Asia Trades Generally Lower Amid US Holiday

General trend

• Nikkei remains lower and lags amid pullback in USD/JPY [Topix Banks, Marine Transportation, Securities and Electric Appliances indices decline].
• Shanghai Composite declines during morning session after flat open [Consumer and Financial indices drop].
• Hang Seng moved lower after the higher open [Financials also decline in Hong Kong; HK property names move lower; Energy cos decline as China will leave fuel prices unchanged; HK TECH Index higher after earnings from Meituan; Miners rise amid gain in Chinese iron ore FUTs].
• S&P ASX 200 has moved modestly lower after flat open [Energy index drops over 1.5%; Financials also move lower].
• BoJ is expected to release June bond-buying plan after the market close.
• RBA is due to hold policy meeting on Tuesday (Jun 1st).
• RBA Dep Gov Debelle is due to appear before Senate Economics Legislation Committee on Wed (Jun 2nd).

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

• ASX 200 opened 0.0%.
• LNK.AU Confirms to list PEXA on ASX, targets end of June; Values PEXA at A$3.3B.
• FCG.NZ Reports Apr New Zealand Milk Collection 118.2M kgMS, +11.2% y/y; Apr to date collection +1.2% y/y; Australia milk collection 8.1M kgMS, +1.9% y/y; Apr to date -1.1% y/y – May global dairy update.
• BHP.AU Internal memo suggests that shortage of rail workers is putting iron ore production target in jeopardy – AFR.
• (NZ) New Zealand May Final ANZ Business Confidence: 1.8 v 7.0 prelim; Activity Outlook: 27.1 v 32.3 prelim.
• (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Assistant Gov Hawkesby: Inflation not seen reaching sustainable levels until latter end of RBNZ Projections; Projects of rate hike late 2022 conditional on economy.

Japan

• Nikkei 225 opened -0.5%.
• (JP) Japan regulators considering allowing blank check (SPAC) IPOs – Nikkei.
• (JP) JAPAN APR RETAIL SALES M/M: -4.5% V -1.7%E; Y/Y: 12.0% V 15.2%E.
• (JP) JAPAN APR PRELIMINARY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: 2.5% V 3.9%E; Y/Y: 15.4% V 16.9%E.
• (JP) Japan Cabinet approval rating -7ppt to 40% (record low) on COVID response – Nikkei.
• (JP) Japan MOF sells ¥3.0T v ¥3.0T indicated in 0.10% 2-year JGBs: avg yield: -0.1250% v -0.1300% prior; bid to cover 3.97x v 4.49x prior.
• (JP) JAPAN APR ANNUALIZED HOUSING STARTS: 883K V 858KE; Y/Y: 7.1% V 5.0%E.

Korea

• Kospi opened +0.1%.
• (KR) South Korea Apr Industrial Production M/M: -1.6% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 12.4% v 11.5%e.
• (KR) South Korea Industry Ministry: To invest KRW3.6T in 2021 to promote the convergence of different industries and foster new growth engines, +3.7% y/y.

China/Hong Kong

• Hang Seng opened +0.4%; Shanghai Composite opened 0.0%.
• (CN) CHINA MAY MANUFACTURING PMI (GOVT OFFICIAL): 51.0 V 51.1E (14TH MONTH OF EXPANSION).
• (CN) Former China PBOC official Sheng Songcheng said ‘fast’ yuan appreciation probably will not last, suggests the Yuan is ‘overbought’; says rise in CNY suggests short-term speculation – Xinhua.
• (CN) China PBOC paper said potential tightening by the Fed could push the yuan (CNY) lower – financial press.
• (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.3682 v 6.3858 prior (Strongest since May 17, 2018.
• (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.
• 2799.HK Said to have wired $978M in order to pay June 3rd bond payment (largest payment since liquidity has come into question) – press.
• 3690.HK Reports Q1 (CNY) adj Net -3.89B v -3.97Be, Rev 37.0B v 35.7Be; Says in-store dining, hotel and travel segments fully recovered from pandemic (Friday after the close).

Other

• (SG) Singapore PM Loong to make speech today outlining plans to keep COVID under control while progressively opening up; will involve “testing, contact tracing, and vaccinating, all faster, and more”.

North America

• VIAC “A Quiet Place Part II” top movie in the N. American box office with $48.4M in sales (opening weekend).

Europe

• (UK) UK vaccine passport plans said to be cancelled – UK press.
• (KR) South Korea Apr Industrial Production M/M: -1.6% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 12.4% v 11.5%e.
• (EU) Denmark Defence Intelligence Service (FE) collaborated with the US National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on European politicians including German Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2012 to 2014 – Danish press.

Levels as of 01:15ET

• Hang Seng -0.4%; Shanghai Composite -0.2%; Kospi +0.2%; Nikkei225 -1.1%; ASX 200 -0.2%.
• Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 +0.4%.
• EUR 1.2205-1.2185; JPY 109.94-109.64; AUD 0.7730-0.7701; NZD 0.7260-0.7231.
• Commodity Futures: Gold +0.2% at $1,909/oz; Crude Oil +0.6% at $66.73/brl; Copper +0.1% at $4.67/lb.