April Figures Expected To See Bigger Impact From Coronavirus

Apr 16 20, 06:34 GMT

General Trend:

Sectors trading generally lower include Materials, Financials, Energy and Auto [similar sector performance was seen during earlier NY session]
Japanese financials decline amid recent focus on US bank earnings and lower Treasury yields
Shanghai Property index outperforms, new home prices slowed y/y in March
Automaker BAIC declines over 4% in HK, guided Q1 net -95% y/y
Cathay Pacific reports March passenger traffic down 90% y/y
Australian quarterly production updates in focus (Woodside Petroleum, Whitehaven Coal)
Rio Tinto is expected to issue Q1 production update on Friday (April 17th)
NZD/USD declines in Asia; RBNZ Gov said the central bank has not ruled out negative rates, ‘shadow’ official cash rate is significantly negative
South Korea proposes KRW7.6T second extra budget, reiterated will not issue bonds to finance extra budget
Bank of Korea announces the nominees for its monetary policy board
Representatives of US Casinos said to be discussing possible ways to reopen the Las Vegas strip (US financial press)
Taiwan Semi expected to report Q1 results today
US companies expected to report earnings during the NY morning include Abbott Labs, Bank of NY, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and Rite Aid.
US weekly initial jobless claims due later on Thursday (expected at 5.5M vs 6.6M prior)
Trump is due to speak with US Governors on Thursday about reopening the economy
G7 expected to hold video conference on Thursday (April 16th)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.6%
(AU) AUSTRALIA MAR EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: +5.9K V -30.0KE; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 5.2% V 5.4%E
(AU) AUSTRALIA APR CONSUMER INFLATION EXPECTATION: 4.6% V 4.0% PRIOR
WPL.AU Reports Q1 production 24.2 MMBOE v 25.7 q/q, +12% y/y; Rev $1.08B v $1.22B y/y; Affirms FY20 production
SPL.AU Announces SPL7013 shows significant activity against coronavirus
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$87.0B v A$83.5B prior
VAH.AU Trading halted; Not currently in position to make announcement on financial position or restructuring talks remain ongoing
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) adds A$333M to banking system through repos v A$1.55B prior
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) purchases NZ$140M in LGFA Bonds v NZ$150M sought in QE operations
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Deputy Gov Bascand: Planning additional stress tests for banks, banks will face pressure in worst case scenario
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Gov Orr: This economic shock is a fiscal policy challenge; monetary policy is a support to fiscal; Have NOT ruled out negative rates, shadow OCR is significantly negative – speaking to parliament
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Assistant Gov Hawkesby: Monetary policy cannot offset virus impact but can soften the blow – speaking to parliament
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) offers to buy total of A$1.0B in bonds v A$1.5B prior

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -1.2%
(JP) Japan April economic assessment expected to be described as “worsening sharply” from March reports “severe” – Nikkei
(JP) Japan Investors Net Buying of Foreign Bonds: -¥201.3B v -¥1.05T prior week; Foreign Net Buying of Japan Stocks: -¥15.5B v +¥324.2B prior week
(JP) Senior IMF official: Bank of Japan (BOJ) rate cuts will have limited effect in stimulating economy, may hurt the financial sector; encourages use of swap lines
7203.JP To halt production at all domestic plants May 1st and May 11th and stop production at 5 Japan plants from May 12th and onward
(JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: It is important to compile extra budget quickly for economic measures
6758.JP Said to be planning only limited production of Playstation 5 in first year (5-6M units); release still on track for end of the year – press

Korea

Kospi opened -1.0%
(KR) South Korea ruling Democratic Party wins majority of parliament seats , 180 seats (1st time in 16-years), will not have to form coalition
(KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) reported to name 4 new Policy members – Korea press
(KR) South Korea Finance Ministry: Proposes KRW7.6T extra budget (prior planned for KRW7.1T) , reiterates will not issue bonds to finance extra budget

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened -0.5%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.5%
(CN) According to a US State Dept report China may be secretly conducting nuclear tests with very low explosive power; there is no proof, but there is a series of activities that “raise concerns” – press
(CN) CHINA MAR NEW HOMES PRICES M/M: 0.1% V 0.0% PRIOR; Y/Y: 5.3% V 5.8% PRIOR
(HK) Hong Kong Financial Sec Chan: Hong Kong likely to revise 2020 GDP outlook lower – press
(CN) China National Health Commission Coronavirus Update for April 15th: 46 additional cases (34 imported) v 46 prior; Additional deaths: 0 v 1 prior; Additional Asymptomatic cases 64 v 57 prior
(CN) China Mar Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) CNY81.8B, -14.1% y/y
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 7.0714 v 7.0402 prior
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips Reserve Repo Operations for the 11th consecutive session; Net CNY0B v CNY0B prior
(CN) China PBoC said to soon run simulations for some commercial lenders to run trials of its digital currency in Suzhou, Xiong’an, Chengdu and Shenzhen – financial press

North America

(US) President Trump: Data suggests US has suggested peak on new cases; To unveil new guidelines tomorrow – daily coronavirus press conference
(US) US, Nevada Casino Representatives talking about how to reopen Las Vegas casino Strip – press
(MX) Fitch cuts Mexico sovereign rating to lowest level of investment grade; cuts rating to BBB-; outlook Stable
UAL CEO: Redesigned network to be -90% capacity while complying with cares act; this weekend to further reduce capacity by 10% of what had been planned for May, and expect similar move for June – letter to employees

Europe

(DE) German Chancellor Merkel: have agreed on gradual reopening of schools starting May 4th; Retail spaces under 800 sq meters may reopen; Will ban large public events until at least Aug 31st
(UK) MAR BRC SALES LFL Y/Y: -3.5% V -5.5%E
(IE) Ireland Apr Consumer Confidence: 42.6 v 77.3 prior (largest m/m decline on record)

Levels as of 1:15ET

Hang Seng -0.9%; Shanghai Composite +0.0%; Kospi -0.2%; Nikkei225 -1.6%; ASX 200 -1.4%
Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.5%; Nasdaq100 -0.5%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 -0.2%
EUR 1.0913-1.0865; JPY 108.08-107.36; AUD 0.6323-0.6265; NZD 0.6002-0.5942
Commodity Futures: Gold +0.2% at $1,743/oz; Crude Oil +0.1% at $19.88/brl; Copper -0.1% at $2.29/lb