USD Trades Generally Firmer Into The End Of The Month And Quarter

Mar 31 20, 07:03 GMT

General Trend:

Equity markets in Japan and Australia reverse opening gains
Declining sectors in Australia include Consumer Staples and Resources, Iron & Steel and Financials are among the losers in Japan
Shanghai Composite rises less than 0.5% during morning session, property index drops 1%
WHO Official: Measures to reduce coronavirus transmission will not make risk go away as long as pandemic continues
China PBOC injects liquidity ahead of the end of the month and quarter
Japan Fin Min Aso: G20 finance ministers have planned call for Tuesday night (Japan time)
Japan’s fiscal year ends today
BoJ may release April bond buying schedule later today

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +1.0%
VAH.AU Confirms media speculation, seeking A$1.4B from Australia Govt in assistance, made a prelim proposal, unclear if deal will include a conversion to equity
AIR.NZ CEO: To begin reducing workforce, see at least 30% smaller this time next year; revenue will drop equivalent to NZ$5B/year
(NZ) New Zealand 8-month budget surplus NZ$1.4B, NZ$115M larger than forecasted
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) offers NZ$500M in corporate open market operations (OMO)
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$66.8B v A$63.5B prior
(AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index: 65.3 v 72.2 prior (record low)
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) adds A$2.89B to banking system through repos v A$1.12B prior
(NZ) New Zealand Mar Final ANZ Business Confidence: -63.5 v -19.4 prior; Activity Outlook: -26.7 v +12.0 prior
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) offers to buy total of A$3.0B in bonds v A$3.0B prior
(AU) Australia Feb Private Sector Credit M/M: 0.4% v 0.3%e; Y/Y: 2.8% v 2.6%e

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +0.5%
(JP) JAPAN FEB PRELIM INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: +0.4% V -0.1%E; Y/Y: -4.7% V -4.8%E
(JP) JAPAN FEB RETAIL SALES M/M: +0.6% V -1.5%E; Y/Y: +1.7% V -1.5%E
(JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: Concerned we may see bad numbers in factory output in March as companies adjust production; want to carry out big campaign to boost demand once coronavirus outbreak ends
4901.JP Clinical trials for Avigan to start today – Nikkei
(JP) Japan to expand small business loan program to ¥40T – Nikkei
(JP) JAPAN FEB JOBLESS RATE: 2.4% V 2.4%E; Job to applicant ratio: 1.45 v 1.47e
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Want to put together an extra budget quickly, we need measures that respond to the impact of virus
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥2.0T v ¥2.0T indicated in 0.10% 2-year JGBs, avg yield: -0.125% v -0.241% prior, bid to cover: 4.28x v 4.60x prior

Korea

Kospi opened +1.3%
005930.KR An employee in his 20s, at chip production line in Yongin, south of Seoul, was confirmed to have coronavirus after showing symptoms last week, was tested Sunday – Yonhap
(KR) South Korea Apr Business Manufacturing Survey: 54 v 69 prior (lowest level since March 2009); Non-Manufacturing Survey: 52 v 68 prior
(KR) US Sec of State Pompeo: US looks forward to sitting down with North Korea leadership for nuclear talks; earlier in the day North Korea condemned Pompeo’s call with G7 which agreed to continue diplomatic and economic pressure on Pyongyang and accused him of slandering the regime and said it will “go our own way”
(KR) South Korea approves KRW1M per household one time stimulus payment (Covers bottom 70% of income earners, Total package KRW9.1T) – Yonhap
(KR) South Korea Feb Retail sales m/m: -6.0% v -3.1% prior
(KR) SOUTH KOREA FEB INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: -3.8% V -4.5%E; Y/Y: +11.4% V +3.4%E

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +1.9%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.7%
(CN) China PBOC adviser Ma Jun: Advised China to not set a 2020 GDP target given uncertainties; GDP growth of 4-5% will be difficult to reach; By setting GDP target may force China to resort to flood like stimulus – China Daily
(CN) China National Health Commission Coronavirus Update for March 30th: 48 additional cases (48 imported) v 31 prior; Additional deaths: 1 v 4 prior; Hubei: 0 additional cases v 0 prior; additional deaths: 1 v 4 prior
(CN) CHINA MAR MANUFACTURING PMI (GOVT OFFICIAL): 52.0 V 44.8E (returns to expansion after record low); Non-Manufacturing PMI:52.3 v 42.0e; Composite PMI: 53.0 v 28.9 prior; NBS issues cautious comments
100.HK France’s JC Decaux offers HK$7.12/shr for minority stake
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY20B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY50B prior; Net injection CNY20B v CNY50B prior
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 7.0851 v 7.0447 prior
(CN) World Bank: Sees China 2020 GDP growth at 2.3% under baseline scenario, growth seen at 0.1% under worst case scenario
(HK) Hong Kong government expected to spend ‘tens of billions’ of HK$ on additional relief measures – US financial press
(HK) Hong Kong Chief Executive Lam: To have record decline in Feb retail sales [data due later today]

Other Asia

(SG) Singapore Deputy PM Swee Keat: Ready to deploy 3rd stimulus package if circumstances from the Covid-19 outbreak deteriorate further – local press

North America

(US) USTR Lighthizer: overdependence on other nations for cheap medical supplies has created a strategic vulnerability to the US economy
(US) Pres Trump: challenging times are ahead for next 30 days; social distancing can save over 1M lives, may extend and add to travel restrictions – daily coronavirus press conf
(US) Congress attending physician recommended House Speaker Pelosi take no action after she was in contact with Representative Nydia Velazquez, who has been diagnosed with coronavirus; her contact was “low risk” – financial press
MX To Sell Foundry Business and Fab 4 for $345M cash, $90M Liability transfer

Europe

Levels as of 1:15ET

Hang Seng +0.6%; Shanghai Composite +0.1%; Kospi +0.7%; Nikkei225 -1.0%; ASX 200 -2.0%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.5%; Nasdaq100 -0.4%, Dax -0.7%; FTSE100 -0.7%
EUR 1.1055-1.0991; JPY 108.72-107.78; AUD 0.6200-0.6079; NZD 0.6037-0.5948
Commodity Futures: Gold -0.4% at $1,636/oz; Crude Oil +5.0% at $21.09/brl; Copper +1.0% at $2.19/lb