General Trend
- Markets traded mixed most of the morning, with concerns over US delisting of Chinese stocks back in focus and weaker earnings weighing on Hang Seng and Shanghai indexes
- AstraZeneca reported updated efficacy on its COVID vaccine a little lower than initially reported
- Currencies mostly quiet with A$ and NZ$ leading the USD, yen remained weaker to the dollar for the session, US yields remained higher
- Chinese press speculates that PBOC could conduct annual review of RRR today or first week of April
- Nikkei225 rose nearly 1% as BOJ Gov Kuroda commented that if Nikkei fell around 20,000, the BOJ would book ETF loss, also reiterated no plans to sell ETFs and would continue flexible buying
- North Korea again fired ballistic missiles into the eastern sea, not falling into the EZZ. Japan officials express concerns.
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.0%
- SUN.AU Updates on flood claims: Received more than 5,400 as of 16:00 March 24th
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Dep Gov Debelle: Unemployment rate a lot lower than we had anticipated
- RAP.AU Achieves Australian TGA clearance for its wearable as a Class I medical device, this will allow sales of device to start
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Offers to buy A$2.0B in Govt bonds v A$2.0B prior
- BKW.AU Reports H1 (A$) adj Net 71.2M v 58.2M y/y; Rev 431.7M v 448.6M y/y; Raises dividend 5% to 0.21 from 0.20; Terminates dividend reinvestment plan
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.2%
- (JP) Japan PM Suga: North Korea fired 2 ballistic missiles, Launches are threat to regional security
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Will buys ETFs as needed while watching market; If Nikkei falls below ~20K, BOJ will have a loss on ETFs
- 9984.JP Not aware of SEC investigation into securities trading
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥500B v ¥500B indicated in 0.50% 40-year JGBs, Avg Yield: 0.675% v 0.685% prior, bid to cover: 2.80x v 2.86x prior
- 7202.JP Isuzu, Hino, and Toyota to set up JV; Toyota to hold 80% of JV, Hino and Isuzu to hold 10% each; Toyota to acquire 39M shares in Isuzu for ¥42.8B, Isuzu to acquire similar amount of shares in Toyota (yesterday after the close)
Korea
- Kospi opened -0.0%
- (KR) South Korea ruling and opposition parties agree to handle KRW15T budget bill this week, funds to be used to help pandemic impacted businesses – press
- (KR) South Korea COVID cases rise over 400 again, restrictions likely to remain in place – Yonhap
- (KR) Japan Coast Guard: North Korea fired 2 missiles into the east sea today (second time this week) – Press
- (KR) South Korea National Pension Service fund management committee to talk about increasing target for local stock holdings to as much as 20.3% (from current 14.8-18.8%)
- (KR) South Korea National Assembly passes KRW14.9T extra budget bill
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK): To extend special loans for small and medium sized businesses for 6-months
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened -1.0%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.4%
- (CN) China Q1 Beige Book: Services sector improved only marginally against a strong rebound in the broader economy, a sign of still weak consumption
- (CN) China PBOC may conduct their annual review of Reserve Ratio Requirement (RRR) as soon as today or April 6th (based on prior years), sees any adjustment increasing liquidity by CNY50-100B – 21st Century Business Herald
- (CN) China PBoC: China to maintain stable loan growth; To increase financial support to home leasing
- 2319.HK Reports FY20 (CNY) Net 3.53B v 4.11B y/y, Rev 76.0B v 79.0B y/y
- 700.HK Reports Q4 (CNY) Net 59.3B v 21.6B y/y, Op 63.7B v 28.6B y/y, Rev 133.7B v 105.8B y/y; Raises annual dividend 33% to HK$1.60/shr
- 330.HK Guides H1 (HK$) Net -280M v -4.0B y/y; Rev 890M v 2.8B y/y
- 1810.HK Reports Q4 (CNY) adj Net 3.20B v 2.90Be; Op 9.60B v 2.7B y/y, Rev 70.5B v 74.5Be; Acquires 50% of Zimi Intl. for $204.7M
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5282 v 6.5228 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
Other
- 2603.TW Company that leases and operates the large tanker currently stuck in Suez Canal, think that strong wind caused the hull to deviate from waterway and hit the bottom
North America - (US) Fed’s Daly (non-voter, dove): Fed will not be preemptively taking away punch bowl from US economy
- (US) Fed’s Evans (dove, voter): Recovery going better than expected; looking to see unemployment at 4.5% at end of 2021; Sees 2021 GDP +6.5%
Europe
- AZN.UK Updates on vaccine efficacy: Positive high level results from AZD1222 Phase 3 trial in US; Reports overall 76% efficacy against symptomatic coronavirus (prior reported 79%)
- (CN) US and EU plan to relaunch bilateral dialogue regarding China – joint statement
- (UK) BOE’s Haldane (chief economist): a ‘rip roaring recovery’ possible if UK savings are spent; UK excess savings are about £150B
- (UK) Former UK PM Cameron is now undergoing a probe related to Greensill
Levels as of 01:15ET
- Hang Seng -0.1%; Shanghai Composite +0.2%; Kospi +0.2%; Nikkei225 +1.2%; ASX 200 +0.2%.
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.3%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 -0.1%.
- EUR 1.1828-1.1804; JPY 109.00-108.72; AUD 0.7614-0.7580; NZD 0.6986-0.6958.
- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.1% at $1,734/oz; Crude Oil -1.8% at $60.11/brl; Copper -0.3% at $4.02/lb.
