Asia Mid-Session Market Update: Japan retail sales fall for the first time in 5 months; New Zealand Business Confidence improves
***US Session Highlights***
- (US) MAY ADVANCE GOODS TRADE BALANCE: -$65.9BE V -$66.0BE
- (US) MAY PRELIMINARY WHOLESALE INVENTORIES M/M: 0.3%E V 0.2%E
- Pres Trump tweets: "The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!"
- (US) MAY PENDING HOME SALES M/M: -0.8% V +1.0%E; Y/Y: 0.5% V 0.5%E
- (JP) BOJ Gov Kuroda: firms remain cautious on spending - comments in Portugal
- (US) DOE CRUDE: +0.1M V -2.5ME; GASOLINE: -0.9M V -0.5ME; DISTILLATE: -0.2M V +0.5ME; total US production fell 1%
- Fed did not object to the capital plans of all 34 bank holding companies participating in the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR). Capital One is the only bank that will need to resubmit within six months, although its plan was not entirely rejected.
***US markets on close: Dow +0.7%, S&P500 +0.9%, Nasdaq +1.4%***
- Best Sector in S&P500: Financials
- Worst Sector in S&P500: Utilities
- Biggest gainers: SPLS +8.4%; ARNC +5.8%; TRIP +4.5%
- Biggest losers: AAP -4.3%; ORLY -2.2%; FE -2.1%
- At the close: VIX 10.0 (-1.0pts); Treasuries: 2-yr 1.35% (-2bps), 10-yr 2.22% (+2bps), 30-yr 2.77% (+3bps)
***US movers afterhours***
- GEMP Announces top-line data from COBALT-1 Phase 2b clinical trial in HoFH patients ; +10.0% afterhours
- PRGS Reports Q2 $0.42 v $0.37e, Rev $93.4M v $90.9Me; Guides Q3 $0.41-0.43 v $0.44e, Rev $93-96M v $97.6Me; +5.6% afterhours
- COF Fed requires resubmission of its CCAR plan; Only US bank to require such; to maintain dividend at $0.40/shr (indicated yield 1.93%); to buy back $1.85B (4.5% of market cap); -1.3% afterhours
- PIR Reports Q1 -$0.04 v -$0.05e, Rev $409.5M v $421Me; Guides Q2 -$0.08 to -$0.04 v -$0.03e, SSS flat to 2%, net sales growth flat y/y ; -10.8% afterhours
***Politics***
- (BR) Brazil President Temer said to name Raquel Dodge as new top prosecutor; Temer’s residence subsequently attacked (Temer not inside) - US financial press
- (US) Brendan Carr expected to be nominated to a position at the FCC by President Trump as soon as today - recode
***Key economic data***
- (JP) JAPAN MAY RETAIL SALES M/M: -1.6% (first decline in 5 months) V -1.0%E; RETAIL TRADE Y/Y: 2.0% V 2.6%E
- (JP) Japan May Loans & Discounts Corp y/y: 3.9% v 3.7% prior
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAY HIA NEW HOME SALES M/M: 1.1% (2nd straight increase and 6-month high) V 0.8% PRIOR
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR-MAY SKILLED VACANCIES Q/Q: 1.5% V 2.1% PRIOR
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND JUNE ANZ BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 24.8 (8-month high) V 14.9 PRIOR; ACTIVITY OUTLOOK 42.8 (3-year high) V 38.3 PRIOR
- (KR) South Korea May Department Store Sales Y/Y: -1.9% v +0.5% prior; Discount Store Sales Y/Y: 1.6% v +2.3% prior
***Speakers and Press***
China
- (CN) Former China State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Official Guan Tao: China economy to stabilize in H2; Ease in capital outflow to result in a rise in FX reserves - press
- (CN) China Vice Fin Min Zhu: Major economies should return to rate normalization
- (CN) According to a large China insurance company, China regulators have signaled to insurers that they will relax restrictions on overseas investments in 2018
- (CN) Moody's: China property sales are stronger in the lower tier cities
Japan
- (JP) Japan 2016 tax Rev said to be lower y/y for the first time in 7 years - Kyodo
Korea
- (KR) South Korea Pres Moon: Govt planning comprehensive job policy; Growth cannot become reality until peninsula has peace
***Asian Equity Indices/Futures (00:30ET)***
- Nikkei +0.5%, Hang Seng +0.9%, Shanghai Composite +0.3%, ASX200 +1.1%, Kospi +0.6%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq +0.1%, Dax +0.1%, FTSE100 +0.1%
***FX ranges/Commodities/Fixed Income (00:30ET)***
- EUR 1.1375-1.1420; JPY 112.15-112.40; AUD 0.7580-0.7615; NZD 0.7260-0.7285
- Aug Gold +0.3% at 1,253/oz; Aug Crude Oil +0.4% at $44.95/brl; Sept Copper +0.7% at $2.69/lb
- iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings fall to 10,551 tonnes from 10,571 tonnes prior; first decline since June 20th
- (CN) PBoC: To skip today's open market operation (OMO); 5th consecutive skip
- (CN) PBOC SETS YUAN MID POINT AT 6.7940 V 6.8053 PRIOR (2-week high)
***Asia equities notable movers***
Australia
- Prime Media (PRT) +5.8%; Raises FY17 guidance
- Wesfarmers Ltd (WES) +0.4%; Said to be considering an industrial acquisition - Australian press
- Vocus Group (VOC) -0.3%; KKR said to be losing interest in a takeover of Vocus - Australian
Japan
- Honda (7267) +0.3%; Toyota (7203) +0.2%; Nissan (7201) +1.5%; May vehicle production
- Obic Co (4684) +1.6%; may report Q1 op profit ¥7B, +15% y/y; Rev ¥15B, +10% y/y - Nikkei
Hong Kong
- Tiangong International Company (826) +6.1%; Guides H1
- Sparkle Roll Group (970) +3.4%; Reports FY17
- Kingmaker Footwear Holdings (1170) +3.3%; Reports FY17
- Ngai Shun Holdings (1246) -4.4%; Reports FY17