General Trend
- Energy, Resources and Financial firms are among the decliners in Australia
- Japanese equities trade broadly lower; leading decliners include Transport, Iron/Steel and Real Estate firms
- Hang Seng Property and Finance indices decline
- Anta Sports rises after agreeing to sell fitness brand to Peloton
- Shanghai-listed IT and Financial firms declined during the morning session; Consumer Staples and Property cos. rose
- Amphenol said to have requested US probe into Chinese co. Luxshare
- Japan said to consider travel restrictions related to the UK; US has yet to ban flights from the UK
- China PBoC is expected to issue CNY10B in bills in Hong Kong on Dec 23rd (Wed)
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.2%
- (AU) Australia Nov Prelim Retail Sales M/M: +7.0% v 1.4% prior
- CDV.AU Shandong Gold makes conditional increased A$1.075/share offer (prior A$1.05)
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand announces NZ$1.0B loaned under Funding for Lending program v NZ$0B prior (2nd operation since program launch)
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -0.6%
- (JP) Tokyo Stock Exchange is considering removing stocks with internal control issues from new Topix (to be selected under new criteria from April 2022) – Nikkei
- 9984.JP Files IPO for SPAC (blank check co) to raise up to $525M – press
- 4901.JP Japan Health Ministry Board board postpones decision on approval for Avigan for coronavirus treatment (was expected today) – Nikkei
- (JP) Japan Nov Crude Steel Output: 7.26Mt, +0.9% m/m, -5.9% y/y – Industry Body
Korea
- Kospi opened -0.2%
- (KR) South Korea Nov PPI Y/Y: -0.3% v -0.6% prior (9th consecutive decline, longest run since Oct 2016)
- (KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min Kim: to manage market liquidity in a stable manner
- (KR) South Korea PM: South Korea to expand ban on gatherings of >5 people to nationwide
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened -0.2%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%
- 2020.HK Confirms to sell Precor assets to Peleton for $420M cash (Net $360M)
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY130B in 7-day and 14-day reverse repos v Injects CNY110B prior; Net injection CNY120B v Net drain CNY0B prior
- China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5387 v 6.5507 prior
- (CN) China NDRC: China retains ~90 days of natural gas consumption in underground storage, daily gas supply is up about 10% y/y since the start of peak winter heating season on Nov 15th; Notes major coal-producing regions should safely raise output, coal imports should be increased in ‘orderly’ manner
Other
- (PH) Philipines Central Bank Gov Diokno: Still have some monetary space, current setting remains appropriate, aiming to keep rates low until the end of 2022
North America
- (US) US House of Representatives passes the $900B coronavirus relief bill, $1.4T spending bill to fund the government through Sept 2021 (as expected)
- Follow Up: Senate have approved the Coronavirus relief bill, sending it to President Trump who has indicated he will sign it
- (US) Senator Wyden (D-OR): Hack of the US treasury appears to be ‘significant’, started in July
Europe
- (UK) PM Johnson said to make last minute effort for a Brexit deal with some movement on his position on fisheries – press
- (UK) Parliament reportedly plans to hold Brexit vote on Dec 30th – UK’s Telegraph
- (DE) Germany Nov Tax Rev -7% y/y; risks to the German economy are very high due to COVID, economy significantly weaker in Q4
- UK coronavirus testing capacity expected to not fulfill all needed capacity due to UK Case surges – FT
Levels as of 12:15ET
- Hang Seng -0.8%; Shanghai Composite -0.6%; Kospi -0.7%; Nikkei225 -0.9%; ASX 200 -1.2%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.4%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.6%; FTSE100 -0.2%
- EUR 1.2251-1.2219; JPY 103.48-103.28; AUD 0.7591-0.7552; NZD 0.7110-0.7054
- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.1% at $1,883/oz; Crude Oil -0.7% at $47.62/brl; Copper -0.3% at $3.57/lb
