General Trend:
- Equity markets trade generally higher, Shanghai lags
- Nikkei 225 tests early Feb highs above 23,050
- China fixed asset investment growth hits new multi-year low
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.1%
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND AUG MANUFACTURING PMI: 52.0 V 51.2 PRIOR
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ): Offers to buy bonds for liquidity management purposes; will open offer to buy March 2019 government bonds on Sept 17th
China/Hong Kong
- Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%, Hang Seng +0.8%
- (CN) CHINA AUG INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Y/Y: 6.1% V 6.1%E
- (CN) CHINA AUG FIXED ASSETS INVESTMENT (EX RURAL) YTD Y/Y: 5.3% V 5.6%E (new multi-year low)
- (CN) CHINA AUG RETAIL SALES Y/Y: 9.0% V 8.8%E
- (CN) China Aug Surveyed Jobless Rate: 5.0% v 5.1% prior
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY150B in 7 and 14-day reverse repos v CNY120B injected in 7 and 14-day reverse repos prior: Net: CNY150B injection v CNY120B injection prior
- (CN) China PBoC set yuan reference rate: 6.8362 v 6.8488 prior
- (CN) FTSE Russell said it plans to decide on the inclusion of China A-shares into its indices ‘very soon’ – FT
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened
- (JP) Nikkei 225 options and futures said to settle at ~23,057
- (JP) Japan PM Abe: Wants BoJ to deal ‘thoroughly’ with price stability target; don’t think Japan should maintain ultra-easy policy ‘forever’
- (JP) Japan Cabinet Office Sept Monthly Economic Report: Maintains economic assessment, economy is recovering at moderate pace
- (JP) Japan Econ Min Motegi: Still setting date for next trade talks with the US
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.8%
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BoK) Vice Chief Yoon: Policy rate decision should be made according to relevant central bank law and independently
- (KR) South Korea Fin Min: Not right to say income-led growth policies and minimum wage hikes are failing the domestic economy
- (KR) South Korea prices 10 and 30-year US dollar denominated bonds; total bid to cover 5.7x
- (KR) South Korea Aug Export Price Index M/M: -0.1% v 2.5% prior; Y/Y: 2.1% v 2.8% prior
Other
- (IN) India PM Economic Advisory Panel Official: ‘Extreme vigilance’ needed to check weak Rupee (INR) currency; reasonable to expect the Rupee to weaken 4-6% vs the US dollar annually without external shocks
North America
- US equity markets closed mixed: Dow +0.6%, S&P500 +0.5%, Nasdaq +0.8%, Russell 2000 -0.1%
- S&P500 Healthcare +1.2%, Technology +1.2%; Financials -0.1%
- (US) Fed’s Kaplan (dove, non-voter): Reiterates Fed should be moving toward neutral rate, neutral Fed Funds Rate (FFR) seen 2.50-2.75% range
Europe
- (UK) BOE Gov Carney warns Cabinet of consequences of a ‘no deal’ Brexit, says could be as dire as the 2008 financial crash – press
Levels as of 01:30ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.9%, ASX 200 +0.7%, Hang Seng +0.8%; Shanghai Composite -0.1%; Kospi +1.3%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 flat; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.2%
- EUR 1.1698-1.1686; JPY 112.11-111.78 ; AUD 0.7199-0.7176 ;NZD 0.6590-0.6561
- Dec Gold +0.2% at $1,210/oz; Oct Crude Oil +0.4% at $68.86/brl; Dec Copper +0.8% at $2.698/lb