General Trend:
- Nikkei rises amid key earnings from Softbank
- Toyota’s shares fluctuate after earnings; Cut FY Net guidance on securities-related losses, affirmed Op and Rev targets
- Australia’s Commonwealth Bank declines after H1 earnings
- RBA Gov now sees rate outlook as more evenly balanced vs. ‘ the next rate move likely to be an increase’ (prior position)
- AUD/JPY declines over 1.3% following RBA comments
- Second Trump/North Korea Kim summit expected Feb 27-28th
- Indonesia Rupiah (IDR) rises, Q4 GDP contraction not as bad as feared
- Thailand Central Bank expected to hold rate decision later today (consensus is unchanged)
- Chinese Lunar New Year holiday break continues through this week, Hong Kong due to reopen on Friday (Feb 8th), South Korea resumes trading on Thursday (Feb 7th)
- US companies expected to report earnings on Wed include Chipotle, Cummins, FireEye, GM, GoPro Humana, New York Times, Spotify, (includes afterhours)
Headlines/Economic Data
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.4%
- 7203.JP Reports 9M Net ¥1.42T v ¥2.01T y/y; Op ¥1.94T v ¥1.77T y/y; Rev ¥22.48T v ¥21.80T y/y; Cuts FY18/19 Net due to ¥310B in unrealized losses on securities, affirms Op and Rev; raises global sales forecast
- 9843.JP CEO: To cancel its store target for China – Japanese Press
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BoJ) Gov Kuroda: Economy has improved significantly since 2013; reiterates inflation to gradually accelerate to 2%
- (JP) Japan PM Abe: Recognize BoJ yet to meet [2%] price target but what is important is job growth
Korea
- Kospi closed, re-opens Feb 7th
- (KR) South Korea and US expected to announce date for joint military drills soon – Yonhap
- (KR) South Korea Jan foreign investors bought KRW4.05T in domestic shares (45-month high) – Yonhap
- (KR) North Korea Kim and Trump to meet in Vietnam Feb 27-28th
- (KR) Foreigners received record high dividends >KRW9.0T in 2018 from top 4 conglomerates, for the first time – Yonhap
- (KR) South Korea 2018 nuclear power utilization 65.9% (37-yr low) – Yonhap
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite closed all week
- (CN) US planning to send trade delegation to China next week; Mnuchin and Lighthizer to lead talks – US press
- (CA) According to traders, shipments of Canada made canola oil are being slowed through Chinese ports and customs, thought to be in retaliation to Huawei CFO detainment – press
- (CN) US President Trump to meet with China president Xi later in Feb – US press
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.1%
- (AU) Reserve bank of Australia (RBA) Gov Lowe: Interest rate outlook more evenly balanced; expects 2018 GDP a little below 3%; notes large number of uncertainties, including supply of credit – speech “Year Ahead”
- IAG.AU Reports H1 (A$) Net 500M v 551M y/y; Gross written premium 5.88B v 5.65B y/y
- CBA.AU Reports H1 (A$) cash NPAT 4.7B v 4.6B y/y, Op 12.4B v 12.6B y/y; Rev A$12.31B v $12.6B y/y
- VAH.AU Names Paul Scurrah CEO
- (AU) Australia sells A$900M v A$900M indicated in 2.50% May 2030 bonds, avg yield 2.2814% v 2.3296% prior, bid to cover 3.13x v 2.93x prior
North America
- (CA) Canada Finance Min Morneau expected to meet with economists ahead of the budget on Feb 22 – Canadian Press
- (US) Weekly API Oil Inventories: Crude: +2.5M v +2.1M prior
- TSLA Spokesperson: Cut prices on all versions of Model 3 by $1,100, due to ending referral program
Europe
- (UK) Brexit ministers looking at a plan that would keep Ireland border open – Sun
- (UK) Ministers considering a plan that would delay Brexit to May 24th from the currently planned March 29th – Telegraph
- Levels as of 12:40ET
– Hang Seng closed; Shanghai Composite closed; Kospi closed; Nikkei225 +0.2%; ASX 200 +0.3% - Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.0%; FTSE100 -0.0%
- EUR 1.1395-1.1419; JPY 109.64-110.06; AUD 0.7151-0.7246;NZD 0.6866-0.6906
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,317/oz; Crude Oil +0.0% at $53.67/brl; Copper +0.2% at $2.82/lb
