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
