Asian Mid-session Update: Markets mixed ahead of China Industrial and Retail data
***Economic Data***
- (JP) JAPAN JAN MACHINE ORDERS M/M: -1.7% V -4.0%E; Y/Y: 1.9% V -1.0%E
- (JP) JAPAN FEB CGPI (PPI) M/M: 0.0% V 0.0%E; Y/Y: 0.5% V 0.5%E
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR WESTPAC CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX: 99.5 V 100.7 PRIOR; M/M: -1.2% V +8.0% PRIOR (1st decline in 3 months)
- (AU) AUSTRALIA JAN HOME LOANS M/M: -3.5% V -2.0%E (largest decline in 17 months)
- (KR) South Korea Feb Bank Lending to Households (KRW): 522.9T v 519.5T prior
***Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 +0.5%, S&P/ASX -0.5%, Kospi -0.3%, Shanghai Composite +0.7%, Hang Seng -0.3%, Mar S&P500 +0.2% at 2,048
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Apr gold +0.2% at $1,163/oz, Apr crude oil +0.3% at $48.92/brl, May Copper +0.4% at $2.63/lb.
- (US) API PETROLEUM INVENTORIES: CRUDE: -0.4M (first draw in 2 months) v +5Me, GASOLINE: +1.7M v -1.5Me, DISTILLATE: +1.7M v -2.5Me
- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$700M in 3.25% bonds due 2025; Avg yield: 2.5889%; Bid-to-cover: 3.57x
- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥50B in JGBs with maturity less than 1-yr, ¥240B in 10-25yr JGBs and ¥140B in JGBs with maturity over 25-yr
- USD/CNY: PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1597 v 6.1572 prior setting (weakest Yuan setting since Nov 7th)
***Market Focal Points/FX***
- Asia equity indices tracked the outsized Wall St selloff with lower opening prints but have since turned mixed heading into the afternoon session. S&P500 futures are also up about 6pts in electronic trade, paring a 20-pt drop in US hours amid continued worries over stronger US dollar pressuring earnings and Fed rate hike expectations stoking volatility. April WTI tested above $49/brl after a surprise draw in API petroleum inventories going into Wednesday's DOE release. In FX majors, EUR/USD traded in a 40pip range below $1.0720, USD/JPY pared initial slide below ¥120.90 to test ¥121.40, while AUD and NZD hit multi-week lows against the greenback below $0.76 and $0.7240 respectively.
- Economic calendar focus is concentrated around the late-session release of China YTD industrial production, retail sales, and fixed investment data expected at 01:30ET. Australia put out a bigger than expected drop in January home loans, and Westpac Consumer Confidence for March was also a disappointment as optimism after the February rate hike started to wear off. RBA Asst Gov Kent said that despite the latest decline, AUD remains relatively high given the state of economy, but that low rates will translate into stronger activity in housing. Ahead of employment data tomorrow, Kent also said unemployment would rise for a bit longer and peak higher. Also on tap for tomorrow, RBNZ is expected to announce a hold in policy rates, and NZIER shadow board sees an over 60% chance of no action, noting surging housing prices and solid fundamentals are balanced by all-time lows of inflation expectations.
- On Japan's 4-year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, BOJ's Shirai saw higher uncertainty over timing to achieve 2% inflation target, adding a delay is possible even though Japan economy is in better shape than before the start of policy easing. Shirai added a temporary reduction of Japan core CPI growth is acceptable, since it will likely surge once the decline in crude oil prices begin to stall as early as H2 of FY15. In economic data, Japan machine orders data continued to outperform, while wholesale inflation was still anemic and in line with consensus.
***Equities***
US markets:
- FCEL: Reports Q1 -$0.02 v -$0.03e, R$41.7M v $48.0Me; +7.0% afterhours
- SINA: Reports Q4 $0.24 v $0.21e, R$211M v $211Me; +2.2% afterhours
- PAY: Reports Q1 $0.44 v $0.41e, R$486.9M v $483Me; +1.9% afterhours
- GIS: Raises dividend 7% to $0.44 from $0.41 (indicated yield 3.4%); +0.7% afterhours
- GCA: Reports Q4 $0.23 v $0.23e, R$152.1M v $142Me; +0.4% afterhours
- T: Discloses update on Q1 trends and FY15 guidance; "reiterated full-year 2015 standalone guidance" - filing; +0.1% afterhours
- GOOGL: CFO plans to retire; date not set, to stay for 6 month transition period - filing; -0.2% afterhours
- CNXR: Reports Q4 $0.30 v $0.06e, R$27.8M v $24.8Me; -3.1% afterhours
- SXL: Files to sell 13.5M Common Units (5.9% of units outstanding); -4.4% afterhours
- WB: Reports Q4 $0.04 v $0.04e, R$105.2M v $104Me; Announces change in CFO; -5.8% afterhours
- ZGNX: Sells Zohydro ER Business to Pernix for $100M at Closing Plus Potential Milestones of $283.5M; -9.6% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer Discretionary: Dr Ci:Labo 4924.JP +2.8% (H1 results); FamilyMart 8028.JP -6.5% (merger talks with Uny Group); Clarion Co 6796.JP -5.5% (FY14/15 guidance); 361 Degrees International 1361.HK -2.6% (FY14 results); Hydoo International Holding 1396.HK -5.2% (FY14 guidance)
- Financials: Ardent Leisure Group AAD.AU -19.6% (appoints new CEO); China Galaxy Securities 6881.HK +2.4% (Feb op results)
- Energy: Xinyi Solar 968.HK -6.8% (to sell shares)