Asian Market Update: FOMC and RBNZ less dovish than expected; China injects liquidity into money markets for 2nd consecutive session
***Observations/Insights*** - USD firmed up and US fixed income sold off late in the US session after a less dovish than anticipated FOMC statement; Most notable changes included a dropped warning that tight financial could slow the pace of improvement in the economy and labor market conditions; FOMC also acknowledged some slowdown in the housing space and dropped the comment that mortgage rates have risen. - RBNZ policy statement was little changed from prior month but also contained some telling revisions; Of particular interest, RBNZ dropped the passage that it expects OCR to remain unchanged in 2013, potentially paving the way to an even more hawkish statement or even a rate hike in December; RBNZ also no longer saw growth in China and Australia as slowing; Finally, RBNZ noted Q3 GDP would be more than 3% vs prior forecast of 3%. - BOJ offered a minimal policy statement ahead of the release of semiannual Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices, voting unanimously to increase monetary base at annual pace of 60-70T yen - its standard policy setting and as widely expected. Separately out of Japan, Manufacturing PMI hit 54.2 vs 52.5 - the highest reading since May 2010. Markit economist said "October saw operating conditions in the Japanese manufacturing industry improve at the sharpest pace for over three years, driven by a surge in new orders... The data signaled that the latest expansion was largely demand driven and apparently unimpeded by PM Abe's confirmation of sales tax hike". - China central bank conducted reverse repo operations again, injecting liquidity in both available opportunities for open market operations. PBoC did CNY16B in 14-day reverse repos for the day and CNY29.1B total for the week - the first weekly net injection after 2 weeks of net drain. - US Treasury's semiannual currency report again declined to name China as currency manipulator, instead shifting more focus to Germany and its large current account surplus contributing to deflationary pressure in the rest of the EZ. In addition, the Treasury said it would monitor Japan's FX policy and also deemed Korean Won undervalued by 2-8%.
***Economic Data*** - (NZ) RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND (RBNZ) LEAVES OFFICIAL CASH RATE UNCHANGED AT 2.50% (AS EXPECTED) - (NZ) NEW ZEALAND SEPT BUILDING PERMITS M/M: 1.4% V 1.5% PRIOR (2nd consecutive increase) - (NZ) NEW ZEALAND OCT ANZ BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 53.2 V 54.1 PRIOR; ANZ ACTIVITY OUTLOOK: 47.1 V 45.3 PRIOR - (NZ) NEW ZEALAND SEPT MONEY SUPPLY M3 Y/Y: 7.3% V 6.5% PRIOR - (AU) AUSTRALIA SEPT BUILDING APPROVALS M/M: 14.4% V 2.8%E (16-month high); Y/Y: 18.6% V 1.2%E - (AU) AUSTRALIA Q3 IMPORT PRICE INDEX Q/Q: 6.1% V 3.5%E (19-quarter high); EXPORT PRICE INDEX Q/Q: 4.2% V 3.3%E - (AU) AUSTRALIA SEPT PRIVATE SECTOR CREDIT M/M: 0.3% V 0.4%E; Y/Y: 3.3% V 3.4%E - (JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) POLICY STATEMENT: REITERATES TO INCREASE MONETARY BASE AT ANNUAL PACE OF ¥60-70T (as expected) >- (JP) JAPAN OCT MARKIT/JMMA MANUFACTURING PMI: 54.2 V 52.5 PRIOR (highest reading since May 2010) - (JP) Japan investors bought net ¥1.04T in foreign bonds last week (3rd straight week of net purchases) vs bought net ¥1.41T in prior week; Foreign Investors sold net ¥8.0B in Japan stocks v bought net ¥297.8B in prior week - (JP) JAPAN SEPT LABOR CASH EARNINGS Y/Y: +0.1% V -0.4%E - (TW) TAIWAN Q3 PRELIM GDP Y/Y: 1.6% V 2.6%E - (SG) SINGAPORE Q3 PRELIMIN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 1.8% V 2.1%E - (SG) SINGAPORE SEPT MONEY SUPPLY M1 Y/Y: 15.3% V 15.7% PRIOR; M2 Y/Y: 7.5% V 7.1% PRIOR - (SG) SINGAPORE SEPT BANK LOANS AND ADVANCES Y/Y: 15.7% V 15.4% PRIOR - (SG) SINGAPORE SEPT CREDIT CARD BAD DEBTS (SGD): 19.8M V 19.2M PRIOR; CREDIT CARD BILLINGS: 3.4B V 3.4B PRIOR - (PH) PHILIPPINES SEPT BANK LENDING Y/Y: 14.6% V 13.0% PRIOR; BANK LENDING NET OF RRPS Y/Y: 15.8% V 14.2% PRIOR - (PH) PHILIPPINES SEPT BANK LENDING Y/Y: 14.6% V 13.0% PRIOR; BANK LENDING NET OF RRPS Y/Y: 15.8% V 14.2% PRIOR - (UK) UK OCT GFK CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: -11 V -8E (first sequential decline in 6 months)
***Fixed Income/Commodities/Currencies***
- (CN) PBoC to conduct CNY16B in 14-day reverse repos (second consecutive liquidity injection); Injects CNY29.1B this week v drained CNY58B last week (first net injection in 3 weeks)
- USD firmed up across the board following the less dovish than expected FOMC. EUR/USD fell to a 1-week low below 1.37, GBP/USD fell to 2-week low around $1.60, AUD/USD hit 2-week lows below 0.9450, and USD/JPY rose to 2-week highs above 98.70. AUD did rebound later in the session to trade above the $0.95 level, boosted by much higher than expected building approvals data. NZD/USD was also initiall hit by FOMC, briefly fally below 0.82 - a 4-week low - before rising above 0.8270 in the aftermath of a hawkish RBNZ statement.
