Asian Equities Trade Mixed, Ant Financial News Weighs On HK And CN

Nov 04 20, 06:46 GMT

General Trend

Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite lag amid weakness in the tech sector; Alibaba declines on the Ant Financial news; Financials trade generally higher
South Korea chipmaker Hynix rises after Q3 results
Japanese companies expected to report earnings include Mitsubishi Motors, Softbank Corp, Itochu, Ricoh, Mitsubishi Chemical, Tokai Carbon and Suntory Beverage
Fast Retailing is due to report its Oct sales
RBA is due to hold the first bond buying auction under its new QE program on Thurs (Nov 5th)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.2%
(AU) AUSTRALIA Q3 RETAIL SALES EX-INFLATION Q/Q: 6.5% V 6.0%E
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q3 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 5.3% V 5.3%E; Employment Change Q/Q: -0.8% v -0.7%e ; Y/Y: +0.2% v +0.2%e
(AU) Australia Oct Final PMI Services: 53.7 v 53.8 prelim (confirms move back into expansion)
WOW.AU Reports Q1 (A$) Rev 17.9B v 15.9B y/y
(AU) Australia total payroll jobs change between Oct 3rd and Oct 17th: -0.8%; weekly total wages -2.1%
(AU) New South Wales, Australia to open border with Victoria on Nov 23rd – Aussie press

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +1.4%
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Japan is not concretely considering 3rd extra budget at this time; wants to firmly implement existing economic measures
9434.JP Looking to invest ¥2.0T for 5G infrastructure – Nikkei
(JP) Japan and Australia planning mid-Nov summit meeting in Japan – Nikkei
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Sept Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes (2 meetings ago): Most members: BOJ easing are exerting intended effects
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Important to create environment where firms affected by coronavirus pandemic don’t encounter a cash crunch; Inflation and economic risks are tilted to the downside
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥2.6T v ¥2.6T indicated in 0.1% 10-year JGBs; avg yield 0.046% v 0.024% prior; bid to cover 4.13x v 4.06x prior
7270.JP Reports H1 Net ¥23.7B v ¥68.3B y/y; Op ¥30.6B v ¥94.9B y/y; Rev ¥1.22T v ¥1.61T y/y

Korea

Kospi opened +0.8%
(KR) South Korea Oct Foreign Exchange Reserves: $426.5B v $420.6B prior (7th consecutive increase, record high)
000660.KR Reports Q3 (KRW) Net 1.1T v 493.2B y/y; Op 1.30T v 473B y/y; Rev 8.13T v 6.84T y/y
(KR) South Korea Military: Conducting operation at North Korea border after unidentified person was detected

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.6%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%
(CN) CHINA OCT CAIXIN PMI SERVICES: 56.8 V 55.0E (Highest reading since June)
(CN) China President Xi Jinping: China very likely to double economic output by 2035 – State Media
6688.HK Hong Kong IPO of Ant Group has also been suspended; Hong Kong IPO expected to be delayed half a year (implies could IPO in April or May of 2021)
6688.HK White House has paused effort to blacklist Ant Group after a phone call with company executives and Commerce Sec Ross – press
(HK) Hong Kong Oct PMI (whole economy): 49.8 v 47.7 prior (highest level since March 2018; 32nd month of contraction)
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY120B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY120B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net inject CNY0B v Net inject CNY20B prior
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.6771 v 6.6957 prior

Other

UOB.SG Reports Q3 (S$) Net 668M v 641Me; NII 1.47B v 1.69B y/y
(SG) Singapore Oct PMI (whole economy): 48.6 v 45.1 prior (9th month of contraction, highest reading since Jan)

North America

(US) Wisconsin election results not expected until 06:00 central time (07:00ET), Pennsylvania results could be reported as late as Nov 6th
(US) House of Representatives to remain in Democratic control
(US) Weekly API Crude Oil Inventories: -8M v +4.6M prior
(US) Nevada Republican Party and Trump Campaign have filed emergency motion to limit processing of Mail in ballots in Clark County (Where Las Vegas is situated)

Europe

(UK) Reportedly UK NHS has been told to prepare for vaccine deliveries as early as December – Sky News
(UK) UK Negotiator Fox and EU Negotiator Barnier said to be expected to recommend a new round of talks between the parties in London this weekend – Press
(DE) German regulator Bafin said to demand banks to restrain paying dividend – financial press

Levels as of 12:15ET

Hang Seng 0.0%; Shanghai Composite +0.1%; Kospi +0.7%; Nikkei225 +2.1%; ASX 200 -0.1%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +1.0%; Nasdaq100 +2.6%, Dax -0.0%; FTSE100 +0.5%
EUR 1.1769-1.1605; JPY 105.34-104.38 ;AUD 0.7220-0.7050; NZD 0.6743-0.6615
Commodity Futures: Gold -0.5% at $1,900/oz; Crude Oil +2.5% at $38.59/brl; Copper -0.3% at $3.09/lb