General Trend
- Asian markets are mixed following the directionless open; Tech trades mixed [Hang Seng TECH index has moved between modest gains and losses]
- Shanghai rose during the morning session after the flat open [Banks index rises after earnings from China Merchants Bank; BOE Technology rises on report related to Samsung]
- Hang Seng is off of the session lows [TECH index has fluctuated; Vaccine maker Sinopharm rose post earnings; China Resources Beer missed ests]
- Nikkei has declined by over 2% [after 1.4% drop following Fri. BOJ decision; heavyweight Fast Retailing extends decline; Oracle Japan declined after earnings], TOPIX continues outperformance post BOJ [Banks index pulled back from recent highs; Kuroda commented on equities; Tokio Marine drops amid speculation related to Greensill; Japan Exchange pares loss on raised guidance]
- Renesas and JP automakers drop on expected impact of chip factory fire [Japan’s government commented on the situation]
- Tokyo Steel announced price increase.
- ASX 200 has moved higher after opening flat [Energy index rebounded from Friday’s decline; Resources index drops (Iron ore miners decline amid focus on Tangshan); Crown rises over 20% on takeover offer; QBE declines after statement on Greensill; Aussie insurers comment on the impact of heavy rains; Freedom Foods drops over 70% after update on recap]
- KEPCO declines over 4%, expected to maintain power prices (local press)
- Capitaland announced a restructuring
- Kia Motors is holding AGM today
- Companies that may report during the NY morning include Synnex Corp, Tencent Music Entertainment, Yunji
- The next North America SEMI Billings report is due on March 22, 2021 at 3:00pm Pacific (Monday)
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened 0.0%
- CWN.AU Confirms offer from Blackstone at A$11.85/shr cash; Board has no view on proposal yet, will now commence process to assess proposal
- (AU) Australia Foreign Min: Have reached out to China to re-start talks, but have not heard anything – press
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -1.2%
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Kuroda: Will remain vigilant to avoid any information leaks; 2% inflation target is helping stabilize FX Rates
- 6723.JP CEO Shibata: Expect the fire at Aoki plant to have a big impact on supply of auto chips
- (JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: BOJ made the appropriate decisions at policy review (Friday)
- 8697.JP Raises FY20/21 guidance Net ¥51.5B; Op ¥74.0B; Rev 133.0B (Prior Net ¥45.5B; Op ¥65.5B; Rev ¥126.0B); raises guidance for avg daily trading values and volumes for stocks; to pay a special dividend of ¥10/share
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.3%
- (KR) South Korea Mar 1-20 Exports y/y: 12.5% v 16.7% prior; Imports y/y: 16.3% v 24.1% prior; Chip Exports: 13.6% y/y
- (KR) South Korea Defense Min Suh Wook indicated may seek stronger military ties with Japan in a trilateral alliance with US to increase security against North Korea – press
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened -0.7%; Shanghai Composite opened 0.0%
- (CN) China PBOC Gov Yi Gang: Monetary policy needs to focus on supporting economic growth in a targeted way while also reducing financial risks; China’s macro leverage ratio is basically stable; China’s monetary policy is in a normal range and has room to provide liquidity and appropriate interest rate levels – speaking at China Development Forum Saturday
- (CN) China Vice Premier Han Zheng: China planning to increase high quality imports as the economy recovers – press
- (CN) China has vaccinated 5.3% of its population, looking to speed up roll out of vaccines as relaxation of domestic travel and entertainment industry start – press
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5191 v 6.5098 prior
- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net CNY0B v CNY0B prior
- (CN) CHINA PBOC MONTHLY LOAN PRIME RATE (LPR) SETTING: LEAVES BOTH 1-YEAR AND 5-YEAR RATES UNCHANGED (11TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH OF STEADY RATES )
- (CN) China PBOC appointed 2 new members to its policy committee, not expected to shift policy with new members
- (HK) Hong Kong official Matthew Cheung: Hong Kong will continue to offer a “tax haven” – financial press
- (CN) China CSRC Chairman Yi Huiman: Must pay attention to coordinating opening up and risk prevention, will continue to increase scrutiny on IPOs – China Development Forum
- (CN) There are concerns that production cuts in Tangshan (largest steelmaking city in China) might last through 2021, cites government notice – financial press
Other
- (TW) Said that the auto industry chip shortages will become worse in H1 2021 – Press
North America
- (US) Fed’s Barkin (voter,hawk): US will have a strong Spring and Summer, expect strong demand met by some supply chain issues; inflation is not a 1 year phenomenon, its multi year
Europe
- AZN.UK EU expected to block AstraZeneca vaccine and ingredient exports to UK – press
- CSGN.CH CEO Gottstein: Greensill mostly asset management issue, further personnel consequences depend on review; see opportunities for deals in private banking, to be opportunistic on acquisitions, potential to spin off asset management
- (UK) Govt working to develop a more rapid COVID test that will identify variants – press
Levels as of 01:15ET
- Hang Seng -0.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.9%; Kospi -0.1%; Nikkei225 -1.8%; ASX 200 +0.6%.
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.5%, Dax -0.2%; FTSE100 -0.2%.
- EUR 1.1899-1.1873; JPY 108.95-108.59 ;AUD 0.7735-0.7705; NZD 0.7162-0.7139.
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,740/oz; Crude Oil -0.5% at $61.13/brl; Copper +0.3% at $4.11/lb.
