General Trend:
- Nikkei Futures decline as USD/JPY weakens
- Shanghai rises and briefly trades above the 3,000 handle, IT shares outperform
- Australia’s Lynas Corp notes 40% price increase in 60 days for certain rare earths amid trade tensions
- More analysts see July RBA rate cut after Thursday’s speech by Gov Lowe, recently released RBA minutes
- Japan prelim Manufacturing PMI eased and remained in contraction in June
- Gold Futures rise above $1,400/oz (highest since 2013), US dollar remains weaker after recent Fed decision/forecasts
- US FAA comments on Iran threat, Brent rises in Asian trading
- China and US negotiating teams could meet as soon as Tues (June 25th) – Chinese press
- The G20 leaders meeting is due to be held in Osaka from June 28-29th (Friday-Saturday)
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is due to hold its official cash rate (OCR) decision on June 26th (Wed)
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.1%
- (AU) Australia Jun Preliminary PMI Manufacturing 51.7 v 51.0 prior (highest level since March)
- (NZ) Westpac sees Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) cutting rates in Aug to 1.25% (vs 1.50% currently)
China/Hong Kong
- Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%, Hang Seng +0.1%
- Shengjing Bank [2066.HK]: Evergrande Group to acquire 2.2B shares for CNY13.2B – US financial press
- (CN) China and US negotiating teams could meet as soon as Tues (June 25th) – Chinese press
- (HK) Hong Kong government’s headquarters to be temporarily closed on Friday, protesters might hold rally today – US financial press
- (HK) Hong Kong activists block roadway; call for surrounding of Police HQ
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY30B in 14-day reverse repos v CNY30B prior; Net CNY30B injected v CNY30B injected prior
- (CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8472 v 6.8805 prior (strongest fixing since mid-May)
- (CN) China volume weighted avg benchmark Overnight Repo rate hits 1.10% (4-year low) amid PBOC cash injections and easing speculation
- (CN) China Finance Ministry (MOF) sells 50 year bonds, yield 4.0% v 3.82% prior (3.93%e); bid to cover 1.56x v 3.10x prior
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.1%
- (JP) JAPAN MAY NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: 0.7% V 0.7%E; CPI EX FRESH FOOD (CORE) Y/Y: 0.8% V 0.7%
- (JP) Japan June Preliminary PMI Manufacturing: 49.5 v 49.8 prior (3-month low)
Korea
- Kospi opened flat
- (KR) South Korea Reports Jun 1-20 exports: -10% y/y; imports: -8.1% y/y; Semiconductor exports -24.3% y/y
North America
- (US) US Pres Trump reportedly approved Iran attacks only to pull back just hours later on Thursday night- NYT
- (US) FAA issues emergency order prohibiting all US flights from flying through Iranian controlled airspace above Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf
- Caterpillar [CAT]: CEO says the company is ‘comfortable’ meeting its forecast despite tariffs; China is still strong of the company while Europe is flat and Latin America is starting to improve – CNBC
- (US) SEMI: May North America Billings: $2.06 v $1.91B prior, m/m: +7.4% v +4.7% prior; y/y: -23.6% v -29.0% prior
Europe
- (EU) EU leaders agree to hold another summit related to the EU’s top jobs, including ECB head, on June 30th; no agreement was reached on Thursday – financial press
- (TR) EU Juncker: What Turkey is doing in territorial waters of Cyprus is unacceptable; Proposals against Turkey over the drilling will not be ‘soft’
Levels as of 1:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, -1.1%, ASX 200 -0.7%, Hang Seng -0.5%; Shanghai Composite +0.3%; Kospi -0.5%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.4%; Nasdaq100 -0.6%, Dax -0.6%; FTSE100 -1.4%
- EUR 1.1309-1.1288 ; JPY 107.37-107.04 ; AUD 0.6938-0.6916 ;NZD 0.6606-0.6576
- Gold +0.8% at $1,408/oz; Crude Oil -0.1% at $57.02/brl; Copper +0.1% at $2.713/lb
