Asian Indices Decline Ahead Of Fed Decision

Jul 31 19, 06:28 GMT

General Trend:

Samsung Electronics declines over 3%, said visibility is ‘low’ on Japan’s trade measures
Hang Seng underperforms amid continued focus on the protests in HK; Decliners include financials and gaming firms.
Financials also weigh on the Shanghai Composite
Japanese securities brokers decline ahead of earnings from Daiwa and Nomura
Nintendo declines over 3% following earnings report and guidance
Apple rose over 4% in afterhours trading following earnings report
Australia Q2 CPI above ests on auto fuel prices, data remains below RBA’s target; Analysts continue to see additional easing by the RBA
Kiwi declines as business confidence worsened
China’s manufacturing PMI remained in contraction in July, services PMI below ests
North Korea’s short-range missile launches have little initial impact on FX markets
US Fed decision seen later today
BoJ expected to issue the Aug daily bond purchase schedule later today
US companies expected to report earnings during the NY morning include Johnson Controls, ADP, GE, Garmin, Humana, Moody’s, Spotify, Spirit Aerosystems, Stratasys, Molson Coors, Triumph Group

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.1%
(AU) AUSTRALIA Q2 CPI Q/Q: 0.6% V 0.5%E; Y/Y: 1.6% V 1.5%E
ABC.AU Cuts FY19 (A$) underlying Net 120-130M (prior -15% to -10% y/y); to record impairment of A$100M, will not declare interim dividend
(NZ) New Zealand July ANZ Business Confidence: -44.3 v -38.1 prior; Activity Outlook: 5.0 v 8.0 prior

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.8%
(JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: Nothing has been decided on whether Japan will remove South Korea from White List, no schedule decided on removal from White List
(JP) Japan PM Abe: No impact on Japan’s security following North Korea missile launch

Korea

Kospi opened -0.1%
005930.KR Reports Final Q2 (KRW) Net 5.1T v 11.0T y/y; Op 6.6T v 6.5T prelim; Rev 56.1T v 56.0T prelim
(KR) North Korea again fires multiple short range ballistic missiles this morning into the East Sea – Yonhap
066570.KR Reports final Q2 (KRW) Net 106B v 326.5B y/y; Op 652B v 652.2B prelim; Rev 15.6T v 15.6T prelim (after the close)
(KR) US and North Korea officials met in DMZ last week, North Koreans expressed a willingness to resume working-level nuclear talks very soon – Yonhap
(KR) South Korea June Industrial Production M/M: 0.2% v 0.3%e ; Y/Y: -2.9% v -2.0%e
(KR) South Korea June Retail Sales M/M: -1.6% v +0.9% prior; Y/Y: 1.2% v 3.4% prior
(KR) South Korea Defense Min Jeong Kyeong-doo: North Korea is the enemy is they provoke and threaten S. Korea

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.8%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%
(CN) Pres Trump: reiterates seeks a ‘great deal’ with China or no deal at all; trade talks are going well; Not sure I’ll accept China’s offer in talks; it’s up to me not China for a deal to be reached
(US) Pres Trump: I recently spoke to China Pres Xi; we will see what happens in China trade talks
(CN) CHINA JULY OFFICIAL MANUFACTURING PMI: 49.7 V 49.6E (3rd consecutive contraction or reading below 50, lowest level since Nov); Non-Manufacturing: PMI: 53.7 v 54.0e; Composite: 53.1 v 53.0 prior
(CN) China Politburo makes plan for H2 economic work; reviews economic condition at meeting; To deal with trade issues with effective measures – Xinhua
(CN) Trump administration is monitoring build up of China forces on the Hong Kong border
(CN) China said to increase scrutiny of shareholders of small banks, notes concerns about loans made by these banks to large investors – financial press
(CN) China PBOC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8841 v 6.8862 prior
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips for 7th consecutive session; Net CNY0B drained v CNY0B drained prior
(CN) US Team for trade talks with China includes Mnuchin, Lighthizer and 3 others; China’s side has Liu He and 5 others

Other Asia

(TW) Taiwan Defense Ministry: Request to buy new US fighters is progressing normally

North America

AAPL Reports Q3 $2.18 v $2.10e, Rev $53.8B v $53.3Be
(IR) US said to be preparing to reissue waivers related to Iran nuclear sanctions – Press

Europe

(UK) July GfK Consumer Confidence: -11 v -13e
(IE) Ireland Central Bank: Raises 2019 and 2020 GDP growth forecasts
(IR) US said to be preparing to reissue waivers related to Iran nuclear sanctions – Press
(UK) UK PM Johnson: Reiterates the UK under no circumstances will have checks on the Northern Irish and Irish border

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.7%, ASX 200 -0.4%, Hang Seng -1.1%; Shanghai Composite -0.6%; Kospi -0.3%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax +0.3%; FTSE100 flat
EUR 1.1160-1.1147 ; JPY 108.65-108.49 ; AUD 0.6891-0.6862 ;NZD 0.6620-0.6586
Gold flat at $1,429/oz; Crude Oil +0.7% at $58.46/brl; Copper +0.3% at $2.685/lb