Asian Markets Trade Generally Higher After Vaccine News From AstraZeneca

Nov 24 20, 06:32 GMT

General Trend

Trump authorizes departments to start transition to Biden, without conceding election
Japanese markets outperform after Monday’s holiday; Topix Iron/Steel and Marine Transportation indices are among the gainers, financials also rise; ANA declines on capital raise speculation, pares loss on M&A talk related to JAL
Gainers in Australia include Energy, Financial, Resource and Consumer firms
Alibaba extends gains in HK; Hong Kong Exchange is expected to include secondary listings in its China Stock Connect program (press); Xiaomi is expected to report results after the market close
Shanghai Composite lags during morning session; Tsinghua Holdings’ bonds remain volatile
Malaysia’s Top Glove declines over 7% on plant closures
Gold, Silver extend declines; less safe-haven demand amid vaccine news?
NZD rises on request for RBNZ to consider the housing market as part of monetary policy; Would such a move impact expectations for additional rate cuts, macro-prudential policy?
RBA Dep Gov did not raise concern about AUD level
Australia’s iron ore exports hit record high in Oct
There continues to be press speculation regarding the size of Japan’s 3rd extra budget; analysts comment on new JGB issuance, possible implications for BOJ bond purchases
Japan’s Fin Min commented on the ‘digital yuan’
BOJ Gov commented on the central bank’s semiannual report
Certain wafer prices might see double-digit increases in 2021 (press)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened +0.4%
(AU) Australia Oct Prelim Trade surplus A$4.8B v A$5.6B prior; Exports M/M: +6% v +4% prior; Imports M/M: +8% v -6% prior
(AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index: 104.5 v 106.6 prior (1st decline in 13 weeks)
(AU) Australia former Foreign Min Carr: Australia’s lack of diplomacy while pursuing its national interests is to blame for its deteriorating ties with China, need to stop being adversarial in order to unfreeze relations – press
(NZ) New Zealand final 2020 budget deficit NZ$23.06B v NZ$17.82B seen in May; Fin Min Robertson calls on RBNZ to give earliest possible consideration to adding house prices to RBNZ remit and a consideration in monetary policy
(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deupty Gov Debelle: A$ would be higher if not for Nov Policy package; Federal and state debt is sustainable due to low borrowing costs – speaking on Monetary Policy in 2020
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Gov Orr: MPC already gives consideration to asset prices; Monetary and financial policy alone cannot fix housing issues – Letter

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +1.5%
(JP) Japan PM Suga adviser Takenaka: Calls on JAL and ANA “to become one”; should create new industrial revitalization corp
(JP) Japan considering extra budget of more ¥20T (in line with prior speculation) – Japan press
2503.JP Expected to sell Lion Dairy and Drinks to Bega Cheese for ¥40B (nearly no gain on sale) – Nikkei
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Will consider extending Go To Travel campaign based on budget use; Govt cannot stop economic growth, travel campaign needs thought
(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Domestic economy has picked up, but is still in a severe state; Japan economy picking up as exports and production increase, reflects overseas recovery
(JP) Former PM Abe’s office might have illegally spent certain funds on parties – Japanese press
(JP) Senior Bank of Japan (BOJ) Official: BOJ will pay ¥40-50B to regional lenders under new scheme if all deposits with Central bank were to meet standards

Korea

Kospi opened +0.5%
(KR) South Korea Nov Consumer Confidence: 97.9 v 91.6 prior (2nd consecutive gain)
003490.KR KDB Chief: Merger of Korean Air and Asiana may results in KRW300B in profit – Yonhap
(KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min Kim: Need to be cautious on excessive optimism on vaccine, consumer sentiment may weaken on tighter social distancing rules
(KR) Said that South Korea Opposition party (Power People Party or PPP) will push for a 3rd round of targeted cash handouts worth ~KRW3.6T as part of next year’s budget – Press
(KR) South Korea Q3 Household Credit (KRW): 1,682.1T v 1,637.3T prior; Y/Y: +7.0% v 5.2% prior (fastest y/y growth since June 2018)

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.5%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.2%
(CN) White House reportedly considering new actions against China govt; weighing new alliance to ‘retaliate against Chinese economic coercion’ ; retaliation plan was triggered by actions taken by China against Australia – press
(CN) Analysts speculate that China may need to cut back on its overseas lending and Belt and Road initiative due to domestic debt concerns and ensure future funding remains sustainable – SCMP
(HK) Hong Kong chief Exec Lam delayed annual policy address, to take meetings on the mainland China to take place this week, Nov 25th – SCMP
(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY70B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY40B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net inject CNY20B v Net drain CNY40B prior
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5809 v 6.5719 prior
(HK) Hong Kong Chief Exec Lam: Hong Kong to further tighten social distancing rules; To shut more indoor entertainment venues
(CN) China Nov QDII Quota $112.4B v $112.4B prior – FX regulator

North America

(US) Reportedly Biden will nominate former Fed Chair Yellen for Treasury Sec – press
(US) US General Services Administration (GSA) informed Joe Biden that the administration is ready to begin transition; Trump authorizes federal agencies to work on the transition – Press

Europe

(UK) PM Johnson: confirms national lockdown will end on Dec 2nd; winter virus plan will get us safely to spring
(EU) EU chief negotiator Barnier: fundamental divergences still remain on Brexit deal; talks continue online

Levels as of 12:15ET

Hang Seng +0.2%; Shanghai Composite -0.2%; Kospi +0.5%; Nikkei225 +2.5%; ASX 200 +1.3%
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.8%; Nasdaq100 +0.5%, Dax +0.5%; FTSE100 +0.3%
EUR 1.1855-1.1837; JPY 104.64-104.42; AUD 0.7320-0.7284; NZD 0.6989-0.6918
Commodity Futures: Gold -0.9% at $1,821/oz; Crude Oil +1.0% at $43.50/brl; Copper +0.4% at $3.28/lb