AU And JP Equities Trade Modestly Lower After Directionless US Session, Various Holidays In Asia

Feb 12 21, 05:40 GMT

General Trend

Japan and Australia equities moved lower after their openings; Energy, Resources and Consumer Discretionary indices lagged in Australia; Marine Transportation index declined over 4% in Japan, Brokerage index outperformed
Earnings reactions: [Australia] Baby Bunting, Genworth Mortgage decline; [Japan]: TEPCO drops, Toshiba pares gain; Renesas and Japan Display rise
Japan companies expected to report earnings include Rakuten, Olympus, Yamaha Motor, Asics, Asahi Group, Japan Post Insurance, Japan Post Holdings, Japan Post Bank, Sompo Holdings, T&D Holdings, Dai-ichi Life, Lion Corp, Suruga Bank, JGC Holdings, Leopalace21, Pola Orbis, Toppan Printing, Yamazaki Baking, Cyberdyne
Companies expected to report during the NY morning include American Axle, Enbridge, Huntsman Corp, Moody’s, Newell Brands

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.1%
(AU) Victoria State Premier Andrews: Announces Stage 4 restrictions for Victoria, entering into 5-day lockdown beginning Midnight
Woolworths: Reinstates product sales limits in Victoria state due to lockdown
(AU) Australia sells A$1.0B v A$1.0B indicated in 3.25% April 2029 bonds, avg yield: 0.9258% , bid to cover 4.78x
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ): Seeks to buy NZ$570M in government bonds during the week of Feb 15th, flat w/w
(NZ) New Zealand Jan Manufacturing PMI: 57.5 v 48.3 prior
(NZ) New Zealand Jan Food Prices M/M: 1.3% v 0.1% prior

China/Hong Kong

(CN) Shanghai Composite closed for holiday, returns on Feb 18th (Thursday)
(HK) Hang Seng closed for holiday, returns for trading on Feb 16th (Tuesday)
(US) White House Press Sec Psaki: We are not in a rush on China trade review
(CN) China Global Times Editor in Chief Hu Xijin: two-hour Biden-Xi call sends a ‘very positive message’
Huawei: Said to be seeking UK Court order for records from HSBC relating to Huawei CFO – Press

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +0.2%
(JP) Nikkei 225 Feb Options settle at 29,718
(JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: Japan will maintain State of Emergency in 10 regions
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Domestic economy still in severe shape; Some foreign economies showing recovery signs

Korea

North America

(US) Treasury Sec Yellen and President Biden to receive economic briefing on Friday (Feb 12th)
(US) US Treasury Sec Yellen and Fed Chair Powell to participate in virtual meeting of G7 Finance Ministers on Friday (Feb 12th)
(US) US House Panel advances $15.0B stimulus measure related to payroll aid for airlines (as expected)

Europe

(IT) Five-Star Party votes in online member survey to support a Draghi govt – press
(UK) BOE’s Haldane (chief economist): country’s economic recovery should be one to remember after a year to forget – press interview
(UK) Govt reportedly to maintain social distancing requirements into the fall 2021 – press

Levels as of 00:20 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.2%, ASX 200 -0.6% , Hang Seng closed; Shanghai Composite closed ; Kospi closed
Equity S&P500 Futures: -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 -0.2%
EUR 1.2135-1.2118 ; JPY 104.84-104.71 ; AUD 0.7763-0.7734 ;NZD 0.7241-0.7209
Gold -0.2% at $1,822/oz; Crude Oil -0.7% at $57.81/brl; Copper -0.3% at $3.7687/lb