General trend
- Modest moves have been seen for the equity markets in Asia.
- Nikkei has moved higher after the lower open [automakers track gains in the US, Toyota trades at record high].
- S&P ASX 200 Resources index drops on China NDRC comments, index declines for 4th consecutive session.
- NDRC also weighs on Materials indices in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
- Shanghai Consumer Staples index pares decline.
- Hang Seng TECH index drops over 2% [Tencent extends decline following recently reported Q1 results; Kuaishou Technology is expected to report later today].
Headlines/Economic data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened flat
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$222.6B v A$215.2B prior (Record high).
- (AU) Various banks in Australia (including CBA, Westpac, Macquarie and NAB) have raised 3-5-year fixed home lending rates – Australian press.
- (NZ) NZIER Shadow board: Sees a stronger case for tightening by RBNZ; Board members consider current monetary policy setting still appropriate for May 26th (Wed) policy meeting.
- (NZ) New Zealand Q1 Retail Sales Ex-Inflation Q/Q: +2.5% v -1.8%e; Higher retail spending on electronic items and outdoor recreational goods this summer helped boost overall spending in the March 2021 quarter.
China/Hong Kong
- Shanghai Composite opened flat, Hang Seng -0.1%.
- (CN) China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC): holds talks with major commodity companies; vows to have ‘zero tolerance’ for any commodities futures violations.
- (CN) China Vice Premier Liu: China to crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading.
- (CN) Follow Up: Various cryptocurrency mining operators in China (including Huobi Mall and BTC.TOP) are suspending their operations – financial press.
- (HK) Hang Seng Indexes announced index review results: To add Xinyi Solar, BYD Co. and Country Garden Services [6098.HK] to Hang Seng Index, effective June 7th.
- (CN) China PBoC official: suggests CNY currency (Yuan) to appreciate as prices rise; Should improve the CPI calculation method.
- (CN) China PBOC Deputy Gov: Fluctuations in the Yuan in either direction will become the norm.
- (CN) China Sec Journal: Analysts see China keeping the FX rate system ‘stable’ (in line).
- (CN) China President Xi: Stresses regulation of tutoring institutions – State TV comments.
- (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 PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4408 v 6.4300 prior.
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -0.4%.
- (JP) Tokyo to begin disclosing daily coronavirus cases at 03:45EST(market closes at 02:00EST).
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Kato: Lifting or extension of state of emergency to be decided comprehensively.
Korea
- Kospi opened flat.
- (KR) South Korea Finance Ministry: Denies extra budget report.
- (KR) South Korea Govt said to be internally considering 2nd extra budget – Press.
- Hyundai Motor [005380.KR]: Halting Asan plant through May 27th due to chip shortages.
- (KR) South Korea President Moon and US President Biden Joint Statement: Calls for full implementation of UN Sanctions on North Korea.
- (KR) South Korea sells 5-year bonds: avg yield 1.640% v 1.570% prior.
- (KR) Bank of Korea sells KRW840B v KRW700B indicated in 1-year Monetary Stabilization Bonds (MSB): avg yield 0.620% v 0.650% prior.
Other Asia
- (SG) Singapore Apr CPI M/M: -0.2% v -0.2%e; Y/Y: 2.1% v 2.0%e; CPI Core Y/Y: 0.6% v 0.9%e.
- (TW) Taiwan companies said to cut certain 5G component part orders due to lessened demand; growth in 5G smartphone component orders might drop by up to 30% vs Q1 – Taiwan press.
North America
- (US) Fed’s Daly (non-voter, dove): policy is in a really good place; see bright things happening across the economy, but we are still not out of the woods [comments from May 21st].
- (US) China says US Intelligence report is an attempt to distract attention from the Coronavirus probe – Press.
- Reminder: The next North American SEMI Billings report is May 24, 2021 at 3:00pm Pacific (Monday).
Europe
- (EU) ECB De Guindos (Spain) said data is improving, but policy must remain very loose – financial press.
Levels as of 01:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.2%, ASX 200 +0.2% , Hang Seng -0.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.2% ; Kospi -0.4%.
- Equity S&P500 Futures: +0.3%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.2%.
- EUR 1.2187-1.2172 ; JPY 108.99-108.81 ; AUD 0.7738-0.7713 ;NZD 0.7182-0.7160.
- Gold +0.5% at $1,886/oz; Crude Oil +0.6% at $63.97/brl; Copper -1.1% at $4.4573/lb.
