General Trend:
- Various companies in Japan comment on coronavirus impact (Dentsu, Mitsubishi Estate, Chiyoda Corp)
- Japanese prefecture announces school closures
- A US solider said to have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Korea
- Local government in China announces quarantine measures related to South Korea
- Japan PM confirms ban on foreign visitors from Daegu (South Korea)
- Financials rise in Shanghai amid RRR cut speculation, IT index declines
- Bank of China International rises over 40% in Shanghai debut
- Australia Consumer Staples index drops, Woolworths declines after H1 earnings
- Ex-dividends also weigh on Aussie equities (Telstra, AGL Energy)
- Rio Tinto is expected to report FY earnings later today
- Hong Kong announced HK$120B in fiscal stimulus measures
- Bank of Korea (BOK) expected to cut rates by 25bps on Thursday
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.4%
- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q4 CONSTRUCTION WORK DONE Q/Q: -3.0% V -1.0%E
- VAH.AU Reports H1 (A$) underlying pretax 14.5M v 112.3M y/y; Rev 3.12B v 3.07B y/y (pre AASB16)
- WOW.AU Reports H1 (A$) adj Net 979.0M v 902.0M y/y; EBIT 1.89B v 1.42B y/y; Rev 32.4B v 30.6B y/y
- (AU) Australia sells A$800M v A$800M indicated in 1.50% June 2031 bonds, avg yield 0.9474%, bid to cover 3.84x
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened -1.0%
- 6366.JP Announces temporary employee has been infected with coronavirus
- 4911.JP Shiseido to restrict 8K employees from coming to work for over a week due to coronavirus concerns – Nikkei
- 7751.JP Has started to develop coronavirus testing system – Nikkei
- 6752.JP Tesla and Panasonic to end joint solar cell output at Gigafactory 2, the companies are expected to continue output at Gigafactory 1 – Nikkei
- (JP) Japan govt urges all sporting and culture events to be cancelled for next 2 weeks – Japan press
Korea
- Kospi opened -1.9%
- (KR) South Korea Mar Business Manufacturing Survey: 69 v 77 prior; Non-Manufacturing Survey: 68 v 74 prior
- 090430.KR Halting cosmetic production at factory in Osan for 2 days until Feb 27th, cites the need to take preventative measures against the coronavirus
- (KR) South Korea reports 169 additional coronavirus cases, total now 1,146
- (KR) 1 US soldier in South Korea said to test positive for coronavirus – US financial press
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened -1.5%; Shanghai Composite opened -1.2%
- (CN) China National Health Commission Coronavirus Update for Feb 25th: 406 additional cases v 508 prior; Additional deaths 52 v 71 prior; Hubei: 401 additional cases v 499 prior; additional deaths 52 v 68 prior
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 7.0126 v 7.0232 prior
- (HK) Hong Kong Financial Sec Chan: Announces HK$120B counter cyclical measures; have adequate policy tools to maintain macroeconomic stability – 2020/21 budget address; Gives initial 2020 forecasts: GDP at -1.5% to +0.5%; Underlying CPI at 2.5%
- (HK) HONG KONG FINAL Q4 GDP Q/Q: -0.3% V -0.4%E; Y/Y: -2.9% V -2.9%E
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips reverse repo operations for the 7th consecutive time, Net CNY0B v drains CNY0B prior
- 522.HK Reports Q4 (HK$) Net 216.5M v 256Me; Rev 4.45B v 3.9Be; CEO Lee Wai Kwong to retire at AGM in May
- (CN) USTR and USDA spokesperson: China has made progress on ‘Phase 1’ deal; has lifted ban on US poultry imports
- (CN) China State Council said to encourage banks to delay interest rate payments for eligible companies until Jun 30th – financial press
- 388.HK Reports FY19 (HK$) Net 9.4B v 9.3B y/y, EBITDA 12.3B v 11.8B y/y; Rev 16.3B v 15.9B y/y
North America
- (CN) US Official: Reiterates China is fully expected to meet trade deal terms with US despite coronavirus – SCMP
- (US) Fed’s Kaplan (dove, voter in 2020): not prepared to say coronavirus calls for a rate change; hopefully next month will bring greater clarity on virus impact – press interview conducted today
- (US) FEB RICHMOND FED MANUFACTURING INDEX: -2 V 10E
- (US) CDC spokesperson: coronavirus epidemic is ‘rapidly evolving and expanding’; Americans should prepare for the possible community spread of coronavirus; now is the time for businesses, hospitals, communities, and schools to begin preparing for coronavirus response – call comments
- DIS Bob Chapek named CEO, effective immediately; Bob Iger assumes role of Executive Chairman through 2021
Europe
- (UK) Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak: Will use budget statement March 11th, to cut corporate tax rate to 17%; will delay any revenue raising decisions until later in the year – FT
- (UK) Feb BRC Shop Price Index y/y: -0.6% v -0.3%e
Levels as of 12:15ET
- Hang Seng -0.7%; Shanghai Composite +0.3%; Kospi -1.2%; Nikkei225 -0.9%; ASX 200 -2.3%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.5%; Nasdaq100 +0.7%, Dax +0.5%; FTSE100 +0.9%
- EUR 1.0884-1.0863; JPY 110.58-110.14 ;AUD 0.6607-0.6588; NZD 0.6329-0.6306
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.3% at $1,644/oz; Crude Oil +0.8% at $50.30/brl; Copper +0.5% at $2.58/lb
