Nasdaq FUTs And HK TECH Index Pared Gains

General Trend

• Asian markets have remained mixed; Tech has traded generally weaker after Nasdaq decline, UST yields pared decline [some volatility has been seen for the HK TECH index]; Banks trade higher amid rise in 10-yr yields.
• Shanghai Composite lagged during the morning session and ended near the opening level [Consumer Staples index dropped over 3.5% (Kweichow Moutai declined), Shanghai IT index drops over 2.5%]
• Hang Seng has pared gain [TECH index has moved between gains and losses (Tencent declines amid concerns about regulatory scrutiny; US FCC story weighs on ZTE; Xiaomi rises over 8% on US court ruling)]
• Japan equities are closer to the session lows [Information & Communication and Electric Appliances indices lag; Transport and Banks indices outperform; Rakuten rises over 18% on M&A]
• ASX 200 has reversed decline [Energy and Financial indices gain; Resources index pared drop]
• US Steel guided after Friday’s US close
• NZD outperforms amid NZIER comments
• RBA did not step up bond purchases despite rise in longer-term yields; Few comments seen from RBA Gov on yield rise
• RBA due to release policy meeting minutes on Tuesday (March 16th)
• China 10-yr yields rise after recent move higher in UST yields; China IP and Retail sales beat ests; PBOC conducted MLF, but did not add liquidity on net basis
• South Korea 10-year yields rise; Finance Ministry official said issuance would be adjusted as needed
• Thailand also commented on bond supply
• BOJ Gov Kuroda is due to speak on March 16th at 13:05 local time (4:05 GMT)
• BOJ policy meeting is due to be held on March 18-19th (Thurs-Fri) [results of framework assessment in focus]

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

• ASX 200 opened flat
• TLT.NZ To be acquired by Mercury and PowAR (AGL) for NZ$2.94B
• (NZ) New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) quarterly report: Guides 2020-2021 GDP -2.6% (prior -4.8%); 2021-2022 +4.8% (prior 5.4%)
• (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Gov Lowe: Australia has responded very well to pandemic, Result has been quicker and stronger economic recovery than expected – speaking at online conference
• (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ): Lends NZ$500M v NZ$100M prior under Funding for Lending program (FLP), total lending under the program has risen to NZ$1.64B

Japan

• Nikkei 225 opened +0.3%
• 6752.JP CEO Tsuga: Will make adjustments to reduce heavy reliance on Tesla, need to look at other manufacturers – FT
• (JP) JAPAN JAN CORE MACHINE ORDERS M/M: -4.5% V -5.5%E (1ST DECLINE IN 4 MONTHS); Y/Y: +1.5% V -0.3%E
• (JP) Japan Economy Ministry to consider proposals for laying undersea cables for offshore wind farm – Nikkei
• 4755.JP Confirms Japan Post to take 8.3% stake in company for ¥150B; cos. to create a joint delivery and collection service (moves higher after this report on Friday)
• (JP) According to recent poll 73.4% of people do not think that virus emergency in Japan can end March 21st – FNN

Korea

• Kospi opened +0.1%
• (KR) South Korea Fin Min: Reiterates to work to stabilize markets if volatility rises; Will flexibly adjust Treasury Bond issuance as needed

China/Hong Kong

• Hang Seng opened +0.6%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%
• (CN) CHINA FEB INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION YTD Y/Y: 35.1% V 32.2%E (10TH CONSECUTIVE INCREASE)
• (CN) CHINA FEB RETAIL SALES YTD Y/Y: 33.8% V 32.0%E
• (CN) China National Bureau of Statistics (NBS): China economic recovery is not solid yet, positive factors for domestic economy are rising; Q1 GDP could have a sharp rebound y/y
• (CN) China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approves 4 new IPOs – press
• (HK) Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Chief: Confident in the Currency peg against USD; Recent weakness in HKD may be shortlived due to upcoming Hong Kong IPOs – Press
• 1810.HK US court grants preliminary injunction thereby enjoining the implementation and enforcement of the designation of the company as a “Communist Chinese Military Company”
• (CN) China and US confirm first meeting of officials in Alaska on March 18-19th; economic and trade officials will not be attending this meeting so we don not expect anything related to trade, tariffs or currency to be discussed
• (CN) China identifies first cases of new variant in Guangdong province – SCMP
• (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5010 v 6.4845 prior
• (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net CNY0B v CNY0B prior
• (CN) CHINA PBOC CONDUCTS CNY100B IN 1-YEAR MEDIUM-TERM LENDING FACILITY (MLF) AT 2.95% V 2.95% PRIOR
• (CN) CHINA FEB NEW HOMES PRICES M/M: 0.4% V 0.3% PRIOR; Y/Y: 4.3% V 3.9% PRIOR
• (CN) CHINA FEB PROPERTY INVESTMENT YTD Y/Y: 38.3% V 53.4%E
• (CN) China Feb Surveyed Jobless Rate: 5.5% v 5.2% prior
• (CN) China Feb passengers 23.9M v 30.2M prior; Y/Y: +187% v -40.4% prior – CAAC

Other

• 2330.TW Said to raise price for display driver integrated circuits – Taiwan press
• (IN) India said to propose a law that bans cryptocurrency, imposes penalties to mining, trading, and possession of Cryptocurrency – India press citing Govt official

North America

• (US) Economist do not expect this week’s Fed update to economic projects much changed from December – press
• (US) Dr. Fauci: Could see looser COVID guidelines by July 4th but we cannot lax restrictions too quickly – press
• (US) Treasury Sec Yellen: Inflation risk from stimulus is minor, more important to prevent scarring of the workforce – press
• ARCT To test single dose COVID vaccine in Phase 3 trials at 3 locations in Q2 – press

Europe

• AZN.UK Ireland suspends use of COVID vaccine due to blood clot reports in Norway, following Denmark, Iceland, Nethlands and Norway all suspending use while European Union’s medicines regulator investigates whether the shot could be linked to the blood clots
• VOW3.DE Reached agreement with unions to cut costs by 5% by 2023, will seek voluntary measures such as partial retirement and buyout packages. measures seen costing €500M – German press
• (DE) German Chancellor Merkel Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party loses elections in states, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate to Greens and Social Democrats

Levels as of 01:15ET

• Hang Seng +0.2%; Shanghai Composite -0.9%; Kospi -0.1%; Nikkei225 +0.1%; ASX 200 +0.1%
• Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.0%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.2%; FTSE100 +0.5%
• EUR 1.1968-1.1939; JPY 109.20-108.9 ;AUD 0.7775-0.7742; NZD 0.7216-0.7169
• Commodity Futures: Gold +0.2% at $1,722/oz; Crude Oil +0.8% at $66.11/brl; Copper -0.5% at $4.13/lb