Asian Equities Track US Declines Ahead Of China PMI Data On Friday

May 30 19, 06:35 GMT

General Trend:

Utilities and drug companies weigh on the Nikkei, Softbank also drops
Wanhua Chemical (world’s largest MDI producer) declines after announcing price cut for June
Aussie bond yields rise after late day sell-off in US Treasuries on Wed
Weaker Aussie Capex data has little initial impact, markets looking ahead to China PMI and next week’s RBA rate decision (June 4th)
Australia’s Bank of Queensland cut mortgage rates ahead of June RBA meeting
PBOC slows daily cash injection
Bank of Korea (BOK) rate decision expected on Friday, traders expected to pay close attention to policy language
New Zealand bond yields rise on increased issuance plan

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.3%
(NZ) New Zealand Fin Min Robertson presents 2019 Budget: Cuts 2019 GDP 2.1% (prior 2.9%); see lower surplus due to increased spending, raises bond issuance plans
(AU) AUSTRALIA Q1 PRIVATE CAPITAL EXPENDITURE Q/Q: -1.7% V 0.4%E; 2019-20 Capex estimate A$99.1B v A$92.1B prior
(AU) AUSTRALIA APR BUILDING APPROVALS M/M: -4.7% V 0.0%E; Y/Y: -24.2% V -22.4%E
(NZ) New Zealand National Party leader Bridges calls on Fin Min Robertson and Treasury Sec to resign
(NZ) New Zealand Apr Building Permits m/m: -7.9% v -7.4% prior
(AU) Australia Fair Work Commission raises minimum wage 3% to A$19.49/hour
BOQ.AU Planning to cut rates on some fixed mortgages by 15bps or more across brands, effective May 31st

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.6%
(JP) There is speculation that the BoJ might lower its bond purchases in June amid decline in yields – US financial press
(JP) Japan BOJ Board Member Sakurai: It is inappropriate to recklessly seek price target with additional easing
(JP) Japan Chamber of Commerce Chief: Want sales tax hike to go ahead in Oct; now is not the time for BOJ to move but want it to make policy flexible without insisting on 2% inflation
7201.JP Expected to plan to cut production at 10 locations around the world – Nikkei
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) reports FY18/19 Net profit ¥586.9B v ¥764.8B y/y, Op Rev ¥2.39T v ¥1.84T y/y; Special losses ¥928.6B (includes ¥815.5B transfer to provision for possible losses on bonds transactions) v ¥445.3B y/y

Korea

Kospi opened +0.1%
(KR) South Korea FX authorities suspected to have sold USD to curb Won weakness
(US) Acting Def Sec Shanahan: Reiterates North Korean missile tests were in violation of UN resolutions
(KR) South Korea Apr Department Store Sales Y/Y: -3.8% v 2.3% prior; Discount Store Sales Y/Y: -7.7% v -1.0% prior

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.3%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.4%
(CN) China Apr Swift Global Payments CNY: 1.88% v 1.89% prior
(CN) China Vice Min Zhang: Ties with Russia will not be disrupted by 3rd party, China to sign 2 documents with Russia – speaking ahead of President Xi’s visit to Russia
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY30B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY270B injected prior; Net: CNY30B injection v CNY250B prior
(CN) China PBOC Gov Yi Gang: Solving SME financing difficulty is most important task; China able to manage risks in small banks; yuan is stable
(CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8990 v 6.8988 prior
(HK) Hong Kong SFC Investigating Cryptocurrency exchanges and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) issuers
(CN) China PBOC adviser: No problem for China to keep 2019 GDP above 6.2%

Other Asia

North America

Europe

(UK) Apr auto manufacturing 70.9K autos, -44.5% y/y – SMMT
RNO.FR Chairman Senard: Not worried about regulatory hurdles, expect merger to take about a year; Nissan will benefit from Fiat merger

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.5%, ASX 200 -0.8%, Hang Seng -0.6%; Shanghai Composite -0.7%; Kospi +0.3%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.2%
EUR 1.1144-1.1130 ; JPY 109.64-109.47 ; AUD 0.6930-0.6915 ;NZD 0.6521-0.6510
Gold -0.3% at $1,276/oz; Crude Oil +0.4% at $59.12/brl; Copper -0.1% at $2.664/lb