General Trend
- Asian indices continued to move higher following the positive opens; Markets are currently close to session highs; Big Nikkei components (Fast Retailing, Softbank) rise; Resources, Consumer Discretionary and Energy indices rise in Australia; Bank and Information & Communication indices outperform in Japan, Transports lag amid rise in oil prices
- Nissan Motor declined on Apple news
- Japan Q4 GDP above expectations, Econ Min thinks Japan is well on the way to recovery
- Japanese companies (including Apple supplier Murata Mfg.) react to >7.0 magnitude earthquake
- Earnings reactions: [Australia] JB Hi-Fi, Aurizon, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Nearmap and GPT Group rise; Cooper Energy, Beach Energy and ERA decline; [Japan] Olympus rises over 10%; ASICS and Rakuten decline
- Japan cos. expected to report earnings include Dentsu Group, Recruit Holdings, Kubota
- Hong Kong markets to resume trading on Feb 16th (Tuesday)
- RBA to release Feb Policy Meeting Minutes on Feb 16th (Tuesday)
- BHP is due to report half year earnings on Tuesday (Feb 16th)
- Reminder: US markets closed today for holiday
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened 0.3%
- (NZ) New Zealand PM Ardern declares snap lockdown in Auckland, while the 3 new COVID cases are investigated
- SWM.AU Reports H1 (A$) adj Net 116.2M v -48.7M y/y; EBITDA 165.7M v 133.1M y/y; Rev 644.2M v 714.5M y/y
- CCL.AU CCEP raises offer to A$13.50/shr (prior A$12.75/shr)
- NEA.AU Reports H1 (A$) Net -9.4M v -18.6M y/y; EBITDA 13.5M v 3.2M y/y; Rev 54.7M v 46.3M y/y; Responds to J Capital Research’s short seller report – has reviewed and rejects the report
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.5%
- (JP) Magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit northern Japan Saturday night; no reports of major damage (quake was 6 out of 7 on Japanese scale)
- (JP) JAPAN Q4 PRELIMINARY GDP Q/Q: 3.0% V 2.5%E; GDP ANNUALIZED Q/Q: 12.7% V 10.1%E; Business Spending Q/Q: 4.5% v 2.4%e (First increase in 3 quarters)
- (JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: Economic recovery at halfway point, still below pre pandemic levels
- 8697.JP Has Network problem related to Flex System, trading will be unaffected; Market opening as usual despite network issue
- (JP) Japan PM Suga: Closely watching currencies – speaking to parliament
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.3%
- (KR) South Korea ruling party, Democratic Party (DP), in talks about extra budget to cover selective relief handouts to individuals and businesses by the end of March – Yonhap
- (KR) South Korea and the US said to be close to agreement on defense cost sharing – Korea press
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng closed; Shanghai Composite closed
- (US) National Security Advisory (NSA) Sullivan: US has “deep concerns” about the World Health Organization’s early COVID-19 investigation
Other
- (SG) SINGAPORE FINAL Q4 GDP Q/Q: 3.8% V 2.4%E; Y/Y: -2.4% V -3.6%E; Singapore Central Bank (MAS): Monetary policy to remain unchanged
North America
- (US) President Biden calls to “enact commonsense gun law reform”
- (US) Senate acquits Trump in his second impeachment trial; 7 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to convict
Europe
- SAN.FR Confirms both of its Covid-19 vaccines are entering new phases of trials in coming weeks and could be available by end of year – press
- (UK) UK PM Johnson calls the feat of successfully vaccinated 15M individuals, a “significant milestone” – UK press
Levels as of 12:15ET
- Hang Seng closed; Shanghai Composite closed; Kospi +1.7%; Nikkei225 +1.7%; ASX 200 +0.9%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.4%; Nasdaq100 +0.3%, Dax +0.5%; FTSE100 +0.4%
- EUR 1.2138-12117; JPY 105.14-104.94; AUD 0.7786-0.7760; NZD 0.7245-0.7207
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,822/oz; Crude Oil +2.3% at $60.82/brl; Copper +0.8% at $3.83/lb
