Chinese Tech Names Rise Amid Focus On Trade Talks

Feb 22 19, 06:54 GMT

General Trend:

Property sector in Shanghai lags, Jan new home price growth slowed on m/m basis
Consumer Discretionary and Financial shares rise in Australia
South Korea utility KEPCO rises over 2% after earnings
Recent round of US/China trade talks due to conclude today
US President Trump expected to meet China Vice Premier Liu He on Friday (Feb 22) at 2:30 PM EST
New Zealand Dollar (NZD) declines amid RBNZ comments
Little impact on bond market seen from RBA Gov Lowe’s comments
Thai Baht (THB) declines on weaker trade data
Alibaba says it will not cut jobs

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.1%
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Gov Lowe: Reiterates there’s no strong case for a near-term change in cash rate, rate outlook is more evenly balanced than six months ago
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Dep Gov Debelle: Need for quantitative easing (QE) is highly unlikely in Australia
(AU) Australia PM Morrison: Should not leap to conclusions on report of China coal ban, nothing to suggest the move on coal was out of the normal
(AU) Australia Treasurer Frydenberg: Australia-China trade ties are strong; China has not banned any Australian imports – radio interview
(AU) Australia Trade Minister Birmingham: No basis to believe China banned coal imports, China processing of coal imports may have slowed
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Deputy Gov Bascand: Bank capital increase could lead to eventual rate cut, plan may result in marginal tightening in conditions

China/Hong Kong

Shanghai Composite opened -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.5%
(US) US/China trade talks said to be ‘positive’ – CNBC
(US) US President Trump expected to meet China Vice Premier Liu He on Friday (Feb 22) at 2:30 PM EST; meeting to occur at the White House
(CN) CHINA JAN NEW HOME PRICES M/M: 0.6% V 0.8% PRIOR (slowest growth since April 2018); Y/Y: 10.0% V 9.7% PRIOR
(CN) China PBoC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 6.7151 v 6.7220 prior
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY40B in 7-day reverse repos v skipped prior; Net: CNY40B injection v CNY0B prior
(CN) China Finance Ministry (MOF) sells 30-year bonds: yield 3.6902%; bid to cover 2.2x

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.4%
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda comments after meeting with PM Abe: Did not discuss monetary policy with Abe, Meeting with Abe is a ‘regular’ event
(JP) Japan Cabinet Office (Govt) Feb Monthly Economic Report: Downgrades assessment in industrial production, downgrades assessment in corporate profits
(JP) Allies of PM Abe reportedly floating possibility of fourth term for Prime Min Abe in order to retain influence to pass his agenda – Nikkei
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Know of US/China talks but can’t comment on currency; Trump has not mentioned currencies when discussing trade issues with Japan
(JP) JAPAN JAN NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: 0.2% 0.2%E; EX-FRESH FOOD (CORE) Y/Y: 0.8% V 0.8%E

Korea

Kospi opened -0.3%
(KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min said to be concerned about Feb exports – Local Press
(KR) South Korea President Moon approval rating declines to 45% v 47% prior – Gallup Poll

Other

(MY) Malaysia Jan CPI Y/Y: -0.7% v -0.4%e (first drop since 2009)
(SL) Sri Lanka Central Bank (CBSL) leaves rates unchanged (as expected); Cuts Statutory Reserve Ratio by 100bps to 5.00%
(TH) Thailand Jan Customs Trade Balance: -$4.0B v -$326Me

North America

(US) US President Trump: US economy stronger than it’s ever been before
(US) SEMI: Jan North America Billings $1.9B v $2.11B prior, -10.5% m/m and -20.8% y/y
Newmont Mining [NEM]: Barrick Gold said to have studied offer for the company, said to have studied joint bid with company such as Australia’s Newcrest – US financial press

Europe

(UK) Govt spokesperson: EU’s Barnier and UK Brexit Sec Barclay agreed to focus on what we can do to conclude a successful deal as soon as possible
(UK) Japan Trade Min Seko: Japan/EU trade deal won’t apply to the UK if ‘No-deal’ Brexit

Levels as of 12:45 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.1%, ASX 200 +0.5%, Hang Seng -0.1%; Shanghai Composite +0.6%; Kospi -0.1%
Equity Futures: S&P500 flat; Nasdaq100 flat, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.2%
EUR 1.1343-1.1343 ; JPY 110.81-110.61 ; AUD 0.7114-0.7073 ;NZD 0.6818-0.6757
Gold flat at $1,327/oz; Crude Oil -0.1% at $56.88/brl; Copper flat at $2.899 /lb