North Korea Concerns Weigh On Korean Won (KRW)

Mar 15 19, 06:39 GMT

General Trend:

Shanghai Property index outperforms amid release of Feb new home price figures
Macau to extend gaming concessions for SJM and MGM China, gaming sector rises
Resources and financial companies decline in Australia
Real Estate, Machinery, Auto and Financial companies rise in Japan
Little initial reaction seen from BoJ decision, Kuroda press conference awaited (6:30 GMT)
China passed foreign investment law

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.2%
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) extends bilateral swap agreement with Bank of Japan (BOJ): permits the exchange of local currencies between the two central banks of up to A$20B or ¥1.6T

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened flat, Shanghai opened +0.3%
(CN) China Premier Li: China economy faces new downward pressure; won’t let growth slide out of reasonable range; 6.6% growth [in 2018] was hard-won; To cut VAT April 1st
(US) China-US trade meeting between Trump and Xi to sign an potential agreement to end their trade war not likely until April at the earliest – financial press
(US) US President Trump: We’ll have ‘news’ on China trade deal in the next 3-4 weeks
(CN) China Vice Premier Liu He: On Thursday spoke by phone with US Trade Representative (USTR) Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, says China and the US ‘get substantial progress on document wording’ -Xinhua
(CN) CHINA FEB NEW HOME PRICES M/M: 0.5% V 0.6% PRIOR (slowest growth since April 2018); Y/Y: 10.4% V 10.0% PRIOR
(CN) China Feb FDI Y/Y: +6.6%
(CN) China National People’s Congress (NPC) approves foreign investment law; to take effect Jan 1 2020
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): To inject CNY20B in 7-day reverse repos (First reverse repo operation in 12 sessions) : Net: CNY20B injection v nil prior
(CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.7167 v 6.7009 prior
(CN) China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC’s) Yi says bearish reports on firms are normal – Financial Press
(CN) China may establish Deposit Insurance Agency in the near term – Chinese Press

Japan

Nikkei opened +0.4%
(JP) BOJ LEAVES INTEREST RATE ON EXCESS RESERVES (IOER) UNCHANGED AT -0.10%; AS EXPECTED
(JP) Japan Financial Services Agency to conduct stress tests of banks future profitability and stage interventions to address weak finances of regional banks – Japanese Press
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: No citizen is angry because have not hit 2% target, No need to be too focused on 2% [price target] in that sense; If we insist too much on achieving 2% inflation target, things could ‘go wrong’
(JP) Brokerage firms in Japan are preparing for the 10-day holiday for Japan exchanges during the late spring – Japanese Press

Korea

Kospi opened -0.1%
(NK) North Korea Dep Foreign Min: No intention to yield to US demands; North Korea said to mull suspending denuclearization talks with US, according to Russia Media
(KR) South Korea President Moon approval rating declines to 44% (record low) v 46% prior – Gallup Poll
(KR) South Korea and US Defense Chiefs are expected to meet later in March – South Korea press
(KR) South Korea Feb Export Price Index M/M: 0.2% v -1.0% prior; Y/Y: -2.4% v -1.4% prior
(KR) South Korea sells KRW405B v KRW400B indicated in 50-year bonds: avg yield 1.98% v 1.970% prior

Other

North America

(CN) Treasury Sec Mnuchin: working with China on an ‘extensive’ document; confirms Pres Trump and Pres Xi will not be meeting this m
(US) Treasury Sec Mnuchin: reiterates supports clean debt ceiling increase; urges Congress to raise debt limit soon

Europe

(UK) Parliament passes govt motion to extend Article 50, delaying the Brexit date from March 29th; Vote 412-202

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, +0.9%, ASX 200 -0.1%, Hang Seng +0.7%; Shanghai Composite +0.9%; Kospi +0.6%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%%, Dax +0.2%;
EUR 1.1328-1.1299 ; JPY 111.90-111.48 ; AUD 0.7093-0.7061 ;NZD 0.6853-0.6821
Gold +0.2% at $1,298/oz; Crude Oil flat at $58.62/brl; Copper +0.5% at $2.905/lb