Asian Markets Trade Cautiously Ahead Of Fed Meeting

Jun 18 19, 07:33 GMT

General Trend:

Hang Seng rises ahead of possible press briefing by HK Chief Executive Lam
Utilities weigh on equities in Japan
Australian steelmaker Bluescope declines on reduced guidance
RBA June Minutes: Lower interest rates were not the only policy option
Australia house price declines accelerated in Q1
PBoC continues to inject liquidity amid focus on end-June interbank liquidity conditions
BoJ Gov Kuroda outlines issues that will be debated at this week’s policy meeting (June 19-20th)
Markets remain focused on this week’s US Fed meeting (June 18-19th)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened 0.0%
(AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) JUN MINUTES: FURTHER POLICY EASING MORE LIKELY THAN NOT IN PERIOD AHEAD
(AU) AUSTRALIA Q1 HOUSING PRICE INDEX Q/Q: -3.0% V -2.6%E; Y/Y: -7.4% V -6.9%E
BSL.AU Cuts FY19 underlying EBIT A$1.35B (prior A$1.4B); to extend buyback by up to A$250M
COL.AU Announces updated strategy: targeting A$1.0B in cumulative cost savings by FY23; Revenue growth expected to be at least in line with market growth over long term
(AU) Australia Treasurer Frydenberg: To introduce ~A$158B income tax package during first week of Parliament
RSG.AU Granted approval to IPO in London, trading expected to start on June 20th
(AU) Australia Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economic (ABARES) cut its 2019/20 wheat exports forecast by 18% to 11.7M tons; cites drought

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Overseas economic developments will be discussed at rate review starting Wednesday; Uncertainty over global economic outlook is high; risks are on downside for global economy – Comments to Parliament
(JP) Japan Government Spokesman Nishimura: Japan is watching Iran uranium cap developments
(JP) Japan Ministry to order Tateru [1435.JP] to suspend operations, cites alleged manipulation of data related to borrowers of commercial loans – Japanese Press
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Likely that US/China meeting will happen during G20
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥1.9T v ¥1.9T prior in % coupon 5-year JGB: avg yield: -0.228% v -0.170% prior, bid to cover: 4.51x v 4.94x prior
(JP) Japan Steel Industry Association Head: Sees some slowdown in steel demand citing the US-Trade war; closely watching China steel exports amid signs of slowing demand

Korea

Kospi opened -0.1%
005930.KR Head of Chip Logic: Open to M&A opportunities to grow neural processing chip
(KR) China President Xi to visit North Korea later this week between Jun 20-21st for State visit
(KR) South Korea nuclear envoy is headed to the US trying to revive talks about denuclearizing North Korea – Yonhap

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.2%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%
(CN) CHINA MAY NEW HOME PRICES M/M: 0.7% V 0.6% PRIOR; Y/Y: 10.7% V 10.7%PRIOR
(CN) China regulator urged interbank liquidity support for smaller non-banks – financial press
(CN) China Ministry of Finance (MoF) researcher: China may increase its muni bond sales quota for 2019
(CN) Some measures show that bank liquidity in China has remained tight amid May government takeover announcement related to Baoshang Bank – US financial press
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY90B in 14-day reverse repos v CNY150B prior; Net CNY80B injected v CNY120B injected prior
(CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8942 v 6.8940 prior

North America

(US) 320 representatives from US manufacturers, retailers and other companies and trade groups are expected to appear over seven days of hearings with officials to speak against China tariff implementation
(US) Acting Defense Sec: Approved additional 1,000 troops to Middle East due to Iran threat (in addition to the already increased troops)
(US) APR NET LONG-TERM TIC FLOWS: $46.9B V -$28.4B PRIOR; TOTAL NET TIC FLOWS: -$7.8B V -$8.1B PRIOR; China Total holding of US Treasuries: $1.113T v $1.12T prior (2-year low for China holdings)
S Reportedly US DoJ will approve T-Mobile deal within next few days – CNN

Europe

(UK) MPs Javid or Raab reportedly are expected to be defeated in Tory leadership contest tomorrow as support for Rory Stewart surges – UK’s The Sun
(UK) Chancellor of the Exchequer Hammond (Fin Min) said to be prepared to resign over PM May spending plans – press

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.9%, ASX 200 +0.5%, Hang Seng +0.7%; Shanghai Composite -0.1%; Kospi +0.3%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.2%; FTSE100 +0.1%
EUR 1.1235-1.1217 ; JPY 108.59-108.25 ; AUD 0.6858-0.6832 ;NZD 0.6501-0.6490
Gold +0.2% at $1,345/oz; Crude Oil flat at $51.93/brl; Copper -0.1% at $2.648/lb