Asian Indices Trade Generally Lower

Jul 03 19, 06:39 GMT

General Trend:

South Korean chipmakers decline on Japan concerns
IT index weighs on equities in Shanghai
Softbank declines in Japan amid continued regulatory concerns about Sprint/T-Mobile merger
Australian Energy index drops over 1%, tracks Tuesday’s decline in oil prices
Symantec [SYMC] rises over 20% in afterhours trading on takeover speculation related to Broadcom
Gold Futures rise in Asia as Trump announces Fed nominees
AUD/JPY and Australian 3-year yields decline after recent RBA rate cut, China PMI data
China June Caixin PMI services data declines to 4-month low and misses ests
BOJ Funo: BOJ forward guidance leaves room for current low rates to be maintained beyond Spring 2020; sees no need to ease policy now; don’t expect ‘big’ surprise from July Fed policy meeting
BOJ revised bond purchases in daily operation (in line with June 28th announcement)
Japan PM Abe: Not considering raising sales tax beyond 10% under administration
South Korea cut 2019 GDP and export growth forecasts after Q1 contraction
Australia May trade surplus hits record high, supported by higher iron ore prices
US equity markets are due to close early on Wed ahead of Thursday’s July 4th holiday

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened flat
(NZ) Fonterra Global Dairy Trade Auction Dairy Trade price index: -0.4% v -3.8% prior (4th consecutive decline)
(AU) AUSTRALIA MAY BUILDING APPROVALS M/M: 0.7% V 0.0%E; Y/Y: -19.6% V -24.2%E
WOW.AU To separate Endeavour Group following merger of Endeavour Drinks and ALH; CFO Marr to become COO; Stephen Harrison to be CFO
SIV.AU To be acquired by consortium led by Next Capital Pty Ltd for A$0.70/shr cash and One contingent value note, representing an opportunity to share in the potential upside in the run-down of the GoGetta business
(AU) Australia May Trade Balance (A$): 5.75B v 5.3Be; Exports M/M: +4.0% v -2.0% prior; Imports M/M: +2.0% v -1.0% prior
(AU) Australia Jun Final PMI Services: 52.6 v 53.3 prelim
(NZ) New Zealand Jun Commodity Price Index -3.9% v +0.1% prior
(AU) Australia sells A$800M v A$800M indicated in 1.50% June 2031 bonds, avg yield 1.3761%, bid to cover 4.32x

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.3%
(JP) Bank of Japan (BoJ) official Funo: Must maintain sufficiently low rates for prolonged period given prices, inflation expectations not heightening much; BOJ forward guidance leaves room for current low rates to be maintained beyond Spring 2020
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) announcement related to daily bond buying operation: Raises buying of 1-3-year; cuts 3-5-year, cuts 10-25-year (in line with BOJ guidance)
(JP) Japan said to consider additional export restrictions on South Korea – Japanese Press
(JP) Japan Jun PMI Services: 51.9 v 51.7 prior (highest since March)

Korea

Kospi opened -0.1%
(KR) South Korea Finance Ministry H2 Policy Statement: Cuts 2019 GDP outlook to 2.4-2.5% (prior 2.6-2.7%); Cuts 2019 CPI outlook 0.9% (prior 1.6%)
(KR) South Korea Fin Min Hong: Reiterates will spend 70% of extra budget within 2 months of being passed; South Korea to invest KRW1.0T annually in chip materials, parts
(KR) South Korea Jun Foreign Reserves: $403.1B v $402.0B prior
005930.KR Has no timeline for re-design of Galaxy foldable screens to fix flaws; targeting to be ready for holidays

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.3%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.4%
(CN) CHINA JUN CAIXIN PMI SERVICES: 52.0 V 52.6E (4-month low); PMI Composite: 50.6 v 51.5 prior (lowest level since Oct 2016)
(CN) China said to consider policies to cut ‘illegal’ fund-raising – Chinese Press
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips for the 8th consecutive; Net drains CNY40B v drain CNY90B prior
(CN) China PBOC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8640 v 6.8513 prior

Other Asia

2382.TW HP said to have asked the company to move some of its production to Thailand – Taiwanese press
(SG) Singapore Jun PMI: 50.6 v 52.1 prior

North America

TSLA Reports Q2 total deliveries 95.2K v 84Ke (guided 90-100K)
(US) Weekly API Oil Inventories: Crude: -5.0M v -7.6M prior
(US) President Trump: To nominate current Executive Vice President of Saint Loius Fed Christopher Waller to be member of Fed
SYMC Broadcom said to be in advanced talks to acquire Symantec in a possible $15B deal – financial press
(US) 2020 US Census forms to be printed without citizenship question, after Supreme Court decision – press

Europe

(UK) BOE Gov Carney: sees Q2 economic growth ‘considerably weaker’; it’s unsurprising that the market sees a lower bank rate; In some jurisdictions, the impact of uncertainty may warrant a near term policy response as insurance to maintain the expansion
(EU) EU reaches deal on new leaders: Christine Lagarde nominated for ECB presidency; Belgium’s Charles Michel proposed as EU Council president; Germany’s Ursula Von Der Leyen proposed as EU Commission head
(US) American and current IMF First Deputy David Lipton named IMF interim leader – French press
(UK) Jun BRC Shop Price Index: Y/Y -0.1% v +0.8% prior

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.6%, ASX 200 +0.5%, Hang Seng -0.2%; Shanghai Composite -0.8%; Kospi -1.3%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 +0.1%
EUR 1.1296-1.1284 ; JPY 107.92-107.53 ; AUD 0.7000-0.6985 ;NZD 0.6685-0.6669
Gold +1.5% at $1,429/oz; Crude Oil +0.6% at $56.56/brl; Copper -0.1% at $2.663/lb