Asian Indices Trade Mixed Overall

May 06 20, 07:42 GMT

General Trend:

Shanghai Composite pares opening decline; Gaining sectors include IT while financials lag
There has been some focus on the plan by China to create a public market for REITs (press)
Technology and Energy firms are among the gainers in Hong Kong
Declining sectors in Australia include Financials and Consumer Staples
Aussie retailer JB Hi-Fi rises by over 3%, Q3 Australian SSS +11.3%
Australia confirmed March retail sales were supported by the stockpiling of consumer goods
Japan markets to return from holiday on Thursday (May 7th)
Philippines broadcasting firm ABS-CBN placed on trading halt, gov’t ordered the co. to cease broadcasting operations

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.1%
(AU) AUSTRALIA MAR FINAL RETAIL SALES M/M: 8.5% V 8.0%E; Q1 RETAIL SALES EX-INFLATION Q/Q: 0.7% V 1.8%E
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q1 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.2% V 4.4%E
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) research paper: Level 4 lockdown cut GDP by 37% than it would have been without any coronavirus restrictions; 4 weeks under Level 4 alert cut annual GDP by 3.2%
(NZ) Fonterra Global Dairy Trade Auction Dairy Trade price index: -0.8% v -4.2% prior
JBH.AU Reports Q3 Australia Comp SSS +11.3% y/y
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) adds A$1.16B to banking system through repos v A$1.56B prior
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$62.6B v A$61.9B prior
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) buys NZ$450M v NZ$450M prior in government bonds as part of QE operation
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) offers to buy total of A$600M in bonds v A$500M prior
(AU) AUSTRALIA MAR HOME LOANS VALUE M/M: +0.2% V -1.7% PRIOR; INVESTMENT LENDING M/M: -2.5% V -1.9% PRIOR

Japan

Korea

Kospi opened +1.2%
(KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Will halt USD backed loan offerings due to forex liquidity
(KR) US expects South Korea to be flexible in its defense cost sharing negotiations – Yonhap
(KR) According to think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies: North Korea appears to be nearing completion of a ballistic missile facility with the capacity to test-fire intercontinental ballistic missiles
096770.KR Reports Q1 (KRW) Net -1.56T v +195.8B y/y; Op -1.78T v +331B y/y, Rev 11.2T v 12.8T y/y
(KR) South Korea National Intelligence Service: reports that North Korea leader Kim is running North Korea normally, no signs that he has heart surgery

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened 0.0%; Shanghai Composite opened -1.0%
(HK) Hong Kong Apr PMI: 36.9 v 34.9 prior (highest reading since Jan)
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips Reserve Repo Operations for the 22nd consecutive session; Net CNY0B v CNY0B prior
(CN) China National Health Commission Coronavirus Update for May 5th: 2 additional cases ( 2 imported) v 1 prior; Additional deaths: 0 v 0 prior; Additional Asymptomatic cases: 20 v 15 prior
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 7.0690 v 7.0571 prior
(HK) Hong Kong Affairs Office: Protestors are destroying the foundation of Hong Kong’s Prosperity and stability; Hong Kong has truly fallen into dire straights
(CN) China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) launch pilot program to allow China’s mutual funds to issue public REITs that can be bought and sold like stocks on the country’s exchanges (update from Apr 30th)

Other

(SG) Singapore Apr PMI: 28.1 v 33.3 prior (record low, 3rd consecutive month of contraction)
UOB.SG Reports Q1 (S$) Net 855M v 1.1B y/y (1st decline in Net since 2016); NII 1.6B v 1.6B y/y

North America

(US) Weekly API Crude Oil Inventories: +8.4M v +10.0M prior; Gasoline: -2.2M v -1.1M prior
ALL Reports Q1 $3.54 v $3.10e, Rev $10.1B v $10.8Be
DIS Reports Q2 $0.60 v $0.83e, Rev $18.0B v $18.0Be; will not pay its semi-annual dividend in July; cutting capex by $900M
(US) Fed Vice Chair Clarida (moderate, voter): recovery could begin in H2 of this year; it’s important to make sure the rebound is as robust as possible – CNBC interview

Europe

(IE) Ireland Apr PMI Services: 13.9 v 32.5 prior (record low, 2nd consecutive month of contraction); PMI Composite: 17.3 v 37.3 prior (record low, 2nd consecutive month of contraction)
BMW.DE Updates FY20 guidance: highest negative impact is expected in Q2

Levels as of 1:15ET

Hang Seng +1.0%; Shanghai Composite +0.1%; Kospi +1.6%; Nikkei225 closed; ASX 200 -0.3%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.5%; Nasdaq100 +0.5%, Dax +0.6%; FTSE100 -0.1%
EUR 1.0848-1.0832; JPY 106.64-106.22; AUD 0.6444-0.6419; NZD 0.6070-0.6038
Commodity Futures: Gold +0.1% at $1,712/oz; Crude Oil +0.1% at $24.61/brl; Copper +0.6% at $2.35/lb