Asia Opened Mixed After Modest Gains On Wall St

Aug 05 20, 05:57 GMT

General Trend:

Decliners in Australia include Financials and Consumer Staples cos
Energy and large-cap tech firms are among the gainers in HK, decliners include gaming firms
Shanghai Composite rose by 0.3% during morning session; IT cos. rose, while financials dropped
Transports and Banks are among the decliners in Japan; Iron/Steel firms rise after financial results from Nippon Steel
Japanese firms expected to report earnings today include Honda, Sharp, Isuzu Motor and Olympus Corp.
Toyota Motor is due to report results on Aug 6th (Thursday)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened -0.1%
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) offers to buy total of A$500M in bonds v skips prior [Note: RBA had not purchased government bonds under its QE program since early May]
(AU) Australia Queensland state declares New South Wales, and Australia Capital territory as coroanvirus hotspots; Closes borders related to the 2 territories beginning August 8th (Saturday)
(AU) Victoria state (Australia) reports additional coronavirus cases 725 (record high) v 439 prior; 15 additional deaths
(AU) S&P cuts Victoria State outlook to Watch Negative from Negative, citing rising coronavirus cases; rating at AAA
Virgin Australia: to cut 3,000 jobs; Reiterates in discussions with Boeing on 737 Max orders
(AU) AUSTRALIA JUNE HOME LOANS VALUE M/M: 6.2% V 0.0%E; INVESTMENT LENDING M/M: +8.7% V -15.6% PRIOR [The rise in housing loan commitments in June reflects the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in May]
(AU) Australia July Final CBA PMI Services: 58.2 v 58.5 prelim (Confirms 2nd straight expansion)
(AU) Australia July AiG Performance of Construction Index: 42.7 v 35.5 prior
(AU) Australia PM Morrison: Australia is building potency of the ADF (Defense Force); China has a role to enhance regional security
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q2 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.0% V 5.6%E [People who were not actively seeking work were not counted as unemployed, resulting in a fall in the unemployment rate]
(NZ) New Zealand July ANZ Commodity Price M/M: +2.3% v -0.7% prior

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.3%, Shanghai Composite -0.3%
(CN) CHINA JULY CAIXIN PMI SERVICES: 54.1 V 58.0E (3RD STRAIGHT EXPANSION)
(HK) Hong Kong July PMI (whole economy): 44.5 v 49.6 prior (29th month of contraction) [The tightening of COVID-19 related measures in response to a rise in new infections dealt a new blow to the economy]
(US) US-China officials plan to meet in order to assess trade deal progression on Aug 15th – US financial press
(CN) China State Council said it will encourage integrated circuit and software firms to list and raise capital – press
(CN) China plans 44Gw worth of subsidy free wind and solar power plants in 2020 – Press
(CN) China July Preliminary vehicle sales: 2.08M, +14.9% y/y – CAAM
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.9752 v 6.9803 prior
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips reverse repos v Skips reverse repos prior; Net drain CNY30B v Net drain CNY80B prior (3rd straight skip)

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.4%
(JP) Japan said to commit ¥1.0T of Govt reserves to coronavirus response – Japan Press
(JP) Reported that Japan Megabanks will cut interbank transfer fees (In line) – Japan Press
(JP) Japan said to consider extending employment subsidy program – Japanese press

Korea

Kospi opened +0.4%
(KR) South Korea July Foreign Reserves: $416.5B v $410.8B prior (record high)
(KR) South Korea Fin Min: To hold weekly meetings to review Property market, to discuss further measures to ‘eradicate’ speculative transactions in the property market

Other Asia

(ID) Indonesia Q2 GDP Q/Q: -4.2% v -3.7%e; Y/Y: -5.3% v -4.7%e
(IN) India July PMI Services: 34.2 v 33.7 prior (5th straight contraction)
(SG) Singapore Jun Retail Sales M/M: +51.1% v -21.4% prior; Y/Y: -27.8% v -28.5%e
(US) Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Azar: To visit Taiwan in the next few days

North America

(US) PRES TRUMP: BIG NUMBER COMING OUT ON FRIDAY IN JOBS REPORT (from Aug 4th, after US close)
(US) Convalescent plasma treatment said to have reduced death rate among coronavirus patients, notes data that was presented at at Mayo Clinic webinar – US financial press

Europe

(RU) Follow Up: World Health Organization: Urges caution over Russia coronavirus vaccine – UK Press

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.4%, ASX 200 -0.6% , Hang Seng +0.5%; Shanghai Composite +0.3% ; Kospi +1.2%
Equity S&P500 Futures: +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax flat; FTSE100 -0.1%
EUR 1.1821-1.1792 ; JPY 105.82-105.51 ; AUD 0.7191-0.7152 ;NZD 0.6650-0.6616
Gold +1% at $2,028/oz; Crude Oil -0.3% at $41.58/brl; Copper -0.1% at $2.9003/lb