General Trend:
- Asian equity markets trade mixed post Fed
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand reiterates the direction of next rate move could be up or down
- FTSE Russell to add China A-shares to its indexes from June 2019
- HSBC HK raises prime rate for the first time in 12 years, tracks rate hikes by HKMA and US Fed
- Bank of Japan (BoJ) Gov Kuroda expected to speak later today
- Indonesia, Taiwan and the Philippines expected to hold rate decisions today
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.2%
- (AU) Australia Bureau of Meteorology (BOM): Eastern and Southern Australia likely drier than avg for Oct-Dec
- (AU) Australia Aug Job Vacancies: 0.6% v 5.7% prior
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND CENTRAL BANK (RBNZ) LEAVES OFFICIAL CASH RATE (OCR) UNCHANGED AT 1.75%, AS EXPECTED
- (NZ) New Zealand: To offer NZ$1.9B in government bonds in Q4
- (NZ) New Zealand to offer NZ$150M in April 2025 bonds on Sept 28th
- (NZ) New Zealand Farmer Confidence moves into negative territory – Rabobank Survey
China/Hong Kong
- Shanghai Composite opened flat, Hang Seng +0.3%
- (CN) FTSE Russell said to assign secondary emerging market status to China A-shares as of June 2019; A-shares to be added to indexes from June 2019 – US financial press
- (CN) China said to issue guidelines aimed at curbing pollution in certain areas, plans to curb steel and coking output during the heating season – US financial press
- (CN) CHINA AUG INDUSTRIAL PROFITS Y/Y: 9.2% V 16.2% PRIOR (slowest rise since March)
- (CN) Trump accuses China of placing ‘propaganda ads’ in US newspapers
- (CN) US President Trump said to suggest he is going to call China President Xi tomorrow (Thursday) – US financial press
- (US) Pres Trump: China tariffs have had no impact on the US economy – press conf from NY
- (CN) China to cut import tariffs for some goods from Nov 1st (in-line with earlier comments) – press
- (CN) London-Shanghai Connect may begin as early as Dec 2018 – Chinese Press
- (CN) China PBoC set yuan reference rate:6.8642 v 6.8571 prior
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO v skipped prior; Net: CNY60B drain v CNY40B drain prior
- (CN) PBOC advisor expects no large yuan pressure from Fed hike – press
- (HK) Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) raises Base Rate by 25bps to 2.50%, tracking US Fed; Reiterates domestic banks are expected to soon raise prime rates
- HSBC: Raises Hong Kong prime rate by 12.5bps to 5.125% (first increase in 12 years), follows HKMA and Fed rate hikes; effective from Sept 28th
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -0.4%
- (US) Trade Rep Lighthizer: confirms opening negotiations on bilateral US-Japan trade deal
- (JP) Japan PM Abe: Confirms agreed with the US to start bilateral trade talks; US agreed not to impose further auto tariffs while trade talks continue
- (JP) BoJ announcement related to daily bond buying operation: unchanged
Korea
- Kospi opened -0.3%
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BoK) Chief Lee: Need to adjust extent of accommodative policy considering economic situation, monetary easing needs to be reduced; inflation and job situation not appropriate to raise interest rates
- (KR) South Korea Vice Finance Min Ko: Sees limited impact on Korea from US rate hike as decision was widely expected; risk of major foreign capital outflow not big
- (KR) China said to consider sending a top official to North Korea in Oct – South Korean press
- (JP) The Foreign Ministers of Japan and North Korea said to have held talks – Japanese Press
North America
- US equity markets ended mostly higher: Dow +0.2%, S&P500 +0.2%, Nasdaq +0.3%, Russell 2000 -0.3%
- (US) FOMC RAISES TARGET RATE RANGE 25BPS TO 2.00-2.25% (AS EXPECTED); FED STATEMENT REMOVES DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMMODATIVE
- (US) Fed Chair Powell: our economy is strong, inflation is stable – FOMC press conf
- (CA) Pres Trump: I rejected one-on-one meeting with Canada PM Trudeau; doesn’t like their trade policy or negotiating style; we’re not getting along with Canada’s negotiators
- (US) DOE CRUDE: +1.9M V -1.5ME
- (AR) Argentina Econ Min Dujovne: confirms Argentina and IMF have agreed to new $57B standby credit facility – comments with IMF’s Lagarde
Europe
- (UK) Prime Min May spokesperson: PM May and Pres Trump agreed that Brexit provides wonderful opportunity for big and ambition UK-US free trade deal
- (IT) Italy Government may postpone meeting over 2019 budget plan – Italian press
- (IT) Italy Five-Star and League parties said to prefer 2019 deficit target at 2.4% of GDP, seeks agreement with League on this level – press
- (IT) Italy Dep PM DI Maio: Italy will soon approve citizens’ income
Levels as of 01:30ET
- Nikkei 225, -0.7%, ASX 200 -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.5%; Shanghai Composite -0.5%; Kospi +0.4%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax flat; FTSE100 +0.2%
- EUR 1.1758-1.1710 ; JPY 112.92-112.62 ; AUD 0.7270-0.7243 ;NZD 0.6682-0.6642
- Dec Gold +0.1% at $1,200/oz; Oct Crude Oil +1.2% at $72.44/brl; Dec Copper -0.2% at $2.812/lb
