Asian Equities Trade Mostly Higher Ahead Of China GDP Data

Apr 16 19, 05:58 GMT

General Trend:

Rio Tinto declines despite cutting iron ore shipments forecast, some analysts focus on impact of higher product prices
Japanese telecom sector outperforms; Docomo specified its plans to cut mobile phone rates
Financials in China continue to gain after better March lending data, PBOC resumed OMOs
China property index under performs as new home prices accelerate
Various companies comment on market outlook at Shanghai auto show
China HNA affiliate fails to meet interest payment, triggers cross default
PBoC Quarterly Monetary Policy Statement: Expectations of financial market has improved, to control spigot of money supply (follows better than expected March lending data)
PBoC resumed OMO for the first time in 19 sessions, injected liquidity
China Q1 GDP data due for release on Wed (April 17th), some analysts are looking for signs of whether growth has bottomed
Chinese bond yields rise ahead of the Wed data
RBA Minutes: Discussed scenario where rate cut would be appropriate, forward indicators of labor demand mixed in recent months.
Japan Fin Min Aso: No comment on currency clause (refers to US/Japan trade talks)
BoJ Gov Kuroda commented on regional bank tie-ups
RBNZ Gov: Q1 CPI undershooting forecast is already factored into dovish bias (comments ahead of April 17th Q1 CPI data)
Taiwan chipmaker Nanya expected to report earnings later today
US companies expected to report corporate earnings on Tuesday include Bank of America, BlackRock, JNJ and UnitedHealth

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.1%
RIO.AU Reports Q1 Pilbara iron ore shipments 69.1Mt v Mte v 80.3Mt y/y; Pilbara iron production 76.0Mt v 80.0Mte v 83.1Mt y/y; Cuts Pilbara shipments 333-343Mt (prior 338-350Mt)
(AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence: 115.3 v 113.2 prior
(AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) APR MINUTES: REITERATES NOT A STRONG CASE FOR NEAR TERM ADJUSTMENT IN RATES
(NZ) RBNZ Gov Orr: Monetary easing bias remains in place for now; Q1 CPI undershooting forecast is already factored into dovish bias; NZD is currently around its happy place

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.3%
(CN) China and Japan to start listing each other’s ETFs, could start as soon as May – Nikkei
(JP) Japan Finance Min Aso: Expect BOJ to continue efforts for price target; 2% target is important for Govt
(JP) Japan Trade Min Motegi: Held first trade talks with Lighthizer, spirit of talks was in line with Sept agreement
9437.JP Cuts mobile phone rates by up to 40%; Effective Jun 15
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Inflation has been weak given tight job market – parliament
(JP) Japan Finance Min Aso: No comment on currency clause [US Treasury Sec Mnuchin is said to have called for a currency clause to be included in a trade deal with Japan]
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥1.0T v ¥1.0T indicated in 0.40% (prior 0.50%) 20-yr bonds; avg yield 0.366% v 0.419% prior; bid to cover 5.10x v 4.67x prior

Korea

Kospi opened -0.1%
KR) Size of South Korea’s extra budget to be decided during week of Apr 22nd – press
(KR) US Sec of State Pompeo: The next summit between North Korea Kim and President Trump may happen this year
(KR) President Trump: North Korea talks are moving along “perfectly”

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.2%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.4%
(CN) China PBoC Open Market (OMO): Injects CNY40B in 7-day reverse repos v skips prior; Net: CNY40B injection v nil prior (first operation after 18 consecutive skips)
(CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.7097 v 6.7112 prior
(CN) China PBoC Quarterly Monetary Policy Statement: To strike balance in the prudent monetary policy; calls for further unclogging of policy transmission (after the close)
(CN) CHINA MAR NEW HOME PRICES M/M: 0.6% V 0.5% PRIOR; Y/Y: 10.6% V 10.4% PRIOR

North America

(US) Fed’s Rosengren (moderate, voter): Fed is waiting to see evidence that inflation will reach 2% target; unemployment falling, doesn’t expect recession; Balance sheet asset allocation will be topic in future FOMC discussions

Europe

BMW.DE CFO: Sees 2019 China sales growth 5-10% y/y – speaking at Shanghai Motor Show

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, +0.3%, ASX 200 +0.4%, Hang Seng +0.6%; Shanghai Composite +1.1%; Kospi +0.1%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.2%
EUR 1.1314-1.1292; JPY 112.05-111.88; AUD 0.7176-0.7139 ;NZD 0.6770-0.6741
Gold -0.2% at $1,288/oz; Crude Oil -0.1% at $63.36/brl; Copper flat at $2.933/lb