Asia Opened Generally Lower After Declines In US Equities

May 13 21, 06:01 GMT

General trend

US equity FUTs have modest rise in Asia after lower open, tracking global concerns over recent inflation spikes.
Nikkei extended declines after lower open, the index is down for the 3rd straight session [Softbank Group drops after reporting earnings].
Japan companies due to report earnings include Rakuten, Nikon, Suzuki Motor, Isuzu Motor, McDonald’s Japan, Mitsubishi Estate, Orix, Asics, INPEX, Square Enix, Aozora Bank, Trend Micro.
S&P ASX 200 declined after the flat open [Financials index drops amid ex-dividends; Consumer Staples supported by figures from GrainCorp and Treasury Wine].
Hang Seng opened lower by ~1%, currently trades near the opening level; HK TECH index drops over 2% ahead of upcoming earnings [companies due to report include Alibaba, SMIC and Bilibili].
US Colonial Pipeline starts process to come back online (expected to take a couple of days) as locations in the Southern east coast report gas stations with no fuel; Gasoline FUTs drop on the news.
Shanghai Composite declined by less than 1% during morning session.
Taiwan equities consolidate after volatility seen on Wed.
Asian 10 yr gov’t bond yields move modestly higher after US CPI.
China Iron Ore FUTS drop over 6%.
Musk’s Bitcoin comments weigh on cryptocurrencies and drive BTC below $50K.
China PBOC generally conducts MLF operations around the 15th of the month.
Companies due to report during the NY morning include Alibaba, Casper, Canada Goose, XPeng, Yeti.

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened 0.0%.
GNC.AU Reports H1 (A$) underlying Net 50.5M v 55.0M y/y; underlying EBITDA 140M v 110M y/y; Rev 2.6B v 2.0B y/y; Raises FY21.
(AU) Fitch comments on Australia budget: Robust fiscal performance reduces sovereign rating risk.

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.8%.
(JP) Bank of Japan (BPJ) Gov Kuroda: Important to maintain steps to respond to pandemic impact on economy; Unfortunate it is taking time to hit 2% CPI.
(JP) Japan Mar Current Account: ¥2.650T v ¥2.765Te; Adj Current Account: ¥1.696T v ¥1.868Te.
(JP) Japan Investors Net Buying of Foreign Bonds: -¥73.6B v +¥132.8B prior; Foreign Net Buying of Japan Stocks: ¥144.8B v ¥492.2B prior.
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Senior Official: Scetors particularly hit hard by pandemic are facing funding strains; BOJ will purchase ETs as needed under guidance of conducting huge purchases when market has large fluctuations.
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥900B v ¥900B indicated in 0.7% 30-year JGBs, avg yield 0.6450% v 0.6880% prior, bid to cover: 3.12x v 3.11x prior.
9984.JP Reports FY20/21 Net ¥4.99T v -¥961.6B y/y; Pretax ¥5.67T v ¥50.0B y/y; Rev ¥5.63T v ¥5.24T y/y (yesterday after the close).

Korea

Kospi opened -0.5%.
(KR) South Korea Think Tank, KDI: Loose monetary policy should continue for now; raises 2021 GDP outlook to 3.8% (prior 3.1%).
(KR) South Korea President Moon and US President Biden summit on May 21st to focus on COVID vaccine cooperation, North Korea, economic cooperation and bilateral alliance issues – Yonhap.

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -1.1%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.9%.
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4612 v 6.4258 prior.
(CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net inject CNY0B v Net inject CNY10B prior.
(CN) China Govt and Ministry of Education expected to announce tighter rules on private tutoring companies by the end of June – press.
(CN) China said to be considering whether to replace Vice Premier Liu He as its top economic envoy with Washington – press.

Yesterday after the close:

Other

North America

(US) ENERGY SEC GRANHOLM: COLONIAL TO RESTART PIPELINE TODAY AT 17:00ET (reminder will take several days to come fully online).
TSLA CEO: Suspending purchases using bitcoin, concerned about Bitcoin’s environmental impact.
(US) APR CPI M/M: 0.8% V 0.2%E; Y/Y: 4.2% V 3.6%E (highest increase since 2008).

Europe

(UK) BOE’s Haldane (chief economist): By the end of 2021 CPI is likely to be above 2% target, expect double digit growth a year from now – UK press.
(UK) Apr RICS House Price Balance: 75% v 62%e (highest level since the 1970s).

Levels as of 01:15ET

Hang Seng -1.1%; Shanghai Composite -0.9%; Kospi -1.0%; Nikkei225 -2.0%; ASX 200 -0.7%.
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.3%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 -0.5%.
EUR 1.2089-1.2070; JPY 109.78-109.48; AUD 0.7746-0.7717; NZD 0.7179-0.7155.
Commodity Futures: Gold -0.3% at $1,818/oz; Crude Oil -1.1% at $65.38/brl; Copper +0.3% at $4.73/lb.