Asian Equity Markets Trade Mixed

Jan 08 19, 07:10 GMT

General Trend:

Property index declines in Shanghai, Geely drops over 10% on sales figures
Banks and shares of Softbank rise in Japan; Softbank drastically cuts its investment in WeWork
China skips open market operations for the second day
Samsung guides Q4 results below ests, warns of a weaker start in 2019; shares swing between gains and losses
Few comments have been seen from US and China trade officials, talks are due to end today
Press articles comment on the impact of the partial US government shutdown on the SEC
UK and EU officials said to be in talks about possibly extending Article 50 Brexit process

Headlines/Economic Data

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +0.9%
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ): Q3 output gap 1.24% v 1.6% q/q (first decline since 2016)
(JP) Japan Finance Min Aso: Market volatility has been high since late in 2018; will need to continue watching markets with ‘sense of urgency’
WEWORK.IPO Softbank to reduce its planned investment in WeWork to $2B (down from $16B in earlier plans) – FT
4565.JP To receive $15M milestone payment from AstraZeneca with first partnered program moving towards Phase 2 [+16%]
6758.JP PS4 holiday sales 5.6M units, has now sold 91.6M units worldwide since release, 2018 holiday season sales over 5.6M units v 5.9M y/y
7201.JP Former Chairman Ghosn denies wrong doing in court: no loss to Nissan from derivatives contract
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥2.2T v ¥2.2T indicated in 0.10% (prior 0.10%) 10-yr JGBs, avg yield 0.015% v 0.074% prior, bid to cover 4.04x v 3.82x prior
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ): Q3 output gap 1.24% v 1.6% q/q (first decline since 2016)

Korea

Kospi opened +0.1%
05930.KR Reports Prelim Q4 (KRW) Op 10.8T v 13.8Te, Rev 59.0T v 63.6Te; comments: Earnings to remain subdued in Q1 due to memory, Q4 memory earnings fell significantly q/q
(KR) South Korea Nov Current Account: $5.1B v $9.2B prior; Balance of Good (BOP): $7.9B v $11.0B prior
(KR) North Korean train possibly carrying North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un crossed into China Monday, to visit from Jan 7-10th on invitation of China President Xi – Yonhap

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.1%, Shanghai Composite -0.1%
(CN) CHINA DEC FOREIGN RESERVES: $3.073T V $3.072TE; gold holdings rise for 1st time since Oct 2016 (after the close yesterday)
(CN) China Vice Premier Liu He unexpectedly attended US/China trade talks, which were scheduled to be at a vice ministerial level from the MOFCOM – press
(HK) Hong Kong office landlords are now requiring 6-9 months worth of rent up front v the standard 3-months due to tenants backing out of their leases – SCMP
175.HK Reports Dec Sales 93.3K units -39% y/y [-11% in the session]
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO operations for the second consecutive day; Net: CNY20B drain v CNY170B drain prior
(CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8402 v 6.8517 prior
(CN) China State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE): China Dec foreign reserve increase due to stronger non-dollar denominated currencies, price spikes of treasury bonds of major countries, as well as asset price changes – Chinese press
(CN) Former PBOC Governor Zhou: monetary policy still has room for quantitative adjustment, and will continue to support economic growth, the job market, and investment in the interest of maintaining price stability – Chinese press

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.1%
(AU) AUSTRALIA NOV TRADE BALANCE (A$): 1.9B V 2.2BE; Exports m/m: 1% v 1% prior ; Imports m/m: 2% v 3% prior
BOQ.AU Raises mortgage rates on certain loans by 11-18bps due to funding pressures and deposit competition
(AU) Australia Dec Foreign Reserves: A$76.3B v A$66.0B prior

North America

(US) Fed’s Mester (hawk, non-voter in 2019): Fed could adjust its portfolio runoff if it proves more disruptive than anticipated for markets
(CA) Canada PM Trudeau and President Trump discussed steel tariffs, will seek release of Canadians from China
ILMN Reports prelim Q4 Rev ~$865M v $861Me; guides initial FY19 $6.50-6.60 v $6.39e; Rev $3.76-3.80B v $3.8Be – slides
(US) White House Economic Advisor Hassett: There will be ‘some’ economic impact from partial government shutdown, tax refunds will be issued during shutdown – US media

Europe

(UK) UK and European leaders said to be in talks over possibly extending Article 50 Brexit process – UK’s Telegraph
(UK) Downing Street spokesperson: PM May has always said would be willing to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 and would not extend Article 50
(DE) Trump administration downgraded diplomatic status of the European Union’s delegation to the United States from member state to international organization at the end of last year without notice – German press
Levels as of 12:50ET
– Hang Seng -0.2%; Shanghai Composite -0.4%; Kospi -0.4%; Nikkei225 +1.0%; ASX 200 +0.7%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.0%
EUR 1.1485-1.1432; JPY 108.99-108.52; AUD 0.7149-0.7122; NZD 0.6758-0.6738
Feb Gold -0.5% at $1,283/oz; Feb Crude Oil 0.0% at $48.53/brl; Mar Copper -0.3% at $2.63/lb