Asia Trades Lower Despite US Gains, China PMIs Mixed

Apr 30 21, 06:29 GMT

General trend

Financials trade lower in China and Hong Kong [ICBC and Bank of China dropped after reporting earnings].
Hang Seng continued to decline after the lower open [HK TECH index has declined by over 1.9% amid ongoing regulatory concerns; Nasdaq FUTs drop during Asia].
Shanghai Composite ended the morning session -0.5% [Property and Financial firms declined].
Nikkei has remained lower following yesterday’s holiday [Sony drops over 6% after recently reported earnings/guidance; Komatsu, Tokyo Electron, Japan Tobacco, and ANA are due to report after the market close].
Energy index has weighed on the S&P ASX 200 [Beach Energy declined over 20% on production update].
DBS rose after Q1 earnings report and revised outlook.
Japan markets to be closed for holiday May 3-5th (Mon-Wed).
Companies due to report during the NY morning include Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Aon, CBOE, Charter Communications, Colgate-Palmolive, Clorox, Chevron, Fannie Mae, Goodyear, W.W. Grainger, Huntsman, Illinois Tool Works, Johnson Controls, Lazard, L3Harris, LyondellBasell, Moog, Newell, Pitney Bowes, Piper Sandler, Phillips 66, Restaurant Brands, Weyerhaeuser, Exxon.

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened flat
(AU) Australia Mar Private Sector Credit M/M: 0.4% v 0.2% prior; Y/Y: 1.0% v 0.8%e.
(AU) Australia Q1 PPI Q/Q: 0.4% v 0.5% prior; Y/Y: +0.2% v 0.1% prior.
(AU) Australia sells A$1.0B v A$1.0B indicated in 1.50% June 2031 bonds, avg yield 1.6882% v 1.7161% prior, bid to cover 3.33x v 2.82x prior.
(NZ) New Zealand May Consumer Confidence Index: 115.4 v 110.8 prior; M/M: +4.2% v -2.0% prior.
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) offers to buy a total of NZ$350M in government bonds next week under QE program v NZ$350M prior.

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.6%, Shanghai Composite -0.2%.
(CN) CHINA APR MANUFACTURING PMI (GOVT OFFICIAL): 51.1 V 51.8E (13th month of expansion); Non-manufacturing PMI: 54.9 v 56.1e (12th straight month of expansion).
(CN) CHINA APR CAIXIN PMI MANUFACTURING: 51.9 V 50.9E (12th month of expansion, 4-month high).
(CN) China NBS: China companies face chip shortages and impeded logistics internationally.
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4672 v 6.4715 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 Net CNY0B prior.
(CN) China 1-day repo rate increases to 2.2670%, +45bps.
(CN) China govt said to step up oversight of financial operations of online platforms – financial press.

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.2% [index was closed on April 29th].
(JP) JAPAN MAR PRELIMINARY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: +2.2% V -2.0%E; +4.0Y/Y: % V -0.6%E.
(JP) JAPAN APR TOKYO CPI Y/Y: -0.6% V -0.2%E; CPI (EX-FRESH FOOD) Y/Y: -0.2% V 0.0%E.
(JP) Japan Apr Final PMI Manufacturing: 53.6 v 53.3 prelim (confirms 3rd consecutive expansion).
(JP) JAPAN MAR JOBLESS RATE: 2.6% V 2.9%E.
(JP) Japan Apr Consumer Confidence: 34.7 v 34.2e.
(JP) Japan Cabinet approves use of ¥500B in reserve funds to support business affected by pandemic and mandatory closures – Press (as expected).

Korea

Kospi opened +0.1%.
(KR) South Korea Mar Industrial Production M/M: -0.8% v -0.5%e; Y/Y: 4.7% v 4.2%e.
(KR) South Korea Mar Retail Sales M/M: +2.3% v -0.8% prior; Y/Y: % v 8.4% prior.
(KR) South Korea Mar Cyclical Leading Index Change: 0.2 v 0.2 prior.
(KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min: CPI may increase >2.0% due to base effects, sees ‘limited’ chance that annual inflation will exceed the 2% target.
(KR) South Korea President Moon approval rating falls to record low of 29% – Gallup.

Other Asia

(SG) Singapore Mar Bank Loans and Advances Y/Y: -0.2% v -0.9% prior.
(SG) Singapore Mar M1 Money Supply Y/Y: 28.2% v 29.7% prior; M2 Money Supply Y/Y: 1.09% v 10.3% prior.

North America

(US) White House Press Sec Psaki: still evaluating report of directed energy attack near the White House.
Amazon [AMZN]: Reports Q1 $15.79 v $9.65e, Rev $108.5B v $105.1Be; Guides Q2 Rev $110-116B v $108Be.
(US) Q1 ADVANCE GDP ANNUALIZED Q/Q: 6.4% V 6.6%E; PERSONAL CONSUMPTION: 10.7% V 10.5%E.

Europe

Levels as of 01:20 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.9%, ASX 200 -0.9% , Hang Seng -1.9%; Shanghai Composite -1.1%% ; Kospi -0.8%.
Equity S&P500 Futures: -0.3%; Nasdaq100 -0.5%, Dax -0.3%; FTSE100 -0.2%.
EUR 1.2126-1.2115 ; JPY 109.05-108.71 ; AUD 0.7785-0.7763 ;NZD 0.7255-0.7239.
Gold flat at $1,768/oz; Crude Oil -0.8% at $64.47/brl; Copper -0.1%% at $4.4787/lb.