Headlines/Economic data
Australia/New Zealand
- ASX 200 opened flat.
- (AU) Australia sells A$1.0B v A$1.0B indicated in 4.25% April 2026 bonds, avg yield 0.7149%, bid to cover 3.96x.
- (NZ) New Zealand Apr Manufacturing PMI: 58.4 v 63.6 prior (4th month of expansion).
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.6%, Shanghai Composite +0.2%.
- (CN) Tangshan (top steel hub in China) said to be requiring firms to not manipulate prices – Press.
- (US) Sec State Blinken: has raised economic coercion concerns privately and publicly with China; made clear such actions will hinder improvements in relationship.
- (US) USTR Chief Tai: Biden Administration fully supports reauthorizing generalized system of preferences in 2021; We need new trade law tools to allow the US to get ahead of future anti-competitive threats from China; Section 301 tariff exclusions for Chinese imports will be part of the Biden administration’s top-to-bottom China trade review; knows time is of the essence.
- (CN) China Aviation Regulator (CAAC): Apr Passenger Volume 51.1M +206% y/y..
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4525 v 6.4612 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 Net CNY0B prior.
- (CN) China Ministry of Finance (MOF) sells 3-month bills and 30-year bonds.
Japan
- Nikkei 225 opened +1%.
- (JP) Japan Govt said to have recommended stronger coronavirus measures in 5 additional prefectures.
- (JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: To add 3 additional prefectures to state of emergency.
- (JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: to use ¥512B of reserve funds to pay for vaccines; Reiterates not considering ‘immediately’ compiling new extra budget for coronavirus.
- (JP) Japan PM Suga to hold a press conference at 11:00GMT (7:00EST).
- (JP) Request for cancelling Tokyo Olympics has been submitted to various officials (including the President of the IOC), cites statement from petition organizer and former Japan Bar Association Head Utsunomiya – financial press.
- (JP) 6.0 Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan shaking buildings at shaking intensity of 4 of 7: No Tsunami threat; Earthquake struck near Fukushima.
- (JP) Japan Apr M2 Money Supply Y/Y: 9.2% v 9.4%e; M3 Money Supply Y/Y: 7.8% v 7.9%e.
- (JP) Nikkei 225 May Options settle at 27,748.
Korea
- Kospi opened +0.3%.
- (KR) South Korea Sells 50-year bonds: Avg yield 2.230% v 2.100% prior.
- (KR) South Korea Apr Export Price Index Y/Y: 10.6% v 5.9% prior; Import Price Index Y/Y: 15.0% v +9.0% prior.
Other Asia
- China Steel [2002.TW]: Price hike planned for June will be lower than expected – Press.
North America
- (US) Pres Biden: Colonial Pipeline should be reaching full operational capacity right now; reiterates do not believe the Russian government was involved in attack but the attackers do reside in Russia; Expects to see fuel normalcy by this weekend.
- (US) CDC confirms updated mask guidance: based on the latest science, anyone who is fully vaccinated can resume indoor and outdoor activities safely without a mask or social distancing.
- (US) Fed Gov Waller: I haven’t seen anything that should cause a reversal in forward guidance as of now.
- (US) NY Fed: Statement Regarding Treasury Securities Operations: the allocation across the 7- to 30-year nominal coupon maturity range will increase by 3 percentage points, in line with shifts in the distribution of Treasury securities outstanding; The allocation to the shortest nominal coupon sectors and Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) will decrease modestly.
- Elon Musk: Working with Dogecoin developers (DOGE) to improve transaction efficiency.
Europe.
- (UK) BOE Gov Bailey: We are already seeing the economy strongly recovering; Don’t think higher inflation will persist, are watching inflation very carefully; I don’t think broadly the situation with low interest rates is going to change markedly.
- (UK) Reportedly UK govt is scaling back plans for COVID passports – Telegraph.
