General Trend:
- HK internet-related stocks rise after IPO filings by Ant Financial, Telecoms also rise; Financial and Property indices decline
- Shanghai Composite declined by less than 1% during morning session; IT and Consumer shares were among the decliners
- Australian equities underperform, decliners include Financial and Telecom companies; Telstra drops amid ex-dividend
- Air Transportation, Real Estate, Iron/Steel and Pharmaceutical firms are among the decliners in Japan; Softbank rises amid IPO filings by Ant Financial, Nasdaq gains
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.1%
- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q2 CONSTRUCTION WORK DONE Q/Q: -0.7% V -7.0%E; Engineering Q/Q: +3.8% v -1.1% prior
- (AU) Australia (AOFM) reported to be issuing a record A$21B in 2031 bonds, Bids at A$65.5B early on Aug 26th (record order book); Syndicate said to price at 9bps/implied yield of the 10-yr Aussie bond futures contract (~1.05%) – Aussie Press
- (AU) Australia (AOFM) Confirms issuing a record A$21B in 2031 bonds, Avg yield 1.055%; Bids >A$66.0B (Largest order book on record)
- (AU) Victoria state (Australia) reports 149 additional coronavirus cases v 148 prior; 24 additional deaths
- (AU) Australia Regulator AISC has granted industry wide relief for withdrawals from Frozen funds
- (NZ) NZIER now expects RBNZ to introduce negative official cash rate (OCR) in May 2021, notes the RBNZ’s ‘whatever it takes’ approach
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Assistant Gov Hawkesby: A lot of work to do to achieve policy targets; Looking to use balance sheet more
- (NZ) New Zealand confirms 3 additional coronavirus cases
- (NZ) New Zealand July Trade Balance (NZ$): NZ$282M v NZ$293Me
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) buys NZ$530M v NZ$466M prior in government bonds as part of QE v NZ$530M sought
- (NZ) NZX: Working with network service provider to address the further issue that is impacting system connectivity after cyber-attack on Tuesday
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.1%, Shanghai Composite -0.1%
- Ant Financial: Files for IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai; Plans to raise CNY48B in Shanghai offering, HK listed IPO size undisclosed; Reports H1 (CNY) adj Net 23.9B v 4.0B y/y, Op 24.9B v 4.3B y/y, Rev 72.5B v 52.5B y/y (from Aug 25th)
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY200B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY300B in 7-day and 14-day reverse repos prior; Net injection CNY50B v Net Injection CNY200B prior
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.9079 v 6.9183 prior (Strongest fix in Jan 23rd)
- (CN) China Jul State Owned Enterprise (SOE) Profits: +14.0% y/y; Rev +2.7% y/y
Japan
- Nikkei225 opened -0.2%
- (JP) Japan LDP Tax Chief Amari: Do not expect snap elections; PM Abe likely to fulfill his full term as head of LDP party; Abe’s term to end in Sept 2021 (from Aug 25th)
- (JP) Japan PM Abe said to plan to hold news conference on Friday, will likely address questions about his health – Nikkei
- (JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: Considering how to make social distancing laws more binding; Virus wave is now larger than during previous state of emergency; Future emergency declarations to be more targeted; Future declaration could focus on specific areas or industries
- (JP) Japan reported to be preparing coronavirus measures ahead of the 2020 Flu season – Press
- (JP) Japan July PPI Services Y/Y: 1.2% v 0.8%e
Korea
- Kospi opened flat
- (KR) South Korea confirms 320 additional coronavirus cases v 280 prior; 2 additional deaths
- (KR) South Korea Govt says market rumor on Level 3 social distancing is not true
- (KR) South Korea Sept Business Survey Manufacturing: 68 v 57 prior; Non-Manufacturing: 69 v 60 prior
Other Asia
- (SG) Singapore July Industrial Production M/M: 1.6% v 3.7%e; Y/Y: -8.4% v -7.0%e; pharmaceutical output -30.5% y/y
- (VN) US Accuses Vietnam of undervaluing the Dong (VND) in 2019, cities currency valuation assessment made by the US Commerce Dept – US financial press [The US Treasury Dept has yet to issue its semi-annual currency report]
- (TW) Taiwan reported to strengthen regulation on Chip investments in China – Local Press
Europe
- (DE) German govt to extend wage support program through end of 2021 (doubling duration to 24 months) – Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
Levels as of 1:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, -0.1%, ASX 200 -0.7% , Hang Seng +0.1%; Shanghai Composite -0.8% ; Kospi +0.1%
- Equity S&P500 Futures: flat; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax flat; FTSE100 +0.2%
- EUR 1.1839-1.1810 ; JPY 106.55-106.33 ; AUD 0.7208-0.7186 ;NZD 0.6564-0.6544
- Gold +0.4% at $1,930/oz; Crude Oil +0.1% at $43.37/brl; Copper +0.2% at $2.9447/lb
