General Trend:
- Asian equity markets trade mixed
- New Zealand milk firm Fonterra declines after again cutting price forecast
- Softbank declines over 3%, speculated to raise stake in WeWork
- Australian educational provider Navitas rises over 20%, received takeover offer
- PBoC fixed yuan at weakest level since March 2017
- Upcoming Japan retail earnings in focus (ABC Mart, Aeon, Aeon Mall)
- The CEOs of Australia’s largest banks are expected to discuss the interim findings from banking commission on Thursday and Friday
Headlines/Economic Data
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.3%
- WE WORK.IPO Softbank in talks to own more than 50% stake with a $15-20B investment – press
- Toshiba, 6502.JP To pay additional $40M to Toshiba Memory, Q2 results to include loss related to the payments equal to $82M
- (JP) JAPAN AUG CORE MACHINE ORDERS M/M: +6.8% V -3.9%E; Y/Y: 12.6% V 1.8%E
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: no change to thought that mobile bills can be cut by 40%
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.1%
- (KR) President Trump: Summit with North Korea will be after midterm elections on Nov 6th
- CJ, 001040.KR Expected to acquire Schwan in the US for $2.6B – press
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.4%, Shanghai Composite +0.1%
- (HK) According to JPMorgan, daily avg revenue for Macau casinos rose by over 15% y/y during Golden Week – US financial press
- (HK) Hong Kong Chief Executive Lam Policy Address: To increase land supply for public housing; confirms to ban e-cigarettes
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO v skipped prior: Net: CNYB drain nil v CNY60B drain prior (drains liquidity for the 9th straight session, 4th consecutive skip)
- (CN) China PBoC set yuan reference rate: 6.9072 v 6.9019 prior
- (CN) Former PBoC Advisor Yu Yongding said hard to imagine yuan (CNY) currency will fall to a level that could trigger financial crisis – US financial press
- (US) US Treasury Sec Mnuchin has warned China on competitive currency devaluation – FT
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.1%
- FCG.NZ Cuts 2018/19 forecast farmgate milk price to NZ$6.25-6.50/kgMS (prior $6.75/kgMS); says global demand is not matching current increases in supply [-0.4% in NZ, -1.9% in AU]
- NVT.AU Gets preliminary non-binding buyout offer at A$5.50/shr from BGH Capital consortium [+21%]
- (NZ) New Zealand Sept Card Spending Retail M/M: 1.1% v 0.6%e; Card Spending Total M/M: 1.3% v 1.2% prior
- (AU) Australia Oct Westpac Consumer Confidence Index: 101.5 v 100.5 prior; m/m: +1.0% v -3.0% prior
- MNF.AU Guides FY19 (A$) Net 12.8M, EBITDA 29.1M; FY20 Net 15.0-16.5M; EBITDA 33-36M, ahead of acquisition from Inabox Group [-8%]
- (AU) RBA Deputy Head of Economic Analysis Coombs:expectation is that GDP growth will remain a little above 3% for the next year or so, which will further reduce spare capacity in the economy
Other Asia
- (SG) Singapore Central Bank (MAS) Menon: No need to overreact on global risks; global economy has underlying resilience
North America
- (US) Fed’s Kaplan (dove, non-voter): hopeful that preferred rate path won’t invert yield curve; currently unclear if curve is moving away from inversion
- IGC Filed patent application with the USPTO as part steps in the development and commercialization plan for hemp/CBD energy drink [+10% afterhours]
- IMF: Near-term risks to global financial stability have increased somewhat, medium-term risks remain elevated due to easy financial conditions
- (US) US Fed Williams (moderate, voter): Fed nearing normal policy from normalizing process; see inflation right on target and strong labor market; Expect further gradual rate increases
- SHLD Said to hire M-III Partners to prepare for bankruptcy filing which may come by as early as this week – US financial press
- SVA Says it became aware on Oct 8th that unauthorized changes have been made to Hong Kong Companies Registry for the company; Board member of Sinovac Beijing held board meeting with authorization
Europe
- (UK) UK BoE Deputy Gov Broadbent: Govt could stop issuing debt linked to RPI; large change to UK inflation-linked gilts would risk legal challenge; CPI is superior to RPI as a measure of inflation (US session)
- (UK) UK PM May said to ‘force’ cabinet into new Brexit compromise – UK Press
- (UK) Approx 30 Labour Party MPs said to be prepared to support the Chequers deal – UK Press
Levels as of 01:30ET
- Hang Seng +0.7%; Shanghai Composite +0.1%; Kospi -0.8%; Nikkei225 +0.1%; ASX 200 +0.1%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.0%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 -0.0%
- EUR 1.1515-1.1492; JPY 113.11-112.93; AUD 0.7127-0.7103;NZD 0.6496-0.6475
- Dec Gold +0.1% at $1,192/oz; Nov Crude Oil -0.5% at $74.61/brl; Dec Copper -0.1% at $2.81/lb
