General Trend:
- Kospi outperforms as chipmakers rise; Japan said to have approved additional exports of the high tech material photoresists to South Korea (press)
- BHP declines as earnings miss ests
- RBA Aug Minutes reiterate policy stance, commented on Q2 GDP and unconventional policies of other central banks
- Aussie rises amid the release of RBA minutes
- China PBOC fixed the 1-year loan prime rate (LPR) lower vs prior session, in line with market expectations; Little initial market reaction seen, some analysts expect the PBOC will lower the LPR gradually
- G7 Leaders Summit [Aug 25-26th in France] may end without joint communique for first time since the meetings started in 1975 (Japanese Press)
- Various press outlets focus on the theme of stimulus hopes
- South Korean airlines continue to revise Japan operations amid lingering dispute between Japan/South Korea
- The Foreign Ministers from Japan and South Korea are expected to meet in Beijing on Wed.
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.1%
- (AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) AUG MINUTES:REASONABLE TO EXPECT EXTENDED PERIOD OF LOW INTEREST RATES; WILL CONSIDER FURTHER EASING IF EVIDENCE SUGGESTS NEEDED
- BHP.AU Reports FY19 Underlying Net $9.12B v $9.9Be, Underlying EBITDA $23.2B v $24.1B y/y, Rev $45.1B v $44.7Be; affirms FY20 guidance; issues FY21 guidance
- BHP.AU Issues Commodity Outlook: Sees steel making raw materials prices above marginal cost
- (AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence: 112.8 v 115.5 prior
- (AU) Australia Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA): Released strengthened prudential standard, aimed at mitigating contagion risk within banking groups
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.2%
- 6758.JP Sony Interactive Entertainment to acquire Insomniac Games, Developer Of PlayStation®4 Top-Selling Marvel’s Spider-Man, Ratchet & Clank; terms not disclosed
- (JP) Japan G7 summit may end without communique due to trade issue, would be the first time that G7 Leaders Summit ended without joint communique since meetings started in 1975 – Japan Press
- (JP) Japan said to have approved additional exports of high tech material to South Korea – press
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥899B v ¥900B indicated in 0.30% (prior 0.40%) 20-year bonds; avg yield 0.11% v 0.2490% prior; bid to cover 3.81x v 4.89x prior
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.2%
- (KR) South Korea and US to wrap up week long military exercises today, as scheduled; will be looking to see if North Korea backs off its missile launches now
- 005380.KR Considering production cuts at plant in India – Korean press
- 003490.KR To suspend and reduce the number of flights to Japan, to increase flights to Danang, Bali and China
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened -0.1%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.1%
- (CN) CHINA PBOC SETS LOAN PRIME RATE (LPR) AT 4.25% V 4.31% PRIOR (4.24%e); SETS 5-YEAR LPR AT 4.85% (1ST SETTING SINCE ANNOUNCING LPR MECHANISM)
- (CN) China PBoC Deputy Gov Liu Guoqiang: New rate reform cannot replace monetary policy and other policies; will work with other government departments to lower funding costs focusing on small and private firms; Future interest rate policy will focus will be on the LPR
- (CN) PBoC Monetary Policy Dept Head Sun Guofeng: Will review loan prime rate pricing model; China will not scrap benchmark lending rate for the time being; There is room for cuts in both the RRR and lending rate, room to cut RRR is not as big as people thought
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY50B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY20B prior; Net drain CNY10B v drain CNY10B prior
- (CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 7.0454 v 7.0365 prior
- (HK) Hong Kong Chief Exec Lam: HK police monitoring body to hire overseas experts; to start platform for dialog immediately
North America
- (US) State Attorney Generals to move ahead with antitrust investigation of big tech companies – US financial press
- (US) Fed’s Rosengren (hawk, dissenter): economic conditions are still pretty good, which led to my dissent for no rate cut – Bloomberg TV interview
- BIDU Reports Q2 $1.47 v $0.94e, Rev $3.84B v $3.77Be
- AAPL Said to commit more than $6.0B for new shows for streaming service, targeting launch of Apple+ video service by Nov at $9.99/month with a free trial – FT
- HGV Apollo Global said to be looking to acquire Hilton Grand Vacations at as much as $36/shr – NY Post
Europe
- (US) White House: President Trump spoke with UK PM Johnson Monday, he gave an update on Brexit
- (UK) UK PM Boris Johnson said to have told his trade ministers not to discuss the National Health Services (NHS) in any deal with the US – The Sun
Levels as of 1:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.4%, ASX 200 +0.9%, Hang Seng flat; Shanghai Composite +0.1%; Kospi +1%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 flat
- EUR 1.1089-1.1077 ; JPY 106.69-106.51 ; AUD 0.6785-0.6754 ;NZD 0.6424-0.6402
- Gold -0.4% at $1,506/oz; Crude Oil -0.1% at $56.10/brl; Copper +0.1% at $2.601/lb
