General Trend
- Energy, Financial and Travel-sensitive cos. rise after the data from Moderna; Tech sector lags
- GBP rose modestly after report related to imminent trade deal
- China’s planning body commented on corporate bond defaults amid recent reports related to the topic
- China’s Securities Regulator commented on the Ant IPO [timing of the listing remains uncertain]
- Joe Biden: Promises to release details on trade plan on Jan 21
- RBA’s Nov minutes noted the importance of closely monitoring risks in asset markets, little news seen related to monetary policy
- RBA Gov Lowe due to speak again on Wed
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.2%
- (AU) Australia total payroll jobs change between Oct 17th and Oct 31st: +0.5% v -0.1% prior; Weekly total wages +0.1% v -1.7% prior
- (AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index:106.6 v 103.1 prior (11th consecutive increase)
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Assist Gov Kent: Yield target reinforces cash rate forward guidance; vaccine news has improved risk sentiment and boosted A$ – Q&A
- (NZ) New Zealand Trade Min O’Connor: Strong NZ$ is always a concern; Would like to see the US join trade deals in region
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Gov Lowe:Job creation is a greater challenge than CPI pressures; now is not the time for higher interest rates (yesterday after the close)
- (AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) MEETING MINUTES: BOARD IS `PREPARED TO DO MORE IF NECESSARY’; DID DISCUSS TARGETING A LONGER DATED YIELD, BUT NOT RIGHT CHOICE
- (AU) Australia AOFM prices syndicate, selling A$6.0B v A$6.0b indicated in 1.7% May 2041 bonds, bid to cover 3.08x
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.5% (highest level since 1991)
- (JP) Japan Q3 Housing Loans Y/Y 2.4% v 2.5% prior
- (JP) Japan considering cutting aviation fuel tax for 1-year – Nikkei
- (JP) Analysts see Japan 3rd extra budget size at ¥10-15T (in line with prior speculation) with related debt issuance increase of ¥3-8T – press
Korea
- Kospi opened 0.0%
- 005930.KR Reports 9M R&D spending KRW15.89T v KRW15.29T y/y (record high, 9.1% of sales)
- GM Korea union workers will go on partial strike this week after they failed to reach agreement on wage dispute – Yonhap
- 005930.KR Exec: Planning to make a chip push to catch up with TSMC by 2022, to start 3nm mass production in 2022 – press
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.5%; Shanghai Composite opened 0.0%
- (CN) China Think Tank CASS economist Li: China should set an avg annual GDP target of ~5% for 2021-2025
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY50B in 7-day reverse repos v Skips reverse repos prior; Net drain CNY70B v Net inject CNY0B prior
- (CN) China analysts do not think that the RCEP deal will offset trade dispute impact from the US – SCMP
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5762 v 6.6048 prior (strongest since June 27th, 2018)
- (CN) China State Owned Yongcheng Coal and Electricity: Sees uncertainty in bond repayments due Nov 22nd
- (CN) PBoC Gov Yi Gang: China should stabilize macro leverage ratio – Research paper
Other
- (SG) SINGAPORE OCT NON-OIL DOMESTIC EXPORTS M/M: -5.3% V +3.2%E; Y/Y: -3.1% V +5.1%E; Electronic Exports Y/Y: -0.4% v +21.4% prior
- (SG) Singapore PM Lee: Hope for overall constructive US China relations; see long term impact on US views post-Trump leadership; few countries want to join coalition that excludes China
North America
- (CN) Corey Stewart (Trump supporter) has been named to a senior post at the US Dept of Commerce, the position is said to have been just created; positon will help Trump pursue his China-related policies before the end of his administration – financial press
- PFE Announced the U.S. COVID-19 Immunization Pilot Program with four states (Rhode Island, Texas, New Mexico, and Tennessee)
- BIDU Reports Q3 $3.00 v $1.85e, Rev $4.16B v $3.92Be
- TSLA Added to S&P 500 Index, effective prior to the open of trading on Monday, December 21
- (US) Fed Vice Chair Clarida: Fed will continue to monitor developments, asses how asset purchases can most optimally support meeting objectives
- ABNB Files for IPO; Reports 2019 adj Net -$674.3M v -$16.9M y/y; Rev $4.8B v $3.7B y/y; cutting 25% of workforce, may not be profitable, no dividends for foreseeable future – S1
- (US) Senate Appropriations Chair Shelby (R-AL): maybe the Senate could pass a targeted stimulus bill now; Senate will not pass a gigantic stimulus now, and doubt it will in the future
Europe
- (UK) UK Chief Negotiator Frost told Boris Johnson to expect a Brussels trade deal early next week – UK Press
- (UK) Reportedly EU is considering ways to fast track any Brexit deal – Sky News (during US session)
- (IE) ECB’s Lane (Ireland, chief economist): ECB will prove enough monetary stimulus at its next meeting to make sure governments, companies and households have access to cheap credit throughout the coronavirus crisis
- (IT) Researchers found evidence suggesting the coronavirus infected people across Italy as early as September last year (before it was first identified in Wuhan) – SCMP
Levels as of 12:15ET
- Hang Seng +0.0%; Shanghai Composite -0.4%; Kospi +0.0%; Nikkei225 +0.4%; ASX 200 +0.2%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.4%; Nasdaq100 0.0%, Dax -0.5%; FTSE100 -0.4%
- EUR 1.1868-1.1850; JPY 104.62-104.42; AUD 0.7330-0.7312; NZD 0.6919-0.6892
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,885/oz; Crude Oil +0.7% at $41.64/brl; Copper -0.2% at $3.22/lb
