China Vice Premier May Visit The US For Trade Talks

Jan 11 19, 07:03 GMT

General Trend:

Shanghai trades flat during morning session: Telecoms outperform, property index declines
Resources and Financials indices weigh on shares in Australia
Nikkei rises, Fast Retailing gains over 5% post earnings
Hitachi rises on speculation it may halt UK nuclear project
Hong Kong listed Kingsoft considering business collaboration with JD.com
Error related to unemployment benefits may impact Japan’s budget (officials)
US dollar trades generally weaker after Fed comments
Fed Vice Chair Clarida said can afford to be ‘patient’; Won’t hesitate to change balance sheet runoff if necessary
Partial US government shutdown enters 21st day as of Friday, tying the record
Trump continues to leave national emergency option on the table
China Dec Trade Balance data said to be due on Jan 14th (Monday)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

China/Hong Kong

Shanghai Composite opened +0.2%, Hang Seng +0.6%
(US) US Treasury Sec Mnuchin: China Vice Premier Liu He will most likely visit Washington later in Jan for trade talks
(US) There are concerns that US partial government shutdown could delay the Jan trip of China Vice Premier Liu He to Washington; the trip is expected on Jan 30-31 – US financial press
(CN) China to reportedly to set lower 2019 GDP growth target of 6.0-6.5% – press
(CN) CHINA PBOC SETS YUAN REFERENCE RATE: 6.7909 V 6.8160 PRIOR (strongest yuan fix since late July 2018)
(CN) China PBoC Open Market (OMO): Skips OMO for 4th consecutive session ; Net: CNY110B drain v CNY40B drain prior
(CN) China said to tighten oversight of research reports by brokerage firms – Chinese Press
(CN) China Industry Min Miao Wei: Sees more room for tax cuts in manufacturing sector
(CN) China Agriculture Ministry: Raises 2018/19 Soybean output 16MT (prior 15.8MT)

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +0.7%
(JP) Nikkei 225 Jan Options said to settle at ~20,291
Nissan [7201.JP]: Japan prosecutors indict former Chairman Carlos Ghosn for aggravated breach of trust; Ghosn, Kelly and Nissan itself indicted on new charge of breaking financial law –
Japanese press
Reportedly Japan government owes billions of yen in unemployment benefits – Nikkei
(JP) Japan Labor Minister Nemoto: Polling discrepancies caused regular pay to be understated from 2004 to 2017; Estimates the benefit shortfalls total ¥53.6B
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Confirms the Labor Ministry is conducting research into wage data, highly likely that the wages data and FY19/20 budget will be revised
(JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Spokesman Suga: Government will check all economic data, following revelations of flaws in wage data; will alter next FY budget as needed to repay benefits
(JP) Reportedly to delay release 2018 stock section of national accounts
(JP) JAPAN NOV PRELIMINARY CURRENT ACCOUNT: ¥757.2B V ¥560.2BE; TRADE BALANCE -¥559.1B V -¥614.3BE
(JP) Japan Nov Household Spending Y/Y: -0.6% v -0.3% prior
(JP) Japan Dec Bank Lending Ex-Trusts Y/Y: 2.5% v 2.2% prior; Bank Lending Incl Trusts Y/Y: 2.4% v 2.1% prior
(JP) Japan investors purchased net ¥561.8B in foreign bonds in Dec
(JP) JAPAN DEC ECO WATCHERS SURVEY CURRENT: 48.0 V 50.7E; OUTLOOK: 48.5 V 51.4E

Korea

Kospi opened +0.3%
(KR) Second summit between US President Trump and North Korea Leader Kim could be held during the second week of Feb – South Korean Press

Other

(PH) Philippines Financials Stock index declines over 2.8%
(PH) 5 banks in the Philippines are said to have over $400M in total exposure to the Philippines unit of Hanjin Heavy Industries [097230.KR], according to a Philippines press report
(MY) Malaysia Nov Industrial Production Y/Y: 2.5% v 2.3%e
(SG) Singapore Nov Retail Sales M/M: 0.2% v 0.6%e: Y/Y: -3.0% v -2.4%e
(TW) Taiwan Premier Lai formally resigns at cabinet meeting (as expected)

North America

(US) US President Trump: Most likely will declare emergency if no border deal; should be able to do deal with Congress
(US) Pres Trump has been reportedly briefed on plan to use Army Corps of Engineers funding for construction of border wall – NBC News
(US) Sen Collins (R-ME) says a deal for bipartisan immigration deal to end the govt shutdown is all but dead – Wash Post
(US) Fed Chair Powell: We have ability to be patient, flexible, and watch patiently at this time; Fed balance sheet will end up “substantially smaller” – comments in Washington
(US) Fed Vice Chair Clarida (moderate, voter): If economic crosswinds are sustained, Fed policy should respond to offset them – comments in NYC
(US) Fed’s Evans (dove, voter in 2019): Fed can easily look at data for six months before hiking rates

Levels as of 01:00ET

Nikkei 225, +1%, ASX 200 -0.4%, Hang Seng +0.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.5%; Kospi +0.5%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.2%, Dax -0.3%; FTSE100 -0.1%
EUR 1.1530-1.1496 ; JPY 108.52-108.22 ; AUD 0.7215-0.7175 ;NZD 0.6818-0.6777
Feb Gold +0.4% at $1,292/oz; Feb Crude Oil -0.2% at $52.50/brl; Feb Copper +0.8% at $2.656/lb