Equities Trade Higher, Aussie Energy Sector Rises

Apr 29 20, 07:30 GMT

General Trend:

WTI Crude Futs rise in Asia
Nasdaq FUTs rise after earnings from Alphabet
Shanghai Composite rises during morning session, banks trade higher after recent earnings
Standard Chartered beats ests
Crown Resorts rises over 7% in Australia on stake acquisition by Blackstone
Aussie Q1 headline CPI rises to highest level since 2014 amid impact from drought and coronavirus; core inflation remains below the RBA’s 2-3% target
Aussie PM: Easing of restrictions “not too far away”
China confirms to hold annual political meeting in late May [May 22nd]
NYSE: Trading floors to remain closed for now; to partially reopen ARCA options trading floor in San Francisco on May 4th
Tokyo is seeking to extend its state of emergency beyond May 6th
Japan markets to return from holiday on Thursday
Companies expected to report earnings during the NY morning include Boeing and GE

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.2%
(NZ) New Zealand Mar Trade Balance (NZ$): 672M v 686Me
(AU) AUSTRALIA Q1 CPI Q/Q: 0.3% V 0.2%E; Y/Y: 2.2% V 1.9%E; CPI Trimmed Mean (core) Q/Q: 0.5% v 0.3%e; Y/Y: 1.8% v 1.6%e
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$67.7B v A$69.8B prior
COL.AU Reports Q3 (A$) Rev 9.2B v 8.88B y/y; Early Q4 sales are similar to pre-coronavirus levels
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) adds A$669M to banking system through repos v A$950M prior
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) buys NZ$450M in Govt Bonds at QE auction v NZ$450M sought
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) offers to buy total of A$1.0B in bonds v A$500M prior

Japan

Nikkei 225 closed
7201.JP Cuts FY19/20 guidance: Net ¥150-160B below prior guided ¥65B (implies -¥95 to -¥85B) Op ¥120-130B below prior guided ¥85B (implies -¥45B to -¥35B) Feb; Delays earnings to May 28th
(JP) Tokyo, Japan Gov Koike: Seeking extension on state of emergency declaration (currently set to expire on May 6th)

Korea

Kospi opened +0.2%
(KR) SOUTH KOREA MAR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: 4.6% V 1.5%E; Y/Y: +7.1% V -1.7%E
(KR) South Korea Mar Cyclical Leading Index Change: -0.6 v -0.1 prior
(KR) South Korea Mar Retail Sales m/m: -1.0% v -6.0% prior
005930.KR Reports final Q1 (KRW) Net 4.9T v 5.1T y/y; Op 6.5T v 6.4T prelim; Rev 55.3T v 55.0T prelim; Expects decline in phone sales and overall business performance in Q2; NAND market will continue to stabilize in Q2; Mobile DRAM demand may soften in Q2
(KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Apr Minutes: Board member noted that additional measures were needed to help boost growth
(KR) South Korea May Business Survey: Manufacturing: 50 v 54 prior (11-year low); Non-Manufacturing: 50 v 52 prior
(KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) expands its pilot program to go coinless by signing agreement with major local retailers – Yonhap
(KR) North Korea leader Kim believed to be running the North Korea state affairs normally – Yonhap citing South Korea military – Yonhap
(KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min Kim: South Korea Monthly trade balance could become a deficit for first time since 2012; Recovery seen in Mar Industrial output data unlikely to continue

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.9%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%
(CN) China National Health Commission Coronavirus Update for April 28th: 22 additional cases ( 21 imported v 3 prior) v 6 prior; Additional deaths: 0 v 0 prior; – Additional Asymptomatic cases: 26 v 40 prior
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 7.0704 v 7.0710 prior
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips Reserve Repo Operations for the 20th consecutive session; Net CNY0B v CNY0B prior
(CN) Migrant workers who have arrived in the southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou a few days earlier, are being forced to head back home due to less opportunity – SCMP
(CN) China to start National People’s Congress (NPC) on May 22nd (inline with speculation of late May) – Xinhua

North America

ICE NYSE: Trading floors to remain closed for now; to partially reopen ARCA options trading floor in San Francisco on May 4th
SBUX Exec: Guides FY20 EPS negatively impacted by $0.30-0.37; Rev to be negatively impacted by $750-850M; comps to continue to improve into H2; sees 90% of company-owned US stores reopening by early June in limited, modified formats – earnings call comments
(US) President Trump: To meet with Gov of Louisiana Apr 29th at 11:00ET; will speak with Food and Agricultural industry executives on reopening economy Apr 29th at 16:00 ET

Europe

Levels as of 1:15ET

Hang Seng +0.2%; Shanghai Composite +0.5%; Kospi +0.9%; Nikkei225 closed; ASX 200 +1.1%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +1.2%; Nasdaq100 +1.4%, Dax +1.1%; FTSE100 +0.7%
EUR 1.0855-1.0817; JPY 106.89-106.52; AUD 0.6537-0.6487; NZD 0.6116-0.6051
Commodity Futures: Gold +0.2% at $1,726/oz; Crude Oil +12% at $13.80/brl; Copper +0.7% at $2.36/lb