Asia Mid-Session Market Update: NZD rallies on RBNZ statement with little exchange rate jawboning and positive growth outlook
***US Session Highlights***
- (IR) Iran Oil Min Zanganeh: OPEC may decide to make further oil production cuts but need to assess effect of current supply levels
- OPEC and Non-OPEC members said to see oil market re-balancing in Q2 2018
- (US) MBA MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS W/E JUN 16TH: 0.6% V 2.8% PRIOR
- (US) MAY EXISTING HOME SALES: 5.62M V 5.55ME; existing home price: $252.8K (all time high)
- (US) DOE CRUDE: -2.5M V -1ME; GASOLINE: -0.6M V +0.5ME; DISTILLATE: +1.1M V +0.5ME
- (RU) Russia govt spokesperson: to cancel meeting between Russia Dep Foreign Min and US Undersecretary of State; new sanctions continue destructive trend set by Obama administration
-Techs and health care outshined the rest of the stock market and helped the Nasdaq gain 0.7% on the day, while the Dow and Russell posted small losses and the S&P was almost flat. Oil dropped 2% on continued negative sentiment about global market oversupply, and jawboning from Iranian oil officials had little effect on price action.
***US markets on close: Dow -0.3%, S&P500 -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.7%***
- Best Sector in S&P500: Health Care
- Worst Sector in S&P500: Energy
- Biggest gainers: CA +13.4%; RHT +9.6%; INCY +7.6%
- Biggest losers: FTR -8.2%; CHK -7.9%; SIG -5.6%
- At the close: VIX 10.8 (-0.1pts); Treasuries: 2-yr 1.35% (flat), 10-yr 2.16% (+1bps), 30-yr 2.72% (-2bps)
***US movers afterhours***
- ORCL Reports Q4 $0.89 v $0.79e, Rev $10.9B v $10.5Be; Guides FY18 EPS growth to accelerate; +10.3 afterhours
- CO Reports Q4 $0.07 v $0.03 y/y, Rev $29.3M v $24.3M y/y; -2.6% afterhours
- SCS Reports Q1 $0.18 v $0.19e, Rev $735M v $745Me; Guides Q2 $0.21-0.25 v $0.38e, R$750-780M v $800Me; -17.8% afterhours
***Politics***
- (US) US President Trump: Reiterates to either renegotiate successfully or terminate NAFTA - Iowa Rally
- (US) Discussion draft of Senate healthcare bill reportedly is largely similar to the House bill, but would link insurance subsidies to age and cuts Medicaid expansion more gradually - Wash Post
***Key economic data***
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND CENTRAL BANK (RBNZ) LEAVES OFFICIAL CASH RATE (OCR) UNCHANGED AT 1.75%; AS EXPECTED
- (NZ) New Zealand May Credit Card Spending M/M: 0.9% v 0.9% prior; Y/Y: 7.6% v 6.4% prior
***Speakers and Press***
China
- (CN) China Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesperson Sun Jiwen: New FTZ negative list cuts foreign M&A restrictionsp; China, US still in discussion on 100-day trade plan
- (CN) PBoC adviser reiterates PBoC will not unwind balance sheet like the US Fed - Chinese Press
Japan
- (JP) BOJ Dep Gov Iwata: Monetary easing is still necessary in Japan; Inflation is still lacking momentum and is distant from target
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: Will talk with ruling party if request for extra Diet comes
Australia/New Zealand
- (AU) BIS Oxford Economics: housing boom on Australia's east coast will be over in two years but a crash like the US subprime crisis in 2007 is not likely - AFR
- (NZ) Kiwibank economist: NZD rise due to lack of "hard" words in RBNZ Gov Wheeler's comments about the currency gains - NZ Press
Korea
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) bi-annual report on financial stability: Q1 household debt to disposable income ratio 153.3%, +8.6% y/y
***Asian Equity Indices/Futures (00:00ET)***
- Nikkei +0.2%, Hang Seng +0.6%, Shanghai Composite +0.8%, ASX200 +0.9%, Kospi +0.3%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 flat; Nasdaq +0.1%, Dax +0.1%, FTSE100 +0.2%
***FX ranges/Commodities/Fixed Income (00:00ET)***
- EUR 1.1160-1.1170; JPY 110.95-111.45; AUD 0.7540-0.7560; NZD 0.7200-0.7270
- Aug Gold +0.7% at 1,254/oz; Aug Crude Oil +0.1% at $42.55/brl; July Copper -0.1% at $2.59/lb
- SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings rise 0.3 tonnes to 854.0 tonnes
- (CN) PBOC SETS YUAN MID POINT AT 6.8197 V 6.8193 PRIOR; Weakