Asian Equities Trade Generally Higher Ahead Of US/China Trade Talks, Fed Meeting

Jul 30 19, 06:56 GMT

General Trend:

Japanese equities rise, electronics firms rise ahead of earnings from Nintendo and Sony
Industrial Fanuc rises over 3%, raised outlook
Tokyo Electron rises over 3%, South Korean companies said to rush orders for chip materials on concerns about additional export curbs by Japan (South Korean press)
Australian equities hit record high ahead of upcoming CPI data; Interest rate sensitive sectors outperform (Utilities, Telecom)
Hang Seng rises following declines on Monday; China Life and New China Life rise on financial guidance, tech shares rise ahead of US/China talks
HK Property sector lags in the face of lingering protest concerns
Texhong Textile declines over 3% in HK, said results to be hurt by US/China trade war
Chinese equities rise in early trading as financials gain
British pound adds to Monday’s losses, GBP/USD trades at lowest since March 2017; FT notes concerns about ‘no-deal’ Brexit
Few surprises seen out of BoJ
BoJ Gov Kuroda expected to hold post rate decision press conference at ~2:30 AM EST (6:30 GMT)
US and China are due to hold trade talks in China on July 30-31 (Tuesday-Wed)
Fed to hold policy meeting July 30-31 (Tues-Wed)
Apple is due to report Q3 earnings after Tuesday’s NY close (July 30th)
US companies expected to report earnings in the NY morning include Cummins, ConocoPhillips, Eaton, Corning, Huntsman, Ingersoll-Rand, Eli Lilly, MasterCard, Altria Group, Merck, Procter & Gamble, Ralph Lauren, Steve Madden, Sirius Xm, Under Armour, Xerox

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.1%
(AU) AUSTRALIA JUNE BUILDING APPROVALS M/M: -1.2% V 0.2%E; Y/Y: -25.6% V -24.3%E
(NZ) New Zealand June Building Permits m/m: -3.9% v +13.5% prior

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +0.3%
(JP) BOJ LEAVES INTEREST RATE ON EXCESS RESERVES (IOER) UNCHANGED AT -0.10%; AS EXPECTED; Won’t hesitate to ease if greater risk to price target rises
(JP) JAPAN JUNE JOBLESS RATE: 2.3% V 2.4%E; Job-To-Applicant Ratio: 1.61 v 1.62e
(JP) Japan June Preliminary Industrial Production M/M: -3.6% v -1.7%e; Y/Y: -4.1% v -2.0%e
(JP) BOJ Quarterly Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices: Cuts some GDP and CPI outlooks
(JP) More than 66% of listed Japan manufacturers have reported declines in quarterly profits so far this earnings season, the biggest decline since the global financial crisis – Nikkei
(JP) Nikkei looks at impact of sales tax hike: Notes that Japan govt sees 2020 Real GDP at 1.2% while analysts see 0.5%; notes large discrepancy between Govt and outsider expectations of the economy and metrics after the hike
8604.JP Guides Q2 to record ¥73B one-time gain related to the sale of shares in Nomura Research Institute
(JP) Japan Cabinet Office publishes its mid-year economic projections revises 2019 forecasts, Cuts FY19/20 Real GDP from 1.3% to 0.9%

Korea

Kospi opened +0.3%
(KR) South Korea Aug Business Manufacturing Survey: 71 v 75 prior; Non-Manufacturing Survey: 71 v 74 prior
(KR) Sec of State Pompeo: there is ‘nothing in the works’ regarding third US-North Korea summit
005380.KR State Bank of India has stopped new lending to Hyundai dealers without collateral; wants security deposits from existing borrowers, according to a memo – press
(KR) South Korea sells KRW1.45T v KRW1.45T indicated in 30-year bonds; avg yield 1.375% v 1.605% prior

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.2%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.2%
(HK) Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) under the China State Council comments on HK protesters: Watching situation closely; China central govt support suspension of extradition bill; China reiterates support for HK Chief Executive Lam; Reiterates stance to support one country, two systems in Hong Kong
(CN) China’s Beijing Kunlun Tech restarting IPO of Grindr app after the US national security panel (CFIUS) has dropped opposition to the plan – Nikkei
(CN) China PBOC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8862 v 6.8821 prior
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips for 6th consecutive session; Net CNY0B drained v CNY50B drained prior
(CN) China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC): China will support financial institutions to conduct market oriented debt for equity swaps on qualified private enterprises – Xinhua

Other

North America

(MX) Mexico Fin Min Herrera: Announces MXN485B fund for infrastructure and growth, all programs will have an immediate impact on 2019
(MX) Mexico President Obrador: Want the central bank to not only focus on controlling inflation but also think about growth; Mexico has not accepted the ‘safe third country’ agreement – US financial press
COF Announces Data Security Incident impacting 100M US customers and 6.0M in Canada on July 19th

Europe

(UK) PM Johnson: Reiterates stance that is responsible to prepare for a no-deal Brexit outcome; Will come out on Oct 31st either with or without a deal
(UK) PM Johnson said to refuse to meet EU leaders unless they scrap the backstop – financial press

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, +0.4%, ASX 200 +0.3%, Hang Seng +0.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.6%; Kospi +0.7%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.3%
EUR 1.1149-1.1133 ; JPY 108.94-108.66 ; AUD 0.6909-0.6894 ;NZD 0.6635-0.6624
Gold +0.2% at $1,423/oz; Crude Oil +0.5% at $57.17/brl; Copper +0.1% at $2.722/lb