PBOC Is Due To Set Loan Prime Rates (LPRs) On Friday

General trend

• NZ bond yields extend declines following Wed RBNZ decision, NZD also drops.
• Nikkei is currently near the opening level [Financials track declines on Wall St; Iron & Steel, Auto, Electric Appliance and Transport firms also decline].
• Financials trade lower in Shanghai and Hong Kong after prior gains [Huarong finally issued profit warning]; Property firms also decline.
• HK Tech index drops over 1.5% [Tencent in focus after recently reported earnings].
• Hang Seng is due to hold next index review on Aug 20th (Fri).
• S&P ASX 200 has been weighed down by Iron-ore producers [Chinese ore FUTS drop over 7%]; Newcrest rises after earnings report and guidance.
• Taiex and Taiwan Semi drop over 2% [Hon Hai, UMC and Nanya decline over 3%]; Taiwan gov’t said to call on local banks to support the equity market.

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

• ASX 200 opened 0.0%.
• (AU) AUSTRALIA JULY EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: +2.2K V -43.1KE; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.6% V 5.0%E (12 year low).
• (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBZN) Gov Orr: Do not have regrets about reducing interest rates to very low levels to support the economy, employment and inflation expectations remains consistent with mandate, financial system is robust.
• NCM.AU Reports FY21 Underlying Net $1.16B v $750M y/y; EBITDA $2.44B v $1.84B y/y; Rev $4.58B v $3.92B y/y.
• (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$361.3B v A$358.6B prior (record high).
• (AU) New South Wales to extend lockdowns across the state through Aug 28th (Sat).

Japan

• Nikkei 225 opened -0.7%.
• (JP) Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Hakubun Shimomura considering running against PM Suga in LDP party leadership election – Japan press.
• (JP) Japan Investors Net Buying of Foreign Bonds: +¥661.8B v -¥1.1T prior; Foreign Net Buying of Japan Stocks: +¥198.8B v ¥104.9B prior.
• (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Kato: Sees serious problem to relations with South Korea on seizure of payments to Mitsubishi Heavy being enforced.

Korea

• Kospi opened -0.6%.
• (KR) South Korea COVID cases rise to over 2,000, Korea expected to extended is tougher measures.
• 029780.KR Seeking to sell 19.9% stake in Renault Korea unit – press.
• (KR) North Korea issued navigational warning for East Sea in indication of missile launch preparations – Yonhap.

China/Hong Kong

• Hang Seng opened -0.3%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%.
• (CN) China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Blue Book Report: China’s fiscal policy is at a turning point and Govt must shift focus to long term development, such as enhancing human capital to boost international competitiveness, rather than prioritizing short term growth – SCMP.
• (CN) China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) finds 43 apps have violated data transfer rule, have ordered parent companies to address issues by Aug 25th or be punished; Some notable violators include Tencent, Trip.com, Alibaba and iQiyi.
• (CN) China NPC standing committee: Despite pandemic and domestic economic development challenges, China’s economy has sustained a steady recovery since the start of 2021, laying a solid foundation for achieving its 2021 economic and social development targets.
• (CN) China July Swift Global Payments (CNY): 2.19% v 2.46% prior.
• (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4853 v 6.4915 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.
• 700.HK Reports Q2 (CNY) adj Net 34.0B v 32.8Be, Rev 138.3B v 138.2Be.
• (CN) China regulators said to be putting together tighter measures on real estate financing; CBIRC has comes up with a list of banks with relatively high proportion of new real estate loans.- local press.

North America

• HOOD Reports Q2 -$2.16 v +$0.09 y/y, Rev $565M v $244M y/y; Q2 is first quarter where a larger share of new customers placed their first trade in crypto rather than equities.
• (US) FOMC JULY MINUTES: OFFICIALS WOULD EVALUATE BOND TAPER PROSPECTS OVER COMING MEETINGS; SUBSTANTIAL FURTHER PROGRESS HAD NOT BEEN MET PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF LABOR MARKET.

Levels as of 01:15ET

• Hang Seng -1.8%; Shanghai Composite -0.6%; Kospi -1.5%; Nikkei225 -0.7%; ASX 200 -0.5%.
• Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.2%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 -0.7%.
• EUR 1.1717-1.1666; JPY 110.22-109.76 ;AUD 0.7243-0.7193; NZD 0.6896-0.6846.
• Commodity Futures: Gold -0.2% at $1,780/oz; Crude Oil -1.4% at $64.25/brl; Copper -0.7% at $4.08/lb.