General Trend:
- China President Xi said ‘vigilance’ is needed amid the coronavirus ‘crisis’
- PBOC official suggested RRR may be cut, confirmed monetary policy will be ‘more flexible’
- South Korean airlines start to suspend flights within the country as virus cases rise
- Offshore yuan (CNH) pares early losses; Additional provinces in China lower coronavirus emergency response levels , PBOC official hinted at possible monetary easing
- Declining sectors in Australia include Consumer Discretionary, Resources and Energy
- Aussie steelmaker Bluescope declines over 7% on earnings and guidance
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.5%
- BSL.AU Reports H1 (A$) Net 199.6M v 613.5M y/y; underlying EBIT 302.4M v 849.6M y/y; Rev 5.86B v 6.40B y/y, extends A$100M on market buyback into H2
- RWC.AU Reports H1 (A$) adj Net 63.7M v 80.5M y/y; adj EBITDA 126.3M v 137.4M y/y; Rev 569.3M v 544.2M y/y
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q4 RETAIL SALES EX-INFLATION Q/Q: 0.7% V 0.8%E
- (NZ) New Zealand Jan Credit Card Spending m/m: +1.3% v -0.9% prior; y/y: 3.7% v 3.5% prior
- (NZ) New Zealand Fin Min Robertson: Will support the economy is coronavirus impact is worse than main scenario
Japan
- Nikkei 225 closed for holiday
- 4901.JP Japan regulator to recommend Avigan tablets for treatment of the coronavirus – Japan press
Korea
- Kospi opened -2.3%
- (KR) South Korea increases alert level to highest with 602 coronavirus cases and 6 deaths; more than 50% of cases are linked to Shincheonji – Yonhap
- (KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min: Concerned financial market instabilities are increasing; policy focus will be on stabilizing FX and financial markets; will soon announce measures to boost exports, investment and domestic demand
- (US) Pentagon: United States will furlough “most” South Korean nationals employed at its military bases on the peninsula if no defense cost sharing deal is reached by the beginning of April – Yonhap
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened -0.8%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.4%
- (CN) China PBOC Vice Gov Chen: Will conduct RRR discounts soon, considering ‘tweak’ to RRR to release liquidity
- (CN) China Finance Ministry official: China to increase issuance of local Govt special purpose bonds
- (CN) China President Xi: Will step up policy adjustments to support economy; measures dealing with virus effective, ‘vigilance’ is needed; to roll out new policy steps in timely way – Xinhua
- (CN) China National Health Commission Coronavirus Update for Feb 23rd: 409 additional cases v 648 prior; Additional deaths 150 vs 97 prior
- (CN) China Hubei province coronavirus update for Feb 23rd: 398 additional cases v 630 prior, Additional deaths 23 v 96 prior
- (CN) China Trade Council says 3,325 force majeure certificates have been issued to companies to help deal with disruptions related to the coronavirus – financial press
- (CN) China PBOC Deputy Gov Chen Yulu: China economy is likely to pick up quickly after coronavirus is contained and then have a “V” shared recovery on the sound fundamentals of domestic economy, which remain unchanged for medium to long term – FT
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips reverse repo operations for the 5th consecutive time, Net drains CNY300B v drains CNY0B prior
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 7.0246 v 7.0210 prior (weakest fix Since Dec 12th)
Other
- (SG) Singapore Jan CPI M/M: -0.2% v -0.1%e; Y/Y: 0.8% v 0.9%e; Core CPI y/y: 0.3% v 0.9%e
- (G20) IMF director Georgieva: current baseline scenario for China economy is a return to normal in Q2 with a relatively minor and short lived impact on the global economy; baseline forecast sees 0.1ppt drop in global GDP due to coronavirus – comments from Riyadh G20 ministers meeting
- (G20) Treasury Sec Mnuchin: believe we are very close to consensus on Pillar Two in OECD tax reform talks – comments from Riyadh G20 ministers meeting
(G20) G20 fin mins draft communique changes language on coronavirus from ‘a clear risk to growth’ to an element that needs to be monitored
North America
- BA Reportedly Boeing has expanded debris checks in undelivered 737MAX aircraft beyond the fuel tanks as debris has been found in two-thirds of the aircraft fuel tanks inspected so far – press
- BRK.A Reports Q4 Net EPS (Class A) +$17,909 v -$15,467 y/y, Rev $66.5B v $63.7B y/y
- AAPL Hearing some leaks on the new low cost iPhone to be called only “iPhone”, will allow users to make 3rd party apps default, including replacing web browser; will be able to unlock your car with the phone or Apple Watch – tech press
- (US) With 88% reporting complete Bernie sanders leads the Nevada Caucus with 47.1% of the vote; Joe Biden in 2nd with 21%and Pete Buttigieg in 3rd with 13.7%
Europe
- (IT) As of Sunday morning 130 people in Italy have tested positive for coronavirus
- (DE) Germany Regional Election Results for Hamburg (exit polls): Centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the lead with 37.5% of vote; Greens second (doubling % from 2015 election), making a coalition likely again; Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 3rd with 11.5%
Levels as of 12:15ET
- Hang Seng -1.6%; Shanghai Composite -0.2%; Kospi -3.2%; Nikkei225 -0.4%; ASX 200 -2.3%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -1.4%; Nasdaq100 -1.8%, Dax -2.0%; FTSE100 -1.3%
- EUR 1.0843-1.0815; JPY 111.69-111.34; AUD 0.6620-0.6587; NZD 0.6330-0.6313
- Commodity Futures: Gold +1.0% at $1,665/oz; Crude Oil -2.3% at $52.13/brl; Copper -1.0% at $2.58/lb
