Mixed Day For Asia After Similar US Session, UST Yields Extend Rise, Archegos Issued Statement

Mar 30 21, 06:57 GMT

General Trend

Asian markets have remained mixed; Modest moves have been seen thus far.
Hang Seng has extended gains [TECH index has risen by over 3% (Lenovo rises over 13% amid talk of higher laptop prices); HK companies continue to report earnings (BYD Co. declines after reporting; Bank of China and WH Group are expected to report today)]
Shanghai Composite continued to rise during morning session [Consumer Staples index outperformed]
S&P ASX 200 reversed the opening gain [Financials reversed gains; Resources index dropped after prior gain]
Nikkei 225 is currently near the opening level amid more than 1,700 ex-dividends [Topix lagged; Nomura weighs on Securities index, Banks index also drops; Transport indices rise]
NZD and AUD outperform amid higher 10-year government bond yields; Quarter and month-end flows in focus; Japan’s fiscal year ends in March.
Turkish Lira (TRY) drops as central bank shake-up continues.
Bank of Japan (BOJ) announces bond purchases for the month of April on Mar 31st (Wed).
Macau monthly casino revenues are expected to be released this week.
Companies expected to report during the NY morning include Granite Construction, Kandi Technologies, LMP Automotive, McCormick, QIWI.

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.1%.
TER.AU Responding to media speculation: TerraCom nor Blair Athol mine are at center of fake coal sampling noted in article.
AIR.NZ Notes domestic and corporate travel is returning to 90% of pre-covid levels; has added more seats and more business-timed flights, cites increased demand.
(AU) Former Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) member Edwards: Think the A$ is headed to 0.80 to the USD, which will be a problem, so RBA will need to keep buying bonds in order to keep currency weaker – press.

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%.
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Japan economy likely to improve as a trend thanks to recovery in external demand along with effects of easy policy and govt stimulus package; reiterates to buy up to ¥12T in ETFs with a close eye on the markets even after pandemic eases – press interview ahead of speech.
(JP) JAPAN FEB JOBLESS RATE: 2.9% V 3.0%E; Job to applicant ratio: 1.09x v 1.09xe.
(JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: Recovery in availability of jobs has slowed due to state of emergency during Jan and Feb.
(JP) JAPAN FEB RETAIL SALES M/M: 3.1% V 0.8%E; Y/Y: -1.5% V -2.9%E.
(TW) Japan said to have asked Taiwan Chip Maker in Taiwan for chips after Renesas factory fire – Press.
(JP) Japan MOF sells ¥3.0T v ¥3.0T indicated in 0.10% 2-year JGBs: avg yield: -0.1260% v -0.0990% prior; bid to cover 3.62x v 4.27x prior.

Korea

Kospi opened +0.1%.
(KR) North Korea leader Kim sister criticizes South Korea President Moon for speech on recent missile launches.
(KR) US President Biden does not intend to meet with North Korea Leader Kim – White House press Sec.
003605.KR SK Bioscience said to halt production of flu vaccine SKY Cellflu to focus on production of Novavax coronavirus vaccine – South Korea press.
(KR) South Korea plans to increase tax incentives by KRW3.0T in 2021 – local press.
(KR) South Korea issues 2022 budget guidelines: to maintain an expansionary fiscal policy to underpin an economic recovery from the pandemic, but it will also seek to enhance fiscal soundness and try to curb debt growth – Yonhap.

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.8%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.1%.
(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.
BYD, 211.HK Reports FY20 (CNY) Net 4.2B v 1.6B y/y; Rev 153.5B v 121.7B y/y; Guides Q1 Net CNY200-300M v 112.6M y/y.
(CN) China steel industry said to target peak emissions before 2025 – Chinese press.
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5641 v 6.5416 prior (Weakest since Dec1, 2020).
(HK) China Top Legislative body said to have endorsed and passed the Hong Kong Election law changes.
(CN) FTSE Russell: China government bonds to be 5.25% of index (WGBI); China bonds to be included in the WGBI over a period of 36 months, effective from Oct 29th 2021; Malaysia to retain membership in the FTSE World Government Bond Index.

Other

(SA) SAUDI ARABIA REPORTEDLY PREPARED TO BACK OPEC+ OIL CUT EXTENSIONS INTO MAY AND JUNE; READY TO EXTEND ITS VOLUNTARY CUTS.
2357.TW ACER and Asustek said to be increasing laptop prices by up to 10% in Q2 – Press.
2337.TW Chairman: Clients are triple booking orders for NOR flash-memory chips due to surging demand and limited manufacturing capacity; expect chip supply issues to last for 2 .years, will take that much time to build new chip factories – Taiwan press.
(TW) US President Biden and Japan PM Suga are expected to note the Taiwan Strait in joint statement – Japanese press.

North America

(US) Archegos Capital Management: This is a challenging time for the office, our partners and employees; all plans are being discussed as Mr. Hwang and the team determine the best path forward.

Europe

(DE) Germany IG Metall Union: Agrees to 2.3% net wage increase for period through Oct 2022 just for state of North Rhine Westphalia – Union.
(TR) Turkey Pres Erdogan fires Turkish Central Bank Deputy Gov Cetinkaya; names Mustafa Duman to replace him – press.
(UK) PM Johnson: we must prevent new virus variants coming from overseas; see nothing in data to deviate from lockdown easing plan.
(UK) Trade Sec Truss: Urge President Biden administration to “desist” from tit for tat tariffs on UK goods; US needs to find a fair way to tax tech companies – FT.
(DE) Germany constitutional court ordered the president not to sign the EU recovery fund into law until the court has examined a motion brought by a handful of Eurosceptics – FT.
(EU) ECB’s Vasiliauskas (Lithuania): Reiterates Council concern of shifting policy too quickly.

Levels as of 01:15ET

Hang Seng +1.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.7%; Kospi +1.0%; Nikkei225 -0.1%; ASX 200 -0.7%.
Equity Futures: S&P500 0.0%; Nasdaq100 -0.2%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.3%.
EUR 1.1774-1.1761; JPY 110.00-109.75; AUD 0.7663-0.7629; NZD 0.7034-0.6995.
Commodity Futures: Gold -0.4% at $1,707/oz; Crude Oil -0.1% at $61.53/brl; Copper +0.2% at $4.04/lb.