Asian Mid-session Update: India cuts rates in second straight intermeeting decision; Australia Q4 GDP meets consensus
***Economic Data***
- (IN) INDIA CENTRAL BANK (RBI) CUTS REPURCHASE RATE BY 25BPS TO 7.50%, effective immediately (intra-meeting decision)
- (CN) CHINA FEB HSBC SERVICES PMI: 52.0 V 51.8 PRIOR
- (HK) HONG KONG FEB HSBC PMI: 50.7 V 49.4 PRIOR (1-year high)
- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q4 GDP Q/Q: 0.5% V 0.6%E; Y/Y: 2.5% V 2.5%E
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB AIG PERFORMANCE OF SERVICES INDEX: 51.7 V 49.9 PRIOR (1st expansion in 12 months)
- (JP) JAPAN FEB MARKIT SERVICES PMI: 48.5 V 51.3 PRIOR (1st contraction in 4 months)
- (NZ) New Zealand Q4 Value of All Buildings Q/Q: 0.3% v 1.0%e
***Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 -0.1%, S&P/ASX -0.6%, Kospi +0.2%, Shanghai Composite -0.9%, Hang Seng flat, Mar S&P500 -0.1% at 2,103
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Apr gold +0.1% at $1,206, Apr crude oil -0.2% at $50.54/brl, May Copper +0.3% at $2.66/lb
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall 2.7 tonnes to 760.8 tonnes; Lowest since Jan 30th
- USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1525 v 6.1543 prior setting
- (US) API PETROLEUM INVENTORIES: CRUDE: +2.9M (8th straight build) v +4.5Me, GASOLINE: +0.53M v -2Me, DISTILLATE: -0.29M v -2.5Me
- (KR) South Korea Feb Foreign Reserves: $362.4B v $362.2B prior
- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥350B in 1-3yr JGBs, ¥400B in 3-5 yr JGBs, and ¥400B in 5-10yr JGBs
- (TW) Taiwan sells NT$130B in 1-yr bills at 0.585% v 0.598%on Dec 4th
***Market Focal Points/FX***
- India central bank (RBI) announced another intra-meeting decision to cut interest rates by 25bps, lowering repurchase rate to 7.50%, reverse repo rate to 6.50%, and marginal standing facility rate to 8.50%. This marks the 2nd consecutive easing unveiled by the RBI in this surprise fashion, following the mid-January unexpected 25bps easing and a rate hold in early February. Recall the most recent Jan CPI YoY reading for India was 5.1%, less than 5.6% expected, giving the central bank further room to act. Rupee and Indian fixed income moved higher on the announcement, while the main equity index rose to record level. RBI noted softer inflation readings may persist in H1 before firming slightly in H2, adding the INR currency has remained strong relative to peer nations, which is undesirable in that it boosts disinflation.
- Australia Q4 GDP met expectations y/y and missed by a decimal q/q, as the prior quarter's sequential reading was also revised higher to 0.4% from 0.3%. AUD/USD initially softened on the release before strengthening by about 20pips to 0.7830 following the data. GDP components saw final consumption growth rising to +0.8% v +0.6% prior and terms of trade decline narrowing to -1.7% v -3.5% prior. Separately, RBA's Edwards remarked GDP must grow at least 3% to lower unemployment, but also noted property market inflation remains too fast given conditions in other parts of the economy.
- HSBC released China Feb Services PMI data at 52.0, an improvement versus Jan reading of 51.8. Economists from HSBC said China's service sector remained expansionary, though the rate of growth remained modest, adding the solid rise in new orders suggests activity growth may pick up in the months ahead. PBoC deputy governor Yi Gang spoke from Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) meeting session, noting PBoC is focused on the risk of deflation and will look at economic situation in future monetary policy decisions. Shanghai composite traded lower by 0.2% during the morning session.
***Equities***
US markets:
- CECO: Reports Q4 -$0.12 v -$0.31e, R$174.2M v $237Me; +12.9% afterhours
- SWHC: Reports Q3 $0.15 v $0.11e, R$130.6M v $125Me; +10.1% afterhours
- TIVO: Reports Q4 $0.07 v $0.04e, R$114.1M v $117Me; +6.4% afterhours
- AMBA: Reports Q4 $0.68 v $0.48e, R$64.7M v $56.6Me; +6.1% afterhours
- AVAV: Reports Q3 $0.10 v $0.06e, R$68.4M v $72.0Me; +2.3% afterhours
- ASNA: Reports Q2 $0.07 v $0.08e, R$1.29B v $1.30Be; -5.5% afterhours
- VEEV: Reports Q4 $0.09 v $0.09e, R$87.0M v $85.5Me; -12.8% afterhours
- TNET: Reports Q4 $0.10 v $0.37e, R$126.9M v $139Me; -16.3% afterhours
- BOBE: Reports Q3 $0.60 v $0.69e, R$357.2M v $359Me; Board will not pursue a sale or spin-off of the BEF Foods business segment; -18.1% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Financials: China Vanke 000002.CN -0.2% (Feb sales results)
- Materials: China Resources Enterprise 291.HK -4.1% (FY14 guidance)
- Energy: Hanergy Solar Group 566.HK +12.8% (FY14 results)
- Technology: Sharp Corp 6753.JP -4.9% (S&P cuts rating)
- Healthcare: Australian Pharma API.AU +3.6% (H1 guidance); China Traditional Chinese Medicine 570.HK +4.0% (FY14 guidance)
- Telecom: China Unicom 762.HK -1.8% (FY14 results)