RBA Gov Lowe Reiterates Next Policy Move A Ways Off

Aug 08 18, 06:35 GMT

General Trend:

Asian equity markets trade mixed
Shanghai Composite declines following over 2.5% gain on Tuesday’s session
Australia’s Commonwealth Bank rises over 2%, FY profits above ests
Japanese insurance companies are expected to start reporting financial results
China Tower’s shares begin trading in Hong Kong
China’s July trade surplus with the US narrows from the record high seen in June
RBA Gov Lowe reiterated no strong case for near term rate move
RBNZ to hold policy meeting on Thursday’s session
The US and Japan are expected to hold trade talks in Washington on Aug 9th.

Headlines/Economic Data

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened flat
TOPIX Marine Transportation index +2.2%, Info & Communication +1.8%, Retail Trade +0.7%, Electric Appliances +0.7%, Securities +0.5%
Megabanks trade generally higher
(JP) Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Nikkei announced that they will reshuffle certain components of the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 and the JPX-Nikkei Mid and Small Cap Index after the periodic review – Japanese Press
(JP) JAPAN JUN BOP CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE: ¥1.18T V ¥1.22TE; ADJ CURRENT ACCOUNT: ¥1.76B V ¥1.87TE
(JP) Bank of Japan (BoJ) Summary of Opinions from July 30-31st Policy Meeting: Policy framework strengthened to maintain powerful easing
Toshiba, 6502.JP Reports Q1 Net ¥1.02T v ¥50.3B y/y; Op ¥730M v 13.2B¥ y/y; Rev ¥842.3B v ¥908.4B y/y; to release mid-term plan in November

Korea

Kospi opened +0.2%
Hyundai Motors, 005380.KR Responds to press: No decision made on restructuring
Samsung: 005930.KR Announces investment plan worth KRW180T over 3-years that includes CAPEX and R&D

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.8%, Shanghai Composite -0.3%
Hang Seng Info Tech index +1.5%, Energy +1.5%, Services +0.9%, Industrial Goods +0.9%, Property/Construction +0.4%, Financials +0.1%
(CN) China State Researcher: H2 GDP may reach 6.7% – China Securities News
(CN) China State Planner (NDRC): To use monetary policy including targeted RRR cuts to support debt to equity swaps
(CN) CHINA JULY TRADE BALANCE: $28.1B V $38.9BE; Exports Y/Y: 12.2% v 10.0%e; Imports Y/Y: 27.3% v 16.5%e
(CN) CHINA JULY TRADE BALANCE (CNY): 176.9B V 227.1BE; Exports Y/Y: 6.0% v 5.6%e; Imports Y/Y: 20.9% v 12.5%e; YTD Trade balance with US 1.04T
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO for the 14th straight session
(CN) CHINA PBOC SETS YUAN REFERENCE RATE AT 6.8313 V 6.8431 PRIOR
(CN) China to make trial related to reverse mortgages nationwide – Chinese Press
(CN) US Trade Rep Lighthizer: Trump administration has finalized the second tranche of $16B tariffs on Chinese products (in addition to the initial $34B in tariffs implements last month); to start collecting tariffs on these goods on Aug 23rd
(CN) CHINA JULY FOREIGN RESERVES: $3.118T V $3.107TE (2nd straight monthly rise) (yesterday after the close)

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.1%
ASX 200 Resources index +0.7%; Utilities -0.5%
(AU) AUSTRALIA JUN HOME LOANS M/M: -1.1% V 0.0%E; INVESTMENT LENDING: -2.7% V -0.1% PRIOR; Owner Occupied Loan Value m/m: -1.0% v 0.7% prior
CBA.AU Reports FY18 (A$) Cash Net profit 10.0B v 9.6Be; net interest income 18.3B v 18.4Be
AMP.AU Reports H1 (A$) underlying Net 495M v 533M y/y; Rev 7.17B v 7.61B y/y
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Gov Lowe: Natural for rates to eventually return to more “normal” levels; reiterates next rate move likely to be up if economy evolves as expected
(NZ) New Zealand Q3 2-yr Inflation Expectation: 2.0% v 2.0% prior; 1-yr inflation expectations 1.85% v 1.85% prior

Other Asia

(ID) Indonesia Finance Ministry: cuts 2018 gross bond issuance to IDR799T; cuts net bond issuance to ~IDR384T
(IN) IMF: India monetary policy needs further gradual tightening
(SG) Markets in Singapore are closed for holiday on Thursday

North America

US equity markets ended higher: Dow +0.5%, S&P500 +0.3%, Nasdaq +0.3%, Russell 2000 +0.2%
S&P500 Industrials +0.7%, Energy +0.7%
TSLA CEO Musk letter to employees: Final decision on going private has not yet been made; proposal would require shareholder approval; would allow Tesla to operate at its “best”; could go public again in the future
AET Review of merger transaction with CVS said to focus on overlapping prescription drugs and will not focus on antitrust issues AT&T dealt with – US financial press
(US) US President Trump: GDP could be 5% range next quarter; will make an announcement on bringing drug prices down next week

Europe

Levels as of 01:30ET

Hang Seng +0.3%; Shanghai Composite -0.3%; Kospi +0.1%; Nikkei225 0.0%; ASX 200 +0.2%
Equity Futures: S&P500 0.0%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 +0.1%
EUR 1.1595-1.1628; JPY 111.25-111.44; AUD 0.7416-0.7434;NZD 0.6725-0.6763
Dec Gold +0.4% at $1,222/oz; Sept Crude Oil +0.2% at $69.28/brl; Sept Copper +0.7% at $2.77/lb