Nikkei Declines After Over 4.8% Gain On Tuesday

Jun 17 20, 06:33 GMT

General Trend:

Japanese Iron/Steel and Transportation companies drop after gains seen during prior session
Australian equities opened flat, Consumer Staples rise while Financial and Resources companies decline
Shanghai Composite trades flat in early trading
DRAMeXchange: Spot price for 8GB of DDR4 DRAM down over 19% vs April (Press)
Beijing City reports rise in daily virus cases, have yet to see any reports about the Beijing virus cluster spreading to other parts of China
There has been renewed speculation that the PBOC could lower the RRR and deposit rate
Little recent news seen regarding standoff between China and India

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.2%
(NZ) Statistics New Zealand develops experimental Job indator, Estimates Jobs -26K since coronavirus lockdown began
(AU) Australia May Westpac Leading Index m/m: +0.2% v -1.5% prior
(AU) Australia Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (ruling Liberal Party) said to have called for tariffs on China imports in retaliation for coronavirus – local press
(AU) Australia sells A$2.0B v A$2.0B indicated in 1.25% May 2032 bonds, avg yield 1.0098%, bid to cover 2.72x
(AU) Australia Trade Min Birmingham: International Border restrictions are likely to last for some time to come; Has not been able to talk to counterpart in China over disputes

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.3%
(JP) Japan Apr Trade Balance: -¥833.4B v -¥1.03Te; Adj Trade Balance: -¥600.9B v -¥657.5Be
3402.JP Expected to cut headcount at US carbon fiber unit by 25% – Japanese press
TSLA Amends battery manufacturing agreement terms with Panasonic
(JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Suga: Japan ready to respond to North Korea situation as needed

Korea

Kospi opened -0.2%
(KR) North Korea state media (KCNA): North Korea will deploy civil police to demilitarized zone and military units to Mount Kumgang in Kaesong industrial zone – press
(KR) South Korea Health Min: South Korea will fully back local development of treatment drugs and vaccines for coronavirus, even if foreign companies find a cure first – Yonhap
(KR) US Senators announces bill that condemn North Korea for human rights issues
(KR) Bank of Korea (BOK): Will strengthen monitoring financial markets as situation in North Korea may increase volatility and second wave of coronavirus remains a concern
(KR) South Korea Fin Ministry: To tighten mortgage rules; Restate their concern over increase in housing prices
(KR) South Korea office of the President: Will not Tolerate North Korea senseless remarks anymore; North Korea should bear all consequences from remarks and actions
(KR) South Korea Defense Ministry: North Korea will pay price if it takes actual military action
(KR) Follow Up: North Korea appears to have begun preparations to destroy the inter-Korean liaison office building by placing explosives immediately after leader Kim’s sister issued a warning yesterday – Yonhap

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.1%; Shanghai Composite opened 0.0%
(CN) China National Health Commission Coronavirus Update for June 16th: 44 additional cases v 40 prior (11 imported); Additional deaths: 0 v 0 prior; Asymptomatic cases 11 v 6 prior; Cases in Beijing 31 v 27 prior
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips reverse repos for 3rd consecutive session; Net drain CNY60B v drain CNY60B prior
(HK) HKMA said to sell HK$2.23B to defend peg as currency hits strong end of trading band v HK$1.43B last operation on June 13th – press
(CN) China Information Daily Opinion: China PBOC may cut RRR between end of June and early July and cut benchmark deposit rate in Q3
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 7.0873 v 7.0755 prior
(CN) China Central Govt: Indicators reinforce steady recovery hope, working on easing financial strain on firms
(IN) India govt official: In talks with China to diffuse situation in Galwan Valley (shots were fired and reports of casualties on the India side) (yesterday)

Other

(SG) SINGAPORE MAY NON-OIL DOMESTIC EXPORTS M/M: -4.5% V -6.9%E; Y/Y: -4.5% V 1.0%E; Electronic Exports Y/Y: 12.5% v 2.5%e; Pharmaceutical exports Y/Y: -7.0% v +174.3% prior

North America

(US) Weekly API Crude Oil Inventories: +3.9M v +8.4M prior
(US) Fed’s Kaplan (dove, voter): Economy probably bottomed out in May, Will grow pretty strongly from here; Recovery hinges on success of Health policy, not convinced on negative rates or yield curve control – Interview
(CN) US USDA Undersecretary McKinner: USDA firmley believes China will keep its word on increased US Soybean imports

Europe

(DE) Germany Chancellor Merkel reportedly doesn’t expect to reach deal at EU summit about recovery funds or further EU finances; does expect decision on EU finances by July – press

Levels as of 1:15ET

Hang Seng -0.5%; Shanghai Composite -0.2%; Kospi -0.3%; Nikkei225 -0.6%; ASX 200 +0.4%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.3%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.2%; FTSE100 -0.8%
EUR 1.1278-1.1254; JPY 107.44-107.17; AUD 0.6897-0.6852; NZD 0.6461-0.6431
Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,734/oz; Crude Oil -2.6% at $37.40/brl; Copper -0.4% at $2.56/lb