General Trend:
- Nikkei 225 outperforms amid weaker yen, gainers include automakers and electronics companies; Softbank lags the broader market
- Hang Seng rises less than 1% after over 2% decline on Friday; Uncertainty remains about the US’ new HK law and the trade talks
- HK gaming shares rise as decline in Nov Macau gaming revenues was less than feared
- Property developers rise in Hong Kong and Shanghai; China Aoyuan Property reported Nov contracted sales +99% y/y
- Aussie quarterly inventories decline more than expected, Q3 GDP data due on Wed
- Australia Nov housing prices see largest m/m rise since 2003 (Corelogic)
- Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) due to hold policy meeting on Tuesday (Dec 3rd), rates expected to be left unchanged
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.2%
- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q3 CORP OP PROFIT Q/Q: -0.8% V 1.0%E; INVENTORIES Q/Q: -0.4% V -0.2%E
- (AU) AUSTRALIA OCT BUILDING APPROVALS M/M: -8.1% V -1.0%E; Y/Y: -23.6% V -18.0%E
- (AU) Australia Nov Final Manufacturing PMI: 49.9 v 50.0 prior (lowest reading since May 2016)
- (NZ) New Zealand Q3 Terms of Trade Index q/q: 1.9% v 1.6% prior
- (AU) Australia Nov AIG Manufacturing Index: 48.1 v 51.6 prior
- (AU) Australia sells A$300M in 2047 3.0% bonds, avg yield 1.6494%, bid to cover 2.09x
- (NZ) New Zealand Treasury: GDP growth likely fall short of budget forecast
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +0.4%
- 7201.JP Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault have reached an agreement to form a new R&D agreement aimed at advanced automotive technologies and to further strengthen existing partnership; official announcement expected in January 2020 – press
- (JP) JAPAN Q3 CAPITAL SPENDING (CAPEX) Y/Y: 7.1% V 5.0%E; CAPITAL SPENDING EX-SOFTWARE: 7.7% V 4.4%E
- (JP) Japan Nov Final PMI Manufacturing: 48.9 v 48.6 prelim (highest reading since Sept)
- (JP) Japan PM Abe: Taking all possible precautions against downside risks – speaking to parliament
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.5%
- (KR) South Korea Nov Balance of Trade: $3.4B v $5.3Be; Exports y/y -14.3% v -9.7%e (12th consecutive decline, 1st double digit decline in 10-years); Imports y/y: -13.0% v -11.9%e
- (KR) South Korea Nov PMI Manufacturing: 49.4 v 48.4 prior (highest reading since April 2019)
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.5%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%
- (CN) CHINA NOV MANUFACTURING PMI: 50.2 V 49.5E (1ST MONTH OF GROWTH AFTER 6 MONTHS OF CONTRACTION)
- (CN) CHINA NOV CAIXIN PMI MANUFACTURING: 51.8 V 51.5E (4th consecutive month of expansion)
- (HK) Macau Nov Gaming Rev (MOP) 22.9B v 26.4B prior; Y/Y: -8.5% v -9.0%e
- (CN) According to Global Times: China top priority in any phase one trade deal with the United States is the removal of existing tariffs on Chinese goods
- (US) According to source the China deal was now ‘stalled’ because of the US’ new law on Hong Kong, time is needed to allow Xi’s domestic politics to ‘calm’; Notes phase 1 deal with China would probably happen by the end of 2019 at the earliest, Trump expected to delay tariffs planned for Dec – Axios
- (CN) Dalian Commodity Exchange will speed up efforts to introduce liquefied petroleum gas futures and hog futures; no specific timeline given – China press
- (CN) China PBOC Gov Yi Gang:China should maintain “normal” monetary policy as long as possible since economic growth is still within a reasonable range and inflation is mild overall, will not resort to QE even as global interest rates are nearing zero – Op Ed in Qiushi
- (CN) China Banking and Insurance Regulator (CBIRC) Chairman Yu Xuejun: Need to be aware of credit contraction as the economy is facing increasing downward pressure – Shanghai Securities News
- (CN) China CSRC (securities regulator) plans to approve A-share IPOs at ‘steady’ pace – Chinese press
- 0005.HK Hong Kong unit said to plan salary freeze for executives – HK Press
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 7.0262 v 7.0298 prior
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips for 9th consecutive session; Net drains CNY0B v CNY0B prior
- (HK) Hong Kong Fin Chief Chan: Expects declines in retail sales to be ‘enormous’; govt closely monitoring property market; Expect to record deficit for 2019/2020 (1st deficit in 15-years)
- (HK) China State Council appointed new officials for Macau including new economy chief and justice secretary
Other
- (SA) Saudi Arabia likely to call for an extension to oil production cuts through mid-2020 at OPEC meeting this week – press
North America
- (MX) Mexico President Lopez Obrador (AMLO): GDP growth has not been what I’ve hoped for in 2019, but wealth is now better distributed – speaking at 1st anniversary since becoming President
- (US) Democratic led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee deadline of 18:00 passes without comment from President Trump or his team on if he or his legal counsel will participate in an impeachment hearing on Wednesday
- (US) White House Lawyer responds to passed deadline: President Trump cannot fairly be expected at Dec 4th hearing
Europe
- (UK) PM Johnson: There will be no checks or tariffs on goods moving from Northern Ireland to Britain
- (DE) Germany Social Democrats (SPD) party vote names Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken (ran on joint ticket) new leaders, putting at risk coalition with Merkel
- (UK) Weekend polls show Labour Party gaining on ruling Conservatives in 4 of the 5 major polls
Levels as of 12:15ET
- Hang Seng +0.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.3%; Kospi +0.2%; Nikkei225 +1.0%; ASX 200 +0.2%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.3%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax +0.4%; FTSE100 +0.4%
- EUR 1.028-1.1015; JPY 109.72-109.49; AUD 0.6777-0.6762; NZD 0.6451-0.6424
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.5% at $1,466/oz; Crude Oil +1.7% at $56.09/brl; Copper % at $/lb
