General Trend
- Transportation and Iron/Steel firms are among the gainers in Japan; Nissan Motor rises over 7% amid broker commentary
- Hang Seng Financials index rises over 2% [HSBC rises over 7% amid positive broker comments] ; Property index also rose ahead of policy speech; TECH index drops [Xiaomi declines following earnings report]
- Sinopharm rises over 9% in HK, submitted vaccine application in China [vaccine could enter the market by the end of 2020 (SCMP from July 24th)]; Hong Kong to add Eligible biotech companies to the stock connect program with China
- Shanghai Composite lags, Consumer and Industrial firms drop
- China issues warning related to certain NEV projects
- Australia’s Energy index rises over 3.5%; Resource and Financial firms also gain
- AUD and NZD consolidate after gains seen on Tues
- NZ 10-year bond yield rose above 1% (highest since July) after Tuesday’s comments from Fin Min; New Zealand is due to sell bonds on Thursday
- FOMC minutes are due on Wed (Nov 25th) amid focus on the Dec Fed meeting
- Bank of Korea (BOK) is due to hold policy decision on Thurs (no changes expected)
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened +0.3%
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Gov Orr: Economy performed as well as possible; low interest rates are necessary; Low rates ensured NZ$ remains competitive – post FSR comments
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Semi-Annual Financial Stability Report (FSR): financial system has not been tested as severely as it could have
- (NZ) RBNZ buys NZ$325M v NZ$320M prior in government bonds as part of QE v N$325M sought
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Offers to buy A$1.0B in Semi Govt bonds v A$1.0B prior
- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q3 CONSTRUCTION WORK DONE Q/Q: -2.6% V -2.0%E
- (AU) Australia sells A$2.0B v A$2.0B indicated in 1.25% May 2032 bonds, avg yield 1.0446%, bid to cover 2.52x
- (AU) Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA): commenced a consultation to update the insurance capital and reporting frameworks in recognition of the implementation of Australian Accounting Standards Board 17 Insurance Contracts
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +1.2%
- (JP) Japan Oct PPI Services Y/Y: -0.6% v -0.5%e
- (JP) Japan PM Suga: Extremely important to properly protect jobs; Paying full attention to impact of coronavirus on employment
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Kato: Confirms talked to China Foreign Min; raised concerns on Hong Kong and Senkaku islands
- (JP) Panel tells Japan health Ministry that medical services will come under “incredible” strain if the coronavirus outbreak continues, putting lives that could be saved under normal circumstances in danger – Japan press
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥500B v ¥500B indicated in 0.50% 40-year JGBs, Avg Yield: 0.665% v 0.6100% prior, bid to cover: 2.67x v 2.65x prior (remains at lowest bid to cover since 2015)
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.8%
- (KR) South Korea Dec Business Manufacturing Survey: 81 v 76 prior (2nd consecutive rise)
- (KR) South Korea said to consider delaying Cryptocurrency tax by 3 months – Press
- 000270.KR Union said to stage partial strike from Nov 25-27th
- (KR) According to recent poll by Korea Trade International Association, exporters see the Won as too strong currently and main concern for 2021 is currency volatility; Note 1,133 against the dollar is the pain threshold between profits and losses [vs current level of ~1,106]
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.9%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.7%
- (HK) Hong Kong Chief Exec Lam: Foreign Govts and Legislatures have intensified interference in Hong Kong Affairs, which are squarely China internal affairs – annual policy address
- (HK) Hong Kong chief Exec Lam: confirms Hong Kong to cut double stamp duty for commercial property, effective tomorrow; will not adjust residential stamp
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY120B in 7-day reverse repos v Injects CNY70B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net inject CNY20B v Net inject CNY20B prior
- 763.HK US FCC denies ZTE petition for reconsideration of a US national security threat to communications networks
- 1810.HK Reports Q3 (CNY) Net 4.88B v 3.31Be, Rev 72.2B v 72.02Be
- (CN) China Premier Li Keqiang: Reiterates stance to active fiscal and stable monetary policy, see GDP returning to “proper” range in 2021 – roundtable comments
- (HK) Hong Kong govt plans to abolish commercial property stamp duty – press
- (CN) China Finance Ministry sells CNY5.0B v CNY5.0B indicated in 2-year and 5-year bonds in Hong Kong
North America
- PFE The first 6.4M doses of coronavirus vaccine should ship in mid-December – US press
Europe
- (EU) ECB signals lifting of ban on bank dividends next year – financial press
- (UK) According to a UK Cabinet Office briefing from Sept, the Govt thinks that the UK is facing an increased likelihood of systemic economic crisis against the backdrop of simultaneous risks this coming winter – Guardian
Levels as of 12:15ET
- Hang Seng +0.7%; Shanghai Composite -0.3%; Kospi -0.6%; Nikkei225 +0.7%; ASX 200 +0.6%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax -0.3%; FTSE100 +0.5%
- EUR 1.1910-1.1889; JPY 104.60-104.43; AUD 0.7373-0.7352; NZD 0.6989-0.6970
- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,802/oz; Crude Oil +0.9% at $45.30/brl; Copper +0.2% at $3.31/lb
