Asian Market Update: Stock markets and commodity currencies generally reduce gains, government bond yields move away from session highs; The WTI is also falling.
General trend
– Nikkei cut earnings before next vacation [Automakers trade higher; Topix Iron & Steel index gains ahead of earnings from Tokyo Steel; Electric Appliances index rises before Nidec’s earnings; Banks rise after gains in US financials; Transports also move higher].
– Japanese markets are closed for a public holiday on Thursday and Friday (July 22-23).
– Hang Seng declines after a higher opening.
– Shanghai Composite gained 0.5% in the morning session [Consumer Discretionary index supported by guidance from Great Wall Motor; IT and Industrial indices also rise; Financial, Consumer Staples and Property indices lag].
– The S&P ASX 200 outperformed [Gainers include Financial, Resources and Energy indices].
– Companies that need to report this morning in New York include Anthem, Baker Hughes, Comerica, Interpublic, JNJ, Knight-Swift Transportation, Coca-Cola, Lithia Motors, NASDAQ, Northern Trust, Seagate Technology, Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Verizon.
Titles / Economic data
Australia / New Zealand
–The ASX 200 opened + 0.3%.
– (AU) Australia PM Morrison: Had significant challenges with immunization schedule, lockdown is impacting third quarter GDP.
– BPT.AU reports fourth quarter production of 5.96 MMBOE v 6.8 y / y; Rev A $ 421 million vs. A $ 320 million year-on-year.
– (NZ) The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is buying NZ $ 90million in government bonds in a QE auction for the wanted NZ $ 90million.
– (AU) Australia Jun Preliminary Retail Sales M / M: -1.8% v -0.7% e.
– (AU) Currently around 50% of Australia is in some sort of lockdown or restriction due to COVID.
Japan
–Nikkei 225 opened + 1.3%.
– (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) June meeting report: Members agree not to hesitate to add relaxation if necessary.
– (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Dep Gov Amamiya: corporate profits under pressure from rising commodity costs would like to continue to improve; The domestic economy resumes as a trend.
– (JP) The Japanese government will extend its employment subsidy program until the end of December – Nikkei.
– 7267.JP Would stop production at the Suzuka plant for 5 days in August – Press.
– (JP) The total number of COVID cases linked to the Tokyo Olympics since July 2 is now 71; The head of the organizing committee, Muto, did not rule out canceling the Games if cases increased.
– (JP) Japan’s trade balance in June: 383.2B against v460.0Be; Adjusted trade balance: – Â¥ 90.2B versus 22.6Be.
– (JP) Shigeru Omi (top COVID adviser in Japan) said daily virus cases in Tokyo could reach new high [~3,000 cases] during the first week of August – Japanese press.
Korea
-Kospi opened + 0.6%
– (KR) South Korea June PPI Y / Y: 6.4% vs. 6.6% previously (8th consecutive increase).
– (KR) South Korea July 1-20 Exports year-on-year: 32.8% vs. 29.5% previously; Imports year-on-year: 46.1% against 29.1% previously; YoY chip exports: 33.9% vs. 28.5% previously.
– (KR) South Korea’s Fin Min Hong reiterated warning about possible drop in house prices, as market undergoes correction – South Korean Press.
China / Hong Kong
-Hang Seng opened + 0.3%; Shanghai Composite opened + 0.2%.
– (CN) Sales of local government bonds in China have become more “market oriented”, quotes recent results of tenders linked to the sale of new bonds – Shanghai Securities News.
– (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repurchase agreements against CNY10B in 7-day reverse repurchase agreements; Net CNY0B versus Net CNY0B before.
– (CN) The Chinese PBOC fixes the benchmark rate of the yuan: 6.4835 against 6.4855 previously.
– (CN) State Council of China: Optimizing the fertility rate and promoting long-term balanced development of the population – Xinhua.
North America
– (US) The US Senate will vote on infrastructure after 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday (July 21).
– (US) Assistant Sec of State Sherman: will engage with China when it is in our best interests and in a direct manner.
– AAPL Said will not introduce new 4G phones or iPhone Mini next year (2022), will only introduce 5G – Nikkei phones.
– (United States) Weekly API crude oil inventories: +0.8 M against -4.1 M before (1st generation in 9 weeks).
United States after market close
– NFLX T2 reports $ 2.97 vs. $ 3.16, revision $ 7.34 billion vs. 7.31 Be; Confirms in the early stages of further expansion of the Gaming business.
– UAL Q2 reports – $ 3.91 vs. – $ 4.17, Rev $ 5.47 B vs. $ 5.31 Be.
– New JNJ study reveals that one dose of J&J COVID vaccine is less effective against Delta and Lambda variants; adds to the evidence that those inoculated with the J&J vaccine may need the second dose, ideally of the mRNA variety – NYT.
Europe
– (UK) Said UK Navy will permanently base 2 ships in Asia (exact location withheld) – Press.
Levels at 01:15 ET
– Hang Seng -0.4%; Shanghai Composite + 0.6%; Kospi -0.4%; Nikkei225 + 0.4%; ASX 200 + 1.0%.
– Equity Futures: S & P500 -0.0%; Nasdaq100 -0.2%, Dax -0.2%; FTSE100 + 0.1%.
– 1.1784-1.1770 euros; 109.98-109.83 JPY; AUD 0.7340-0.7303; 0.6934-0.6907 NZD.
– Commodity Futures: Gold -0.2% at $ 1,807 / oz; Crude oil -0.7% at $ 66.75 / brl; Copper -0.6% at $ 4.23 / lb.