Asian Market Update: Strong Australia Trade, Retail Sales spark AUD rally; Nikkei outperforms on GPIF reform
***Economic Data*** - (AU) AUSTRALIA JAN TRADE BALANCE: A$1.4B V A$100ME (2-year high) - (AU) AUSTRALIA JAN RETAIL SALES M/M: 1.2% V 0.4%E (11-month high) - (NZ) NEW ZEALAND FEB QV HOUSE PRICES Y/Y: 9.3% V 9.6% PRIOR; Values +1.8% in the past 3 months - (JP) JAPAN FEB TOKYO AVERAGE OFFICE VACANCIES: 7.0% V 7.2% PRIOR
***Market Snapshot (as of 04:30 GMT)*** - Nikkei225 +1.4%, S&P/ASX -0.1%, Kospi flat, Shanghai Composite -0.1%, Hang Seng +0.5%, Mar S&P500 +0.1% at 1,875, Apr gold -0.2% at $1,338, Apr crude oil -0.4% at $101.10/brl
***Highlights/Observations/Insights*** - Nikkei225 is outperforming among the regional indices and JPY is on the back foot after a report from Japan Govt Advisory Panel recommending that GPIF (Japan's largest pension fund) is less focused on JGBs, paving the way to a more aggressive investment in equities. Advisory panel citing Japan making more pronounced progress in emerging out of deflation. - Australia remained in focus in terms of economic data after a much higher than expected GDP overnight. Retail sales growth hit an 11-month high pace, while trade surplus came in at a 2-year high. Exports saw a healthy 4% m/m increase and imports growth slows 1% - trade surplus was thus more of a function of less goods coming into the economy, as shipments to China fell 12.5% m/m and exports of iron ore (the biggest mineral resource) were down nearly 10%. - China finance minister Lou and also a state researcher backtracked from what the markets interpreted as an affirmed 7.5% 2014 GDP target overnight, suggesting the 7.2-7.3% would still be in the neighborhood of intended estimate. Recall NPC saw the 7.5% objective as "elastic", giving policymakers some wiggle room later in the year if economic reform in credit and environment required a softer goal. - PBoC Dep Gov Pan looked to soothe investors' worries over weakness in the Yuan, reiterating previously expressed PBoC position that two-way volatility is normal; PBoC meanwhile continued to mop up post-Lunar New Year excess liquidity with 4th consecutive week of net drain. - Fed's Fisher (hawk, voter): Seeing more signs QE3 overstayed its welcome; Reiterates full support for Fed taper - Fed's Williams (dove, non-voter): Prefers for rates to remain unchanged until mid-2015; Sees GDP above trend growth at 2.5-3.0%; Unemployment will only return to normal 5% in late 2015. - Moody's warns the Russia standoff with Ukraine poses a risk to Russian bank asset quality. Tensions on Crimea peninsula continued to ebb with local press reports suggesting the "mystery green men" (presumed Russian troops shipped in over the weekend) are taking down the barricades blocking local bases of Ukrainian army units.
***Fixed Income/Commodities/Currencies*** - (CN) PBoC to drain CNY43B in 14-day repos and CNY50B in 28-day repos (6th consecutive drain); Drains net CNY70B this week v drained CNY160B prior (4th week of net drain) - (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥554.6B in 1.7% (1.7% prior) 30-yr notes; Avg yield: 1.635% v 1.587% prior; Bid to cover: 4.28x v 3.43x prior - (JP) Japan investors sold ¥759B (1st week of net sales in 3 weeks) in foreign bonds last week vs bought net ¥598.8B in prior week - (AU) Australia Feb Port Hedland exports: 27.8M tons v 28.2M prior; Exports to China 21.3M tons v 23.3M m/m - (CN) China Qinhuangdao coal price falls to CNY540-550/t (8th consecutive decline; lowest since early Nov)
- AUD and JPY were particularly volatile in an otherwise quiet session following the developments summarized above. AUD/USD spiked up about 50pips above $0.9030 on strong retail sales/trade figures from Australia. JPY saw some moderate selling on the GPIF reform reports, with USD/JPY also rising about 50pips above ¥102.70 from session lows.
***Equities*** US markets: - SGMO: Announces 1st clinical study of proprietary zinc finger nuclease (ZFN)-based genome editing technology in humans; +19.8% afterhours - TKMR: Receives Fast Track Designation from FDA for Its Anti-Ebola Viral Therapeutic; +9.6% afterhours - DRIV: Guides Q1 EPS lower, FY EPS slightly higher as a result of repurchases of $150M in convertible debt (approx 27% of market cap); +3.2% afterhours - SPTN: Reports Q3 $0.40 adj v $0.22 y/y, R$1.34B v $789.9M y/y; +3.1% afterhours - EVHC: Reports Q4 $0.20 v $0.17e, R$984.8M v $995Me; +1.0% afterhours - MPW: Announces Public Offering of 8M (5% of shares outstanding) Shares of Common Stock; -3.2% afterhours - BYD: Reports Q4 -$0.24 (adj) v -$0.24e, R$681.5M v $689Me; -4.0% afterhours - WX: Reports Q4 $0.53 v $0.46e, R$157.2M v $151Me; -4.6% afterhours
Notable movers by sector: - Consumer Discretionary: Fengfan Stock Ltd Co 600482.CN -2.1% (FY13 results); Anhui Jianghuai Automobile 600418.CN -3.4% (Jan sales results); YunNan Metropolitan Real Estate Development 600239.CN +2.6% (prelim FY13 results) - Financials: Fantasia Holdings Group 1777.HK +2.3% (Feb sales results); Bank of Queensland BOQ.AU +1.6% (Moody's raises credit rating); Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town 3366.HK -5.0% (prelim FY13 results); Shanghai Pudong Development Bank 600000.CN +0.9% (acquires wealth management business); AnXin Trust & Investment 600816.CN +2.4% (FY13 results) - Energy: AWE AWE.AU +1.7% (providing drilling updates) - Industrials: Nissan Motor 7201.JP +0.6% (to accept wage hike) - Technology: BestTV New Media 600637.CN +3.6% (strategic alliance with Thunder Network); Carsales.com CRZ.AU +5.8% (acquires online asset in South Korea)