USD Index Extends Drop

General trend

  • Nikkei has underperformed, continued to decline following the lower open; the index is currently near the lows [USD/JPY declined overnight; Automakers track declines seen in the US (Subaru and Toyota commented on chip shortages)].
  • Topix Real Estate, Electric Appliances, Air Transportation and Insurance indices were also among the decliners in Japan; Marine Transportation index rises.
  • S&P ASX 200 has moved lower after the flat open, currently trades near the worst levels [Financial, Consumer Staples and Resources indices are among the decliners].
  • Australian production updates have been in focus [Rio Tinto and Lynas decline; Western Areas rises]; Challenger Ltd drops over 14% on guidance.
  • BHP is due to issue Q3 production update on Wed (April 21st).
  • Shanghai Composite ended the morning session modestly higher after the lower open [Consumer indices outperformed].
  • Hang Seng and HK TECH indices pared decline [Meituan moved between gains and losses after announcing multi-billion dollar capital raise]; Li Ning rose after Q1 update; China Tower declined after Q1 results, China Mobile is due to report later today.
  • NZD rises ahead of Q1 CPI data due on Wed (April 21st).
  • Companies due to report during the NY morning include Abbott Labs, AutoNation, Comerica, Dover Corp, Fifth Third Bancorp, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Manpower, Northern Trust, Omnicom, Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris, Travelers, Xerox.

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

  • ASX 200 opened 0.0%
  • RIO.AU Reports Q1 Pilbara iron ore shipments 77.8Mt v 72.9Mt y/y; Pilbara iron production 76.4Mt v 77.8Mt y/y; Affirms all guidance.
  • LYC.AU Reports Q3 NdPr production 1.4Kt v 1.4Kt y/y; REO production 4.5Kt v 4.5Kt y/y; Avg selling price A$35.50/kg (record high) v A$19.80/kg y/y.
  • (AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) MEETING MINUTES: REITERATES WOULD FURTHER EXTEND BOND BUYING IF ASSISTS MEETING GOALS; ECONOMY STILL HAS SPARE CAPACITY, UNEMPLOYMENT TOO HIGH; Return to pre-COVID level occurs earlier than originally expected.

Japan

  • Nikkei 225 opened -1.1%
  • (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) said to be considering cutting CPI forecast for FY21/22, mostly due to price cuts to mobile phone fees – Nikkei.
  • (JP) Said that China Military has conducted multiple cyber attacks on Japan – Press.
  • (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Reiterates will take time to reach 2.0% CPI Target.
  • (JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: Strong sense of crisis on coronavirus spread; Will consider Osaka State of emergency if formal request made.
  • (JP) Japan Former Fin Min Azumi: Japan needs to consider canceling Olympics; More vaccinations are needed in-country.
  • (JP) Japan MoF sells ÂĄ1.2T v ÂĄ1.2T indicated in 0.5% 20-year JGBs: avg yield: 0.4380% v 0.5130% prior; bid to cover 3.34x v 3.40x prior.

Korea

  • Kospi opened 0.0%
  • (KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min: WIll focus on managing risks that can come from global interest rate increases.
  • 064350.KR Speculated that Siemens is interested in buying a stake – Korean press.

China/Hong Kong

  • Hang Seng opened -0.5%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%.
  • 3690.HK To place 187M existing shares owned by Tencent at HK$273.80/shr (~3.2% of existing issued capital); Tencent to also purchase ~11.4M new shares issued by the co. (~0.2% of issued share capital); To issue ~$2.98B in convertible bonds due 2027 and 2028.
  • (HK) Hong Kong chief Exec Lam: See 2021 GDP at 3-5%, there have been many challenges over recent years, seems the worst time is over – local media.
  • (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5103 v 6.5233 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.
  • (CN) CHINA PBOC MONTHLY LOAN PRIME RATE (LPR) SETTING: LEAVES BOTH 1-YEAR AND 5-YEAR RATES UNCHANGED (12TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH OF STEADY RATES).
  • (CN) China President Xi: China has kept deepening reform and opening up – Boao Forum.

Other

  • 2317.TW Foxconn Chairman Young Liu: Expects component shortage to ease in Q2 2022.

North America

  • TSLA CEO Musk: Data logs recovered so far [in Texas crash] show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase full-self driving; moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have.
  • TSLA Follow Up: On Tuesday investigators are expected to serve search warrants on Tesla, the investigators are seeking to obtain all of the data from the vehicle that crashed in Texas – financial press.
  • WHR Raises dividend 12% to $1.40 from $1.25 (indicated yield 2.38%); Announces has added $2.0B to share repurchase (13.6% of market cap).

Europe

  • (DE) Germany CDU leader Laschet has won the vote in the CDU Leadership Committee (becomes a candidate to replace Merkel) – US financial press.
  • (DE) Said that EU Will impose antitrust fines on certain German auto manufacturers – Press.

Levels as of 01:15ET

  • Hang Seng +0.1%; Shanghai Composite +0.4%; Kospi +0.4%; Nikkei225 -2.1%; ASX 200 -0.7%.
  • Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax 0.0%; FTSE100 -0.1%.
  • EUR 1.2072-1.2033; JPY 108.31-107.97; AUD 0.7801-0.7753; NZD 0.7219-0.7173.
  • Commodity Futures: Gold +0.1% at $1,772/oz; Crude Oil +1.0% at $64.06/brl; Copper +0.9% at $4.28/lb.
Trade The News
Trade The Newshttp://www.tradethenews.com/
All information provided by Trade The News (a product of Trade The News, Inc. "referred to as TTN hereafter") is for informational purposes only. Information provided is not meant as investment advice nor is it a recommendation to Buy or Sell securities. Although information is taken from sources deemed reliable, no guarantees or assurances can be made to the accuracy of any information provided. 1. Information can be inaccurate and/or incomplete 2. Information can be mistakenly re-released or be delayed, 3. Information may be incorrect, misread, misinterpreted or misunderstood 4. Human error is a business risk you are willing to assume 5. Technology can crash or be interrupted without notice 6. Trading decisions are the responsibility of traders, not those providing additional information. Trade The News is not liable (financial and/or non-financial) for any losses that may arise from any information provided by TTN. Trading securities involves a high degree of risk, and financial losses can and do occur on a regular basis and are part of the risk of trading and investing.

Featured Analysis

Learn Forex Trading