Aussie Quarterly Wage Data To Be Released On Wed

Feb 19 19, 07:45 GMT

General Trend:

HSBC declines after FY profits missed estimates (Reports FY18 Adj pretax $21.7B v $20.99B y/y, Adj Rev $53.9B v $51.5B y/y)
BHP reported H1 underlying profit $3.7B ($4.03B from continuing ops) v $4.4Be
Japanese securities brokers gain, Iron/Steel companies decline
Financials rise in Australia
Australian vitamin company Blackmores declines over 30%, made cautious comments about China
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Feb minutes in line with most recent quarterly statement on monetary policy
Walmart expected to report results on Tuesday

Headlines/Economic Data

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%
(JP) Japan Economy Min Motegi: Reiterates seeing some risks in outlook due to China slowdown, Capex overall on expansion trend; Abe has confirmed with Trump auto tariffs will not be applied while talks continue
(JP) UK said not able to resign trade agreement with Japan by March – financial press
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Reiterates stance that BOJ does not have currency manipulation as a target; may consider easing if yet moves impact economy, prices; BOJ doesn’t link policy to FX moves; ETF purchases have impacted markets but currently no intention to stop ETF purchases
7267.JP Spokesman: Not source of report related to factory closure in the UK (responds to press report)
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥1.0T v ¥1.0T indicated in 0.50% (prior 0.50%) 20-yr bonds; avg yield 0.419% v 0.467% prior; bid to cover 4.67x v 4.57x prior

Korea

Kospi opens -0.1%
(KR) South Korea Jan Exports Prices y/y: -1.4% v -0.6% prior; Imports Prices y/y: +2.5% v +3.2% prior
(KR) South Korean airlines to increase fuel surcharge on international flights by 55% to KRW34.8K in March – Korean Press
(KR) According to Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA): South Korea steel exports to US fell more than rivals in China and Japan that were subjected to higher tariffs – Yonhap
(KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov Lee calls for improvement to make manufacturing more competitive; Manufacturing sector is crucial for growth of national economy
(KR) South Korea to allow import of medical cannabis, effective March – Yonhap
086790.KR Partners with SK Telekom and Kiwoom Securities for internet only bank (3rd in the country) – Korean press

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opens +0.3%; Shanghai Composite opens +0.2%
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips reverse repo operations for 7th consecutive session; Maintains neutral position in OMO
(HK) Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in talks with China PBoC on cross boarder wealth management
(CN) China PBoC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 6.7642 v 6.7659 prior
(CN) China PBoC Monetary Policy Dept Chief Sun Guofeng: To start first central bank bill swap soon, to publish tax policies for perpetual bond soon
(CN) China Vice Premier Liu He to visit the US for trade talks Feb 21-22 (Thursday-Friday)
(HK) Hong Kong Chief Exec Lam: Will respond to land supply report later in Feb
(CN) China foreign investment banks expected to attract large foreign capital in 2019, as it gives wider and easier foreign access to its capital market – Xinhua

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.1%
COL.AU Reports H1 (A$) EBIT (Retail Basis) 733.0M v 778M y/y; Rev 20.9B v 20.3B y/y
COH.AU Reports H1 (A$) net 128.6M v 110.8M y/y, EBIT 177.0M v 160.4M y/y, Rev 711.9M v 639.6M y/y
BHP.AU Reports H1 underlying Net $3.7B v $4.1B y/y, Underlying EBITDA $10.5B v $10.8B y/y, Rev $21.6B v$21.8B y/y
(AU) Chinese coal traders halting purchases of Australian coal due to customs delays reaching up to 45 days from usual 5-20 days -Financial Press
(AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) FEB 5TH MEETING MINUTES: BOARD SAW “SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTIES” ON THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK AND FORECAST

North America

GOOG Allegations being made that pedophiles are using YouTube to trade child pornography, error in code is facilitating them to do so through a “wormhole”, most can be found in 5 clicks and it is being monetized – press
RIG Reports Q4 -$0.34 v -$0.24e, Rev $770M v $735Me; current customer conversations suggest that FIDs in 2019 could increase materially over last year
(US) Group of states including California has filed suit against Trump Administration over emergency declaration to fund border wall (as expected)

Europe

(EU) ECB’s Praet (Belgium, chief Economist): ECB could adapt rate guidance if economy slows sharply – press
(EU) EU’s Juncker: Trump gave me his word that there won’t be any tariffs on European cars for time being; If Trump breaks his promise on car tariffs, the EU won’t stick to its promise to buy more soy, LNG
(UK) EU Brexit Negotiator Barnier to meet UK Brexit Sec Barclay in Brussels: Barclay said UK can reach its goals on Brexit backstop without reopening withdrawal agreement

Levels as of 12:50ET

Hang Seng -0.2%; Shanghai Composite -0.3%; Kospi -0.1%; Nikkei225 +0.2%; ASX 200 +0.3%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 +0.0%
EUR 1.1290-1.1317; JPY 110.45-110.69; AUD 0.7108-0.7143; NZD 0.6827-0.6863
Commodity Futures: Gold +0.4% at $1,327/oz; Crude Oil +0.4% at $56.22/brl; Copper -0.2% at $2.83/lb