HomeContributorsFundamental AnalysisAsian Markets Mostly Track Drop On Wall St, UST Yields Extend Decline

Asian Markets Mostly Track Drop On Wall St, UST Yields Extend Decline

General Trend

  • Equity indices have generally extended declines after the mostly lower openings; Tech cos. move lower after Nasdaq decline; Recent drop in oil prices weighs on energy names
  • Asian automakers trade generally lower [Track declines in US automakers; Hyundai’s production said to be impacted by auto chip shortage; Honda said to extend production suspension in North America; Hino Motors and Isuzu rise ahead of announcement by Toyota]
  • Hang Seng TECH index again declined by over 3% [companies expected to report earnings include Tencent and Xiaomi], HK Gaming cos. drop on BioNTech news, Geely continued to drop amid recent earnings
  • Shanghai Composite dropped by over 1% during morning session [Property index drops amid press report related to property speculation]
  • Nikkei has continued to drop following Friday’s BOJ decision, Topix Banks index extends decline
  • S&P ASX 200 has outperformed [Consumer and REIT indices rise amid lower bond yields; Energy and Resources indices lag]
  • Intel rose by over 6% in afterhours trading [issued guidance and commented on investment plan]
  • NZ 10-year yields extended drop amid recent gov’t comments on housing market, RBNZ’s daily bond purchases were below the amount sought; NZD continued to decline
  • Australia’s ore exports declined m/m in Feb
  • Japan is due to sell 40-yr JGBs on Thursday (March 25th)
  • China PBoC to auction CNY5.0B in 6-month bills in Hong Kong on Thursday (Mar 25th)
  • Companies expected to report during the NY morning include General Mills, Winnebago

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

  • ASX 200 opened 0.0%
  • (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR PRELIMINARY PMI MANUFACTURING: 57.0 V 56.9 PRIOR (10th straight expansion)
  • (AU) Australia Treasury Sec Kennedy: When Job keeper ends, we will see some businesses close and some jobs lost; estimate full employment to have 4.5-5.0% jobless rate
  • (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) member Harper: Full employment still a long way off, V-shape recovery beating optimistic forecasts
  • (AU) Australia Stats Office (ABS) Feb Preliminary Trade Balance (A$): 8.1B v 10.1B prior final
  • (AU) Australia Port of Newcastle now has 40 vessels waiting due to heavy rains, thermal coal prices have risen to $105/t (highest since Oct 2018)

Japan

  • Nikkei 225 opened -0.8%
  • (JP) JAPAN MAR PRELIMINARY PMI MANUFACTURING: 52.0 V 51.4 PRIOR (2ND STRAIGHT EXPANSION)
  • (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Meeting Minutes from Jan decision: Members agreed BOJ must ease without hesitation if needed with eye on pandemic fallout
  • 7267.JP Extends suspension of production at certain North America plants due to supply chain issues
  • (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Takes time to reach 2% price target, reiterates not at stage to consider exit strategy, not thinking about what to do with ETF holdings right now

Korea

  • Kospi opened -0.3%
  • (KR) South Korea Feb PPI Y/Y: 2.0% v 0.9% prior (4th consecutive increase, fastest rise since Oct 2018)
  • (KR) North Korea reportedly fired short range missiles last weekend – Wash Post
  • 003620.KR Auditor rejects FY20 financial reports due to heavy debt and questions ability to continue operating
  • (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov Lee: Not time to adjust monetary policy; Bond purchases depend on pace and strength of gains in yields
  • 066570.KR Shareholders approve plan to split off some of its electric vehicle (EV) components business to set up a joint venture (JV) with Canadian auto parts maker Magna International

China/Hong Kong

  • Hang Seng opened -0.2%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.5%
  • 1117.HK Reports FY20 (CNY) Net 770M v 341.3M y/y, Rev 6.0B v 5.5B y/y
  • (CN) China said to be probing banks citing illegal loans used for property speculation – China press
  • (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5228 v 6.5036 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) According to a local think tank China local Govts had CNY14.8T in hidden debt in 2020, which is seen growing larger this year – HK press
  • 700.HK Said that Founder Pony May may have met with Antitrust officials in China earlier in Mar – Press

Other

  • (TW) Taiwan Eocn Min: Intel chip investment plan not an issue for chip companies in Taiwan, our companies are “awesome” and their tech keeps improving
  • Suez Canal reportedly has been blocked for several hours as a large container ship is stuck – press

North America

  • (US) Fed’s Bullard (non-voter, dove): Have penciled in 6.5% growth with unemployment down to 4.5% this year
  • (US) Weekly API Crude Oil Inventories: +2.9M v -1.0M; Gasoline: -3.7M v -0.9M prior
  • INTC Issues strategy for manufacturing, innovation and product; Plans for new research collaboration with IBM; targets $20B investment to build two new fabs in Arizona
  • (CA) Bank of Canada’s Gravelle: anecdotal evidence and data in housing market indicate a lot more investment activity and ‘a lot more flipping’ – press interview
  • (US) Treasury Sec Yellen: Stimulus does not prevent broad tax cuts; Treasury is drafting further guidance to address issues raised by states on stimulus provisions prohibiting use of federal funds to offset tax cuts
  • BNTX Macau halts Biontech vaccine after receiving a written notice from Fosun Pharma warning there are multiple package defects related to vial caps of the vaccine doses

Europe

  • (EU) Follow Up: EU and China trade talks in Brussels have been canceled – HK Press (after EU placed sanctions on China)
  • (EU) According to draft legislation EU is looking to slow covid vaccine exports for 6 weeks, would impact all vaccine manufactures; most likely to impact Israel, Canada and UK – press

Levels as of 01:15ET

  • Hang Seng -2.0%; Shanghai Composite -1.2%; Kospi -0.3%; Nikkei225 -1.7%; ASX 200 +0.5%.
  • Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.0%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax -0.2%; FTSE100 -0.6%.
  • EUR 1.1854-1.1836; JPY 108.64-108.45; AUD 0.7635-0.7594; NZD 0.7015-0.6974.
  • Commodity Futures: Gold +0.4% at $1,732/oz; Crude Oil -0.0% at $57.73/brl; Copper +0.4% at $4.04/lb.
Trade The News
Trade The Newshttp://www.tradethenews.com/
All information provided by Trade The News (a product of Trade The News, Inc. "referred to as TTN hereafter") is for informational purposes only. Information provided is not meant as investment advice nor is it a recommendation to Buy or Sell securities. Although information is taken from sources deemed reliable, no guarantees or assurances can be made to the accuracy of any information provided. 1. Information can be inaccurate and/or incomplete 2. Information can be mistakenly re-released or be delayed, 3. Information may be incorrect, misread, misinterpreted or misunderstood 4. Human error is a business risk you are willing to assume 5. Technology can crash or be interrupted without notice 6. Trading decisions are the responsibility of traders, not those providing additional information. Trade The News is not liable (financial and/or non-financial) for any losses that may arise from any information provided by TTN. Trading securities involves a high degree of risk, and financial losses can and do occur on a regular basis and are part of the risk of trading and investing.

Featured Analysis

Learn Forex Trading