Asia Trades Generally Lower Amid US Holiday

May 31 21, 06:12 GMT

General trend

Nikkei remains lower and lags amid pullback in USD/JPY [Topix Banks, Marine Transportation, Securities and Electric Appliances indices decline].
Shanghai Composite declines during morning session after flat open [Consumer and Financial indices drop].
Hang Seng moved lower after the higher open [Financials also decline in Hong Kong; HK property names move lower; Energy cos decline as China will leave fuel prices unchanged; HK TECH Index higher after earnings from Meituan; Miners rise amid gain in Chinese iron ore FUTs].
S&P ASX 200 has moved modestly lower after flat open [Energy index drops over 1.5%; Financials also move lower].
BoJ is expected to release June bond-buying plan after the market close.
RBA is due to hold policy meeting on Tuesday (Jun 1st).
RBA Dep Gov Debelle is due to appear before Senate Economics Legislation Committee on Wed (Jun 2nd).

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened 0.0%.
LNK.AU Confirms to list PEXA on ASX, targets end of June; Values PEXA at A$3.3B.
FCG.NZ Reports Apr New Zealand Milk Collection 118.2M kgMS, +11.2% y/y; Apr to date collection +1.2% y/y; Australia milk collection 8.1M kgMS, +1.9% y/y; Apr to date -1.1% y/y – May global dairy update.
BHP.AU Internal memo suggests that shortage of rail workers is putting iron ore production target in jeopardy – AFR.
(NZ) New Zealand May Final ANZ Business Confidence: 1.8 v 7.0 prelim; Activity Outlook: 27.1 v 32.3 prelim.
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Assistant Gov Hawkesby: Inflation not seen reaching sustainable levels until latter end of RBNZ Projections; Projects of rate hike late 2022 conditional on economy.

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened -0.5%.
(JP) Japan regulators considering allowing blank check (SPAC) IPOs – Nikkei.
(JP) JAPAN APR RETAIL SALES M/M: -4.5% V -1.7%E; Y/Y: 12.0% V 15.2%E.
(JP) JAPAN APR PRELIMINARY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: 2.5% V 3.9%E; Y/Y: 15.4% V 16.9%E.
(JP) Japan Cabinet approval rating -7ppt to 40% (record low) on COVID response – Nikkei.
(JP) Japan MOF sells ¥3.0T v ¥3.0T indicated in 0.10% 2-year JGBs: avg yield: -0.1250% v -0.1300% prior; bid to cover 3.97x v 4.49x prior.
(JP) JAPAN APR ANNUALIZED HOUSING STARTS: 883K V 858KE; Y/Y: 7.1% V 5.0%E.

Korea

Kospi opened +0.1%.
(KR) South Korea Apr Industrial Production M/M: -1.6% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 12.4% v 11.5%e.
(KR) South Korea Industry Ministry: To invest KRW3.6T in 2021 to promote the convergence of different industries and foster new growth engines, +3.7% y/y.

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.4%; Shanghai Composite opened 0.0%.
(CN) CHINA MAY MANUFACTURING PMI (GOVT OFFICIAL): 51.0 V 51.1E (14TH MONTH OF EXPANSION).
(CN) Former China PBOC official Sheng Songcheng said ‘fast’ yuan appreciation probably will not last, suggests the Yuan is ‘overbought’; says rise in CNY suggests short-term speculation – Xinhua.
(CN) China PBOC paper said potential tightening by the Fed could push the yuan (CNY) lower – financial press.
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.3682 v 6.3858 prior (Strongest since May 17, 2018.
(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.
2799.HK Said to have wired $978M in order to pay June 3rd bond payment (largest payment since liquidity has come into question) – press.
3690.HK Reports Q1 (CNY) adj Net -3.89B v -3.97Be, Rev 37.0B v 35.7Be; Says in-store dining, hotel and travel segments fully recovered from pandemic (Friday after the close).

Other

(SG) Singapore PM Loong to make speech today outlining plans to keep COVID under control while progressively opening up; will involve “testing, contact tracing, and vaccinating, all faster, and more”.

North America

VIAC “A Quiet Place Part II” top movie in the N. American box office with $48.4M in sales (opening weekend).

Europe

(UK) UK vaccine passport plans said to be cancelled – UK press.
(KR) South Korea Apr Industrial Production M/M: -1.6% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 12.4% v 11.5%e.
(EU) Denmark Defence Intelligence Service (FE) collaborated with the US National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on European politicians including German Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2012 to 2014 – Danish press.

Levels as of 01:15ET

Hang Seng -0.4%; Shanghai Composite -0.2%; Kospi +0.2%; Nikkei225 -1.1%; ASX 200 -0.2%.
Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 +0.4%.
EUR 1.2205-1.2185; JPY 109.94-109.64; AUD 0.7730-0.7701; NZD 0.7260-0.7231.
Commodity Futures: Gold +0.2% at $1,909/oz; Crude Oil +0.6% at $66.73/brl; Copper +0.1% at $4.67/lb.