Australia/New Zealand
ASX200 opened -0.1%, closed -0.1%; Financials Index -0.5%, Consumer Discretionary Index -0.4%, Resources Index -0.1%
Qantas -1.4%
Citi analysts speculate that the launch of Amazon’s site in Australia may come after Black Friday – US financial press
Australia Gold miner Resolute Mining announces gold hedge agreement which extends out to May 2010.
Australia sold A$500M in 2.00% Dec 2021 Bonds, avg yield 2.0281%, bid to cover 5.40x
Australia awards A$4B naval patrol contract to Germany’s Luerssen
New Zealand S&P NZX 50 closes +0.3%
NEW ZEALAND OCT TRADE BALANCE (NZD): -871M V -760ME; Imports: 5.43B v 5.0Be
China/Hong Kong:
Shanghai Composite opened -0.3% (following 2.3% decline prior session); Hang Seng opened +0.3%
Shanghai CSI 300 Index remains volatile, after dropping 2.9% on Thursday.
Hang Seng Information Technology Index -0.5% (Tencent -0.5%)
Alipay said to have ordered removal of certain loan products with high interest rates – Chinese Press
(CN) China news IPO review committee (set up in Oct) has reviewed 52 IPO applications, rejecting 16, suspending five and passing 31 – Xinhua
(CN) Fitch Report: China banks face continued regulatory scrutiny in 2018, bank credit growth seen decelerating; affirms stable outlook on sector
China 10-year bond yield -1bp
(CN) China Development Bank said to be not planning to conduct usual 10-year bond offering on Tuesday – US financial press; Expected to still issue up to CNY13B in 1, 3, 5 and 7 year notes.
(CN) PBoC OMO: Injects CNY50B v CNY270B injected in 7,14 and 63-day reverse repos prior; Net injection CNY20B v CNY100B injection prior
(HK) Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) money market rates rise: 1-week HKD Hibor up over 35bps to 0.79964%, overnight up over 45bps to 0.69143%
(HK) Chiyu Banking Corp, Bocom HK and Bank of East Asia have all raised Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) deposit rates ahead of year end – HK Press
(CN) PBoC sets yuan reference rate at 6.5810 v 6.6021 prior
Sinopec: Unipec unit Exec to import 6M tons of US crude in 2017, expects to double volume in 2018
Japan
Nikkei 225 opened -0.6% (holiday during prior session); closed +0.1%
Topix Iron & Steel Index -1%; Mitsubishi Materials has declined over 9% (confirm data falsification issue related to certain parts)
Automakers trade generally lower, Toyota -1%; Steel makers also generally lower, JFE -1.6%
Softbank +1%
30-year JGB yields have risen over 2bps: BoJ cuts over 25-year JGB purchases to ¥90B v ¥100B prior in daily operations
Japan Nov Prelim Nikkei Manufacturing PMI: 53.8 v 52.8 prior
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Supplemental budget to invest in infrastructure
Korea
Kospi opened +0.1%
Korean Won (KRW) trades flat ahead of next Thursday’s (Nov 30th) Bank of Korea (Bok) rate decision. The central bank is expected to raise rates by 25bps to 1.50%, according to one poll.
Bank of Korea last raised rates in 2011
Other Asia
Malaysia:
Oct CPI below ests, but still above central bank’s 2-3% target: Malaysia Oct CPI Y/Y: 3.7% v 4.1%e (10th straight month above target range)
Ringgit (MYR) -0.3%
Taiwan
Taiex opened -0.1%, closed flat
AU Optronics +2.5%; The company expects to run plants at full capacity in Q1, says a local press report.
Taiwan Dollar +0.1%
North America
NYSE was closed on Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving holiday. The exchange to close early (at 13:00 GMT) on Friday.
M&A: Broadcom said to seek to break up pending merger between Qualcomm and NXP Semiconductor – US Press; Broadcom’s CEO Hock Tan may be willing to improve the $70/share (cash and stock, $130B) offer for Qualcomm, under the condition that Qualcomm abandon its planned merger with NXP, says the article.
Europe
(DE) Germany Green Party said to call for Chancellor Merkel to enter coalition with the SPD Party – German Press
(EU) ECB’s Coeure (France): ECB deposit rate will stay at -0.4% for a long time; EU recovery is robust and homogeneous across countries and sectors – speaking in Paris; Internal demand driven Euro-area upturn is satisfying
(FR) ECB’s Villeroy (France): Support European supervisors initiative on NPLs; Bank of France is monitoring France corp debt levels – speaking at London School of Economics
(IE) Ireland Ruling Fine Gael Party: Stands behind Deputy PM, does not want election (**Note: Ireland’s government was on the verge of collapse after the opposition Fianna Fail party whose votes PM Varadkar depends on to pass laws said it would seek to remove deputy PM Fitzgerald, according to a financial press report)
(UK) Ireland Foreign Min Coveney: there has not been enough progress yet on the Ireland border issue during Brexit negotiations
(UK) DMO to sell £400M of 4% 2060 Gilt in tender on Nov 28th
Lanxess: To establish high-performance plastics plant in Changzhou, China – German Press
Levels as of 01:00ET
Hang Seng +0.4%; Shanghai Composite -0.3%; Kospi +0.1%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 flat, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.2%
EUR 1.1837-1.1859; JPY 111.19-111.50 ; AUD 0.7616-0.7632 ;NZD 0.6875-0.6894
Dec Gold flat at $1,291/oz; Jan Crude Oil +0.7% at $58.41/brl; Dec Copper +0.2% at $3.153lb
