AUD And NZD Rise Ahead Of Month And Quarter End

General trend

• US equity FUTs rise.
• China official manufacturing PMI comes in lower than expected and contracts, Caixin manufacturing PMI rises back to 50.
• Chinese markets rise headed into 7 day holiday for Golden Week, will watch for spending over the period amid expectations for weaker H2 growth.
• Shanghai Banks index declined in early trading, Evergrande uncertainty lingers.
• Casino’s in Macau could be impacted over the holiday after Guangdong govt imposed a 14-day compulsory quarantine for all arrivals from Macau, after finding 2 cases during mass testing. New cases extended restrictions to Oct 30th. If lifted in time for holiday, may see the expected rebound in visitors, but analysts remain skeptical.
• Nikkei has pared drop.
• Japan shippers trade lower for a second day, some cite concerns for future growth under new leadership.
• S&P ASX 200 rises amid gains in the Energy, Financial and Resources indices.
• China Iron Ore FUTs rise by 7%, CN Thermal Coal FUTs drop; China State Planner (NDRC) said to increase coal imports moderately; Certain China provinces.
• (including Shanghai and Guangdong) have increased prices for electricity.
• BOJ may release bond buying schedule at 8 GMT [Rinban announcement].
• China’s Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) sometimes holds weekly news conferences on Thurs.
• Shanghai markets will be closed for holiday from Oct 1-7 (Fri-Thurs); HK will be closed on Oct 1st.

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

• ASX 200 opened +0.1%.
• (AU) AUSTRALIA AUG BUILDING APPROVALS M/M: +6.8% V -5.0%E; Private Sector Houses Approvals M/M: +3.5% v -5.5% prior.
• (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ): Seeking public input on how we should perform our role as steward of money and cash, and how we should assess the case for central bank money in a digital form alongside cash.
• (AU) Australia Treasurer Frydenberg and Attorney General Cash to announce a draft bill that would restrict class action funders and lawyers to a maximum of 30% of any payout – AFR.
• (NZ) New Zealand Sept Final ANZ Activity Outlook: 18.2 v 18.2 prelim; Confidence Index: -7.2 v -6.8 prelim.
• (NZ) New Zealand PM Ardern: Auckland boundary is likely to remain even if restrictions ease.
• (AU) Australia Aug Job Vacancies: -9.8% v 23.4% prior.

Japan

• Nikkei 225 opened +0.1%.
• (JP) JAPAN AUG PRELIMINARY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: -3.2% V -0.5%E; Y/Y: 9.3% V 12.1%E; METI forecasts improvement in Sept and Oct production.
• (JP) JAPAN AUG RETAIL SALES M/M: -4.1% V -1.7%E; Y/Y: -3.2% V -1.0%E; Dept. Store, Supermarket Sales Y/Y: -4.7% v -1.4%e.
• (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Japan economy is gradually picking up; Consumption is still ‘very weak’; Exports are ‘firm’ – comments at ECB forum.
• (JP) JAPAN ELECTION RESULTS: KISHIDA TO BECOME NEXT JAPAN PM AFTER VOTE RUNOFF (yesterday after the close).
• (JP) Japan MOF sells ¥3.0T v ¥3.0T indicated in 0.00% 2-year JGBs: avg yield: -0.115% v -0.1290% prior; bid to cover 4.24x v 4.50x prior.

Korea

• Kospi opened -0.2%.
• (KR) North Korea Leader Kim: North Korea is stepping up new weapon developments, willing to restore inter Korea hotline starting in Oct.
• (KR) South Korea Fin Min Hong: Will discuss financial imbalances with BOK Gov Lee; Global inflation concerns are increasing.
• (KR) South Korea Aug Industrial Production M/M: -0.7% v +0.3%e; Y/Y: 9.6% v 8.0%e.
• (KR) South Korea Aug Retail Sales M/M: -0.8% v -0.6% prior; Y/Y: 3.8% v 7.9% prior.
• (KR) South Korea to prepare measures against household debt in October – press.

China/Hong Kong

• Hang Seng opened -0.7%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.2%.
• (CN) CHINA SEPT MANUFACTURING PMI (GOVT OFFICIAL): 49.6 V 50.0E (1st contraction in 18 months); Non-manufacturing PMI: 53.2 v 50.0e (Moves back into expansion).
• (CN) CHINA SEPT CAIXIN PMI MANUFACTURING: 50.0 V 49.5E.
• (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY100B in 14-day reverse repos v CNY100B prior; Net Inject CNY40B v Net inject CNY40B prior.
• (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4854 v 6.4662 prior.
• (CN) Reported that certain China provinces have increased prices for electricity – press.
• (CN) China PBOC and CBIRC held property financial work meeting on Wed (Sept 29th); officials reiterated that housing is not for speculation, urged banks to keep property market ‘healthy’ and protect the legitimate rights of home buyers.
• (CN) China FX regulator SAFE said to tighten control over interbank currency trade and urge market makers to narrow the bid/ask spread – press (yesterday after the close).

Other

• (TW) Said that Taiwan Central Bank is still in talks with US on Currency Report – press.
• (TW) Taiwan Central Bank: Will consider tightening of monetary policies of advanced countries when raising interest rates.

North America

• (US) Speaker Pelosi: To send stopgap funding bill to House for Thursday, vote on infrastruce to take place same day.
• (CN) Pentagon Official: Held frank in depth talks with China Military official head on range of issues affecting US-China defense relationship.

Europe

• (UK) Aug Car Manufacturing 37.2K unit, -27% y/y – SMMT.
• (UK) Sept Lloyds Business Barometer: 46 v 36 prior.
• (DE) GERMANY SEPT CPI NORTH RHINE WESTPHALIA M/M: 0.0% V 0.1% PRIOR; Y/Y: 4.4% V 4.2% PRIOR.
• (RU) Said that Russia may increase duties on EU Wine, Beer, and Perfume imports – press.

Levels as of 01:15ET

• Hang Seng -1.0%; Shanghai Composite +0.5%; Kospi +0.5%; Nikkei225 +0.2%; ASX 200 +1.8%.
• Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.6%; Nasdaq100 +0.7%, Dax +0.7%; FTSE100 +0.6%.
• EUR 1.1609-1.1596; JPY 112.01-111.80; AUD 0.7207-0.7173; NZD 0.6887-0.6865.
• Commodity Futures: Gold +0.5% at $1,732/oz; Crude Oil -0.0% at $74.81/brl; Copper +0.6% at $4.20/lb.