Equities Trade Generally Higher, Nikkei Briefly Rises Above 30K

Sep 07 21, 07:59 GMT

General trend

Nikkei extends gain amid recent focus on LDP leadership elections and stimulus [on track to extend winning streak], the index is currently off of the best levels [Topix Retail Trade, Air Transportation, Electric Appliances and Information & Communication indices outperform].
Hang Seng has remained modestly higher [TECH index rises; Property firms lag].
Shanghai Composite ended morning trading +0.8% [Consumer Discretionary index rose after monthly auto sales figures].
S&P ASX 200 has lagged, Resources index drops.

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

ASX 200 opened flat.
(AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) LEAVES CASH RATE TARGET UNCHANGED AT 0.10%; AS EXPECTED: to purchase government securities at the rate of $4 billion a week and to continue the purchases at this rate until at least mid February 2022.
(AU) Australia Aug AIG Services Index: 45.6 v 51.7 prior.
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Gov Orr: Lockdown highlights how disruptive coronavirus can be; Decision to maintain OCR was made in context of coronavirus alert level 4.
(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) confirms Dep Gov Bascand to leave bank in early 2022 [term was due to end in 2023].
(NZ) New Zealand PM Ardern: Additional vaccines delivered will be from Pfizer, reports 21 new COVID cases.

China/Hong Kong

Hang Seng opened +0.2%, Shanghai Composite flat.
(CN) CHINA AUG TRADE BALANCE: $58.3B V $48.0BE; Exports Y/Y: 25.6% v 17.1%e.
(CN) CHINA AUG TRADE BALANCE (CNY): 376.3B V 323.0BE.
(CN) China NDRC sets govt guide pricing system on after-school tutors – press.
(CN) China Sec Regulator (CSRC) Official Yi: China looking into IPOs via SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies)- Press.
(CN) China said to be studying expansion of stock connect into Hong Kong and London – Press.
(CN) China Economic Daily: China Insurers must solve problems in Liabilities.
(CN) China Sec Times: China banks are facing pressure to lower property exposure.
(CN) China Sec Journal: China Regulators should boost research and regulations related to quantitative trading and provide more relevant data to the market.
(HK) Hong Kong said to allow additional China residents to return to City without a quarantine period.
(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4533 v 6.4529 prior.
(CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net drain CNY40B v Net drain CNY40B prior.
Fantasia [1777.HK]: Said that Citi and Credit Suisse Private Bank have stopped taking Fantasia bonds as collateral.

Japan

Nikkei 225 opened +0.8%.
(JP) Nikkei 225 announced changes in index composition; effective Oct 1st; Nintendo, Murata, Keyence to join Nikkei 225 index; Nisshinbo, Sky Perfect, Toyo Seikan to be excluded.
(JP) Japan LDP Leadership Candidate Kishida: If becomes PM, will have BOJ maintain 2.0% CPI target; Calls for >¥30T coronavirus pandemic stimulus package.
(JP) Said that LDP Lawmakers that are allied with Ishiba are divided on support for Ishiba or Kono as a replacement to the LDP party leader Suga – LDP Official.
(JP) Said that LDP Official Noda has told PM Suga he will run for LDP Leadership.
(JP) Said that Japan LDP Lawmaker Takaichi may declare candidacy for LDP Leadership as soon as Weds (Sept 8th) – Press.
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Will consider compiling budget with focus on digital, environmental policies, regional economies and an ageing population.
(JP) Former BOJ Official Yamaguchi: BOJ needs more realistic CPI targets (Current BOJ CPI target is 2.0%).
(JP) Japan July Labor Cash Earnings Y/Y: 1.0% v 0.3%e; Real Cash Earnings Y/Y: 0.7% v 0.6%e.
(JP) Japan July Household Spending M/M: -0.9% v -3.2% prior; Y/Y: 0.7% v 2.7%e.
(JP) Japan Aug FX Reserves $1.42T v $1.39T prior.
(JP) Japan July Preliminary Leading Index CI: 104.1 v 103.5e; Coincident Index: 94.5 v 94.3e.
(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥900B v ¥900B indicated in 0.7% 30-year JGBs, avg yield 0.6530% v 0.6470% prior, bid to cover: 3.00x v 3.07x prior.

Korea

Kospi opened -0.1%.
(KR) South Korea July Current Account (BOP): $8.2B v $8.8B prior (15th consecutive surplus); Balance of Goods (BOP): $5.7B v $7.6B prior.
(KR) South Korea sells KRW850B in 2-year bonds: avg yield 1.320% v 0.250% prior.

Other Asia

(PH) Philippines Aug CPI Y/Y: 4.9% v 4.4%e (Again rises above target after 1 month in target range; highest annualized figure since Dec 2018).
(PH) Philippines July Unemployment Rate: 6.9% v 7.7% prior.

North America

(US) BSEE: ~83.9% of Gulf of Mexico oil output (93.3% prior) and ~80.8% of gas production (89.3% prior) remains shut following Hurricane Ida.

Europe

Levels as of 01:20 ET

Nikkei 225, +0.9%, ASX 200 -0.1% , Hang Seng +0.9%; Shanghai Composite +1.1% ; Kospi -0.6%.
Equity S&P500 Futures:+0.1 %; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 -0.3%.
EUR 1.1885-1.1868 ; JPY 109.86-109.68 ; AUD 0.7468-0.7410 ;NZD 0.7154-0.7111.
Gold -0.5% at $1,824/oz; Crude Oil -0.2% at $69.16/brl; Copper -0.4% at $4.3155/lb.