***Speakers/Political/In the Papers*** - (CN) China may approve free trade zones for Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, Macau after plenary meeting - Chinese press - (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1425 v 6.1412 prior setting (weakest Yuan setting since Oct 17) - (CN) China big four banks new loans CNY93B from Oct 1-27th - press
- (JP) Japan PM aide Honda: Wage gains required for Abenomics; companies should increase wages by more than 1% for 2014 - (JP) Japan, US plan to unify nuclear evaluation standards by 2018 - Japanese press - (JP) Survey finds Japan Q3 GDP at +1.4% - Kyodo News
- (US) US Treasury semi-annual currency report: German nominal current account surplus larger than China in 2012; Does not designate China or any nation as FX manipulator
***Equities*** Market Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT): - Nikkei225 -0.2%, S&P/ASX +0.2%, Kospi -0.7%, Shanghai Composite -0.7%, Hang Seng -0.4%, Dec S&P500 -0.3% at 1,755, Dec gold -0.8% at $1,338, Dec crude oil -0.3% at $96.53/brl
US markets: - WTW: Reports Q3 $1.07 v $0.84e, R$393.9M v $387Me; suspends dividend; -16.0% afterhours >- JDSU: Reports Q1 $0.13 v $0.12e, R$429M v $424Me; -7.9% afterhours - SPWR: Reports Q3 $0.44 v $0.24e, R$657.1M v $591Me; -5.0% afterhours - MANT: Reports Q3 $0.48 v $0.52e, R$567M v $587Me; Cuts FY13 guidance; -3.9% afterhours - MET: Reports Q3 $1.34 v $1.36e, R$16.9B v $16.8Be; -3.1% afterhours - V: Reports Q4 $1.85 v $1.85e, R$2.97B v $3.02Be, $5B share buyback program (5% of market cap); -3.0% afterhours - SBUX: Reports Q4 $0.63 v $0.60e, R$3.80B v $3.81Be; Increases dividend; -2.5% afterhours - MAR: Reports Q3 $0.52 v $0.45e, R$3.16B v $3.06Be; -0.9% afterhours - CSC: Reports Q2 $0.93 v $0.82e, R$3.19B v $3.35Be; -0.2% afterhours
- FB: Reports Q3 $0.25 v $0.18e, R$2.02B v $1.90Be; flat afterhours
- ALL: Reports Q3 $1.53 v $1.37e, R$8.47B v $7.38Be; +0.1% afterhours - CYH: Reports Q3 $0.04 (incl $0.65 reserve) v $0.69e, R$3.22B v $3.26Be; +0.1% afterhours - CAR: Reports Q3 $1.48 adj v $1.55e, R$2.40B v $2.35Be; +0.2% afterhours - CROX: Reports Q3 $0.18 v $0.18e, R$288.5M v $292Me; +0.5% afterhours - ATML: Announces $300M stock buyback increase (10.6% of market cap); +1.8% afterhours - HBI: Reports Q3 $1.23 v $1.14e, R$1.19B v $1.24Be; +3.5% afterhours - EXPE: Reports Q3 $1.43 v $1.35e, R$1.40B v $1.38Be; +18.8% afterhours - ZLTQ: Reports Q3 -$0.08 v -$0.21e, R$29.5M v $21.1Me; +37.8% afterhours
Notable movers by sector: - Consumer discretionary: Panasonic Corporation 6752.JP +3.5% (confirms staff relocation plans); Suning Appliance Co Ltd 002024.CN -6.8% (Q3 results); Qantas Airways Ltd QAN.AU -2.4% (increases share in Jetstar Japan) - Consumer staples: Woolworths Limited WOW.AU +0.7% (Q1 results) - Industrials: SAIC Motor 600104.CN +0.4% (Q3 results); Nippon Yusen 9101.JP +2.8% (H1 results); Toyota Industries 6201.JP +0.4% (H1 results); Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 9107.JP +1.3% (H1 results) - Materials: Marubeni Corp 8002.JP -1.0% (construction plans); Daido Steel 5471.JP -6.5% (H1 results) - Financials: China Minsheng Banking Corp 1988.HK -2.7% (Q3 results); AgBank 1288.HK +0.3% (Q3 results); ICBC 1398.HK -1.7% (Q3 results); Bank of Communications 3328.HK -2.3% (Q3 results); Bank of China 3988.HK flat (Q3 results); Hua Xia Bank Co 600015.CN -1.4% (Q3 results); CapitaLand Ltd CAPL.SG -1.3% (Q3 results); National Australia Bank Ltd NAB.AU -2.2% (FY results); CITIC Securities 600030.CN -1.7% (Q3 results); Shenyin Wanguo Ltd 218.HK +8.1% (merger speculation); Mitsui & Co Ltd 8031.JP -0.6% (power project) - Technology: Qingdao Haier Co Ltd 600690.CN +0.4% (Q3 results) - Healthcare: Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd 2196.HK -1.5% (Q3 results)