +1.1%, ASX 200 +0.6%, Hang Seng -0.4%; Shanghai Composite -0.1%; Kospi -0.4%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.3%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.1%
EUR 1.1605-1.1577 ; JPY 111.49-111.05 ; AUD 0.7127-0.7091 ;NZD 0.6533-0.6518
Dec Gold -0.1% at $1,198/oz; Oct Crude Oil flat at $67.56/brl; Dec Copper +0.2% at $2.631 /lb