Asian Markets Trade Mixed After Similar US Session

Aug 18 20, 06:29 GMT

General Trend:

Consumer Discretionary firms rise in Australia, Financials drop
Westpac declines by over 3%, will not pay H1 dividend
BHP trades modestly lower after FY results, dividend announcement
Telecoms are among the gainers in Hong Kong
Sunny Optical (Apple supplier) drops over 9% after reporting Q2 results
Shanghai Composite rose by less than 0.5% during morning session; Gainers include Industrial and Consumer cos.; Financials decline following strength on Monday’s session
Japanese equities decline amid the strength in the Yen; Decliners include Air Transportation firms and Banks
Mediatek drops over 9% in Taiwan after US announced further restrictions related to Huawei
NZD/JPY drops by over 0.5%, more analysts expect negative rates in NZ in 2021; Japanese equities decline
USD/CHF trades at over 5 yr low

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened flat
(AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) AUGUST MINUTES: RECOVERY LIKELY TO BE SLOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED, CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN VICTORIA HAVING MAJOR IMPACT ON DOMESTIC ECONOMY IN Q3; Under baseline scenario borders are expected to be shut until mid-2021
(AU) China begins anti-dumping probe into Australia Wine, relates to wines that contain 2 liters or less from Australia
(AU) Australia Trade Min: Confirms China is considering a request to launch countervailing duties investigation
(NZ) ANZ Bank sees Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) cutting Official Cash Rate (OCR) To -25bps in April 2021
(NZ) New Zealand July Non Resident Bond Holdings: 51.6% v 49.9% prior

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.5%, Shanghai Composite +0.1%
CanSino [6185.HK]: As of Aug 18th, enrollment of Phase III clinical trial related to potential coronavirus vaccine has not started
(US) US Commerce Department to add another 38 Huawei affiliates in 21 countries to economic blacklist
(US) Sec of Commerce Ross: China and US officials are continuing talks at various levels; China has been purchasing large amounts of agricultural products; New rules on Huawei closes existing loopholes; Looking at Tiktok but no formal steps on Alibaba – Fox Business (from Aug 17th)
(US) White House advisor Navarro: China Phase 1 trade deal is on track and China is buying ‘epic’ amounts of US goods; China is keeping its word on trade purchases – CNBC interview (from Aug 17th)
(US) President Trump: will create tax credits for companies that bring jobs back from China (from Aug 17th)
(HK) Hong Kong to launch 3rd round of coronavirus relief
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY100B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY50B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net Injection CNY50B
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.9325 v 6.9362 prior

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened flat
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥899.4B v ¥900B indicated in 0.6% 30-year JGBs, avg yield 0.6170% v 0.6120% prior, bid to cover 3.44x v 3.9x prior

Korea

Kospi opened -0.1%
(KR) South Korea reported to be preparing stricter coronavirus restrictions in Seoul – Yonhap
(KR) South Korea confirms 246 additional coronavirus cases, 1 additional death
(KR) South Korea sells 10-year treasury bonds avg yield 1.380% v 1.420% prior

Other Asia

North America

Boeing [BA]: Reportedly job cuts will be more than original 10% target; co. plans to offer an additional voluntary layoff package to employees – Financial Press
(CA) Canada Fin Min To resign, according to Canada Press; Morneau later confirms resignation as Finance Min, will not run again in the next federal election

Levels as of 1:20 ET

Nikkei 225, -0.2%, ASX 200 +1% , Hang Seng +0.2%; Shanghai Composite +0.4% ; Kospi -0.6%
Equity S&P500 Futures: flat; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 -0.4%
EUR 1.1896-1.1865 ; JPY 106.06-105.56 ; AUD 0.7231-0.7208 ;NZD 0.6569-0.6534
Gold +0.1% at $2,001/oz; Crude Oil -0.4% at $42.73/brl; Copper flat at $2.9068/lb