RBA Ro Extend $100 Billion QE In October

Mar 26 21, 06:35 GMT

General Trend

Asian markets are higher after the mostly positive opens
Nikkei is near the middle of today’s range after opening higher by over 1% [Air Transportation index, Real Estate index and Oriental Land rose amid tourism support package; Other gainers included Pharma and Marine Transportation indices; Automakers rise amid weakness in Yen]
Shanghai Composite extended gains during the morning session [Consumer names outperformed]
Hang Seng also continued to rise after the higher open [TECH index has risen by over 2% (Xiaomi and Great Wall Motor rose on EV speculation; Baidu declined after drop in NY-listed shares); Property index also gained (Kaisa Group dropped on rights offering)]
HK Financial earnings are in focus (including ICBC, China Construction Bank, China Life and BoCom); Sinopec may also report
S&P ASX 200 moved higher after the flat open [Telecom and Resources indices outperformed]
Companies that may report during the NY morning include Accel Entertainment, Leju Holdings, LMP Automotive, Fang Holdings, ReneSola

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened flat
(AU) Australia sells A$800M v A$800M indicated in 0.25% Nov 2024 bonds, avg yield 0.2523%, bid to cover 4.3x
(AU) Westpac: Sees Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) extending QE by additional A$100B in Oct (previously saw A$50B)
(CN) China halts imports of Australia Hay – Global Times
(NZ) RBNZ buys NZ$140M v NZ$152M prior in government bonds as part of QE v NZ$140M sought
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) offers to buy a total of NZ$430M in government bonds next week under QE program v NZ$630M prior

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.5%, Shanghai Composite +0.3%
(CN) China PBOC official: reiterates need to keep prudent monetary policy flexible
(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 sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5376 v 6.5282 prior (Weakest Yuan fix since first trading day of the year)
(CN) China PBOC to conduct CNY5.0B in 3-month Central Bank Bill Swap (CBS) operation on today’s session v CNY5.0B prior
(CN) China Ministry of Finance (MOF) Sells 3-month bills and 30-year bonds
(CN) China Copper Smelters group said to have not set a Q2 TC/RC Floor price – Press
(CN) Beijing (China) housing authorities said to act on speculation related to ‘school district houses’; certain real estate brokers are being inspected to determine if they misled buyers and drove up housing prices – Chinese press
(CN) World Bank: Sees China 2021 GDP growth at 8.1% (prior 7.9%), 2022 GDP growth seen at 5.4%
Xiaomi [1810.HK]: Xiaomi said to announce partnership with Great Wall Motor to make Electric Vehicles as soon as next week – Press

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +1.2%
(JP) JAPAN MAR TOKYO CPI Y/Y: -0.2% V -0.2%E; CPI (EX-FRESH FOOD) Y/Y: -0.1% V -0.2%E (highest core reading since July 2020)
(JP) Japan said to be spending ¥300B to help local tourism industry – Press
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Establishes liaison and coordination committee on Digital Currency, holding first meeting today

Korea

Kospi opened +0.2%
(KR) IMF raises South Korea 2021 growth outlook to 3.6% from 3.1%
(KR) South Korea Mar Consumer Confidence: 100.5 v 97.4 prior
(JP) Japan Official Kishi: Missiles that were fired by North Korea yesterday are a new type – Japanese press

Other Asia

(TW) Some insiders related to Taiwan Central Bank said to call for changes to currency policy, noted moves to slow TWD appreciation is having negative economic impact – US financial press

North America

(US) President Biden: beginning to see new signs of hope for economy after stimulus bill passage; Majority of economic forecasters project above 6% growth this year; Made clear to China Prex Xi that the US was ‘not looking for confrontation’ but there will be ‘steep competition’; we’ll insist that China play by the rules; US needs to step up investment in order to compete with China; US and allies will hold China accountable on Taiwan, the South China Sea, and other issues – press conf
(US) White House: Tracking Suez Canal Situation closely
(US) Fed announces that banks that clear stress tests can resume dividends and buybacks after June 30th
(US) Fed’s Daly (non-voter, dove): US job market definitely ‘still in a ditch’; Should not be worried about inflation at this time; Negative interest rates not on my list of possible tools
Boeing [BA]: China Aircraft Leasing [1848.HK] to cut 737 Max order to 66 from 92 units
Aldel Financial [ADFU]: Cutting Blank Check IPO Size to $100M from $200M prior

Europe

(EG) Suez Canal stuck ship clearance reportedly could now take days to weeks – FT
(IT) Italy PM Draghi said to need to ask for additional borrowing in April – US financial press
(UK) PM Johnson receives Parliamentary support to loosen COVID lockdown measures – press
(UK) Trade talks between the US and UK Said to extend beyond deadline imposed by US – FT
(UK) Bank of England (BOE) FPC Said to be highlighting preparations for cyberattack stress tests – Local Press
(UK) China Foreign Ministry: to sanction 9 UK Officials and 4 entities [counter sanctions]; Reserves right to take additional measures

Levels as of 01:20 ET

Nikkei 225, +1.5%, ASX 200 +0.5% , Hang Seng +1.2%; Shanghai Composite +1.5% ; Kospi +1%.
Equity S&P500 Futures: +0.4%; Nasdaq100 +0.6%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.6%.
EUR 1.1784-1.1763; JPY 109.31-109.13 ; AUD 0.7616-0.7575 ;NZD 0.6976-0.6947.
Gold flat at $1,724/oz; Crude Oil +1.1% at $59.22/brl; Copper +0.7% at $4.0240/lb.