General Trend
- Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite lag amid weakness in the tech sector; Alibaba declines on the Ant Financial news; Financials trade generally higher
- South Korea chipmaker Hynix rises after Q3 results
- Japanese companies expected to report earnings include Mitsubishi Motors, Softbank Corp, Itochu, Ricoh, Mitsubishi Chemical, Tokai Carbon and Suntory Beverage
- Fast Retailing is due to report its Oct sales
- RBA is due to hold the first bond buying auction under its new QE program on Thurs (Nov 5th)
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened -0.2%
- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q3 RETAIL SALES EX-INFLATION Q/Q: 6.5% V 6.0%E
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q3 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 5.3% V 5.3%E; Employment Change Q/Q: -0.8% v -0.7%e ; Y/Y: +0.2% v +0.2%e
- (AU) Australia Oct Final PMI Services: 53.7 v 53.8 prelim (confirms move back into expansion)
- WOW.AU Reports Q1 (A$) Rev 17.9B v 15.9B y/y
- (AU) Australia total payroll jobs change between Oct 3rd and Oct 17th: -0.8%; weekly total wages -2.1%
- (AU) New South Wales, Australia to open border with Victoria on Nov 23rd – Aussie press
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +1.4%
- (JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Japan is not concretely considering 3rd extra budget at this time; wants to firmly implement existing economic measures
- 9434.JP Looking to invest ¥2.0T for 5G infrastructure – Nikkei
- (JP) Japan and Australia planning mid-Nov summit meeting in Japan – Nikkei
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Sept Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes (2 meetings ago): Most members: BOJ easing are exerting intended effects
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Important to create environment where firms affected by coronavirus pandemic don’t encounter a cash crunch; Inflation and economic risks are tilted to the downside
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥2.6T v ¥2.6T indicated in 0.1% 10-year JGBs; avg yield 0.046% v 0.024% prior; bid to cover 4.13x v 4.06x prior
- 7270.JP Reports H1 Net ¥23.7B v ¥68.3B y/y; Op ¥30.6B v ¥94.9B y/y; Rev ¥1.22T v ¥1.61T y/y
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.8%
- (KR) South Korea Oct Foreign Exchange Reserves: $426.5B v $420.6B prior (7th consecutive increase, record high)
- 000660.KR Reports Q3 (KRW) Net 1.1T v 493.2B y/y; Op 1.30T v 473B y/y; Rev 8.13T v 6.84T y/y
- (KR) South Korea Military: Conducting operation at North Korea border after unidentified person was detected
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened -0.6%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%
- (CN) CHINA OCT CAIXIN PMI SERVICES: 56.8 V 55.0E (Highest reading since June)
- (CN) China President Xi Jinping: China very likely to double economic output by 2035 – State Media
- 6688.HK Hong Kong IPO of Ant Group has also been suspended; Hong Kong IPO expected to be delayed half a year (implies could IPO in April or May of 2021)
- 6688.HK White House has paused effort to blacklist Ant Group after a phone call with company executives and Commerce Sec Ross – press
- (HK) Hong Kong Oct PMI (whole economy): 49.8 v 47.7 prior (highest level since March 2018; 32nd month of contraction)
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY120B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY120B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net inject CNY0B v Net inject CNY20B prior
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.6771 v 6.6957 prior
Other
- UOB.SG Reports Q3 (S$) Net 668M v 641Me; NII 1.47B v 1.69B y/y
- (SG) Singapore Oct PMI (whole economy): 48.6 v 45.1 prior (9th month of contraction, highest reading since Jan)
North America
- (US) Wisconsin election results not expected until 06:00 central time (07:00ET), Pennsylvania results could be reported as late as Nov 6th
- (US) House of Representatives to remain in Democratic control
- (US) Weekly API Crude Oil Inventories: -8M v +4.6M prior
- (US) Nevada Republican Party and Trump Campaign have filed emergency motion to limit processing of Mail in ballots in Clark County (Where Las Vegas is situated)
Europe
- (UK) Reportedly UK NHS has been told to prepare for vaccine deliveries as early as December – Sky News
- (UK) UK Negotiator Fox and EU Negotiator Barnier said to be expected to recommend a new round of talks between the parties in London this weekend – Press
- (DE) German regulator Bafin said to demand banks to restrain paying dividend – financial press
Levels as of 12:15ET
- Hang Seng 0.0%; Shanghai Composite +0.1%; Kospi +0.7%; Nikkei225 +2.1%; ASX 200 -0.1%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +1.0%; Nasdaq100 +2.6%, Dax -0.0%; FTSE100 +0.5%
- EUR 1.1769-1.1605; JPY 105.34-104.38 ;AUD 0.7220-0.7050; NZD 0.6743-0.6615
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.5% at $1,900/oz; Crude Oil +2.5% at $38.59/brl; Copper -0.3% at $3.09/lb
