General Trend:
- HSBC’s Q1 results beat ests, shares rise
- Energy companies and Tencent decline in Hong Kong
- Guidance from Macquarie Group weighs on financial sector in Australia
- Energy shares decline on lower oil prices
- Amazon rises in after-hours trading, Buffett said to buy shares
- Australia April Services PMIs indicate easing contraction
- Brent Futures extend declines from Thursday
- Weaker oil prices weigh on Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
- RBA due to meet on May 7th (Tuesday) and RBNZ to meet on May 8th (Wed)
- Markets in China and Japan were again closed on today’s session
- Japanese markets are due to return from Golden Week holiday on May 7th (Tuesday)
- Japan’s exchanges are due to be closed between April 27 to May 6th for Golden Week
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.1%
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR BUILDING APPROVALS M/M: -15.5% V -12.5%E; Y/Y: -27.3% V -25.1%E
- (AU) Australia Apr AiG Performance of Services Index: 46.5 v 44.8 prior (4th month in contraction or below 50)
- (AU) Australia Apr Final PMI Services 50.1 v 50.5 prelim
China/Hong Kong
- Shanghai Composite closed for holiday, Hang Seng opened -0.4%
- (CN) During Thursday’s NY Session, there was social media chatter about an Asia media report of potential US/China trade talk impasse
- (CN) Asian Development Bank President Nakao: ADB has begun considering raising interest rates on financing for countries that reach a certain income level, such as China – Nikkei
Japan
- Nikkei 225 closed for holiday
- (JP) Japan Ruling LDP party official said open to more spending if sales tax increase hurts growth – Japanese Press
Korea
- Kospi opened -0.2%
- (JP) Japan Government said to seek high-level meetings with North Korea in NYC – Korea Press
Other
- (ID) Indonesia Central Bank: Committed to maintain financial system stability; will ensure banks have sufficient liquidity
- (ID) Shares of Bank Danamon Indonesia [BDMN.ID] have declined by over 15% for the second straight session
- (PH) Philippines Central Bank (BSP) Gov Diokno: Rate cut inevitable, S&P rating upgrade may hasten rate cut
North America
- (US) Pres Trump: Stephen Moore is withdrawing consideration for the Fed
- JPMorgan April Global Manufacturing PMI: 50.3 v 50.5 prior (lowest reading since June 2016)
- Amazon [AMZN]: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly buying shares of Amazon – US Press
- Facebook [FB]: Said to be building cryptocurrency based payments system – US financial press
Europe
- (UK) Early results in the UK local elections show that both the Conservatives and Labour have lost support due to Brexit
- (IE) Ireland Apr PMI Services: 54.7 v 55.3 prior (3-month low)
Levels as of 1:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, closed, ASX 200 +0.1%, Hang Seng +0.1%; Shanghai Composite closed; Kospi -0.6%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.1%
- EUR 1.1179-1.1170 ; JPY 111.55-111.40 ; AUD 0.7010-0.6984 ;NZD 0.6627-0.6608
- Gold +0.1% at $1,273/oz; Crude Oil -0.3% at $61.62/brl; Copper +0.3% at $2.791/lb
