General Trend
- Asian equity markets are currently mixed after the mostly lower opens.
- CN and HK markets underperform ahead of China’s GDP data [Financials drop amid some disappointment with the PBOC’s MLF operation, China Huarong has also remained in the headlines; HK TECH and Shanghai IT indices decline over 1%].
- Australian equities reversed decline [Gainers include the Resources, Energy and Consumer indices].
- Nikkei 225 is near flat after the lower open [Topix Marine Transportation, Iron & Steel and Banks indices are among the gainers; Electric Appliances index lags].
- Taiwan Semi is due to issue Q1 results later today.
- Tencent resumed the marketing process for USD-denominated bonds.
- China’s Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) sometimes holds weekly news conferences on Thursday.
- China Q1 GDP and Mar Industrial Production are among the data points due on Friday (April 16th).
- Companies due to report during the NY morning include Bank of America, BlackRock, Citigroup, Delta, Pepsico, Progressive Corp, Rite Aid, Charles Schwab, Truist Financial, UnitedHealth, US Bancorp, Wipro.
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened 0.0%.
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: 70.7K V 35.0KE; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 5.6% V 5.7%E.
- WHC.AU Reports Q3 Managed Rom Coal Production 5.5Mt v 4.2Mt y/y; Sales 4.8Mt v 4.5Mt y/y; cuts FY21 guidance again.
- (AU) Australia Treasurer Frydenberg: Unemployment is not yet comfortably below 6%, not time for Austerity measures.
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -0.2%.
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Core CPI likely to fall for now, but will turn positive and accelerate increase after – quarterly meeting with regional branch managers.
- 9984.JP Said that Vision Fund to record ~$30B in profit from investment in Coupang – Press.
- (JP) Japan Ruling LDP Party Official Nikai: Cancelling Olympics is an option – Press.
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) quarterly Regional Economic Report (Sakura): Downgrades assessment of 2 of 9 regions [Hokkaido and Tohoku].
Korea
- Kospi opened -0.1%.
- (KR) BANK OF KOREA (BOK) LEAVES 7-DAY REPO RATE UNCHANGED AT 0.50%; AS EXPECTED.
- 017670.KR Announces Reformation plan for holding company; SK Telecom holding to own SK Hynix, ADT Caps, 11st, and TMAP.
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened -0.1%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.2%.
- (CN) China PBoC Paper: China should lift birth restrictions to achieve long-term goals through 2035.
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5297 v 6.5362 prior.
- (CN) CHINA PBOC CONDUCTS CNY150B IN 1-YEAR MEDIUM-TERM LENDING FACILITY (MLF) AT 2.95% V 2.95% PRIOR (12th straight operation that rate remained steady).
- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net injects CNY10B v Net CNY0B prior.
Other
- 2330.TW Said to have a potential loss of >NT$1.0B due to blackout on Apr 14th – Press..
- (TW) Taiwan President Tsai: US visit to Taiwan highlights partnership is deepening, looking forward to resuming TIFA talks with US – comments at start of unofficial visit from US representatives.
North America
- (US) Fed Vice Chair Clarida: Fed will react to data on inflation itself, will not tighten solely because unemployment falls.
- JNJ CDC advisory panel on JNJ’s Covid vaccine decides not to vote today; says need more data and will reconvene as quickly as possible.
- JNJ Spokesperson: JNJ Continues to believe in Positive benefit-risk profile of company vaccine – response to CDC.
Europe
- (RU) Follow Up: US Executive order on Russia sanctions to extend prohibitions on banks trading Russian Govt Debt, the order will prohibit US financial institutions from buying new bonds from the Russia Central Bank and Finance Ministry.
Levels as of 01:15ET
- Hang Seng -0.9%; Shanghai Composite -1.0%; Kospi +0.5%; Nikkei225 +0.0%; ASX 200 +0.6%.
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.2%.
- EUR 1.1990-1.1970; JPY 108.98-108.81; AUD 0.7745-0.7706; NZD 0.7159-0.7136.
- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.2% at $1,740/oz; Crude Oil -0.2% at $63.00/brl; Copper +0.5% at $4.13/lb.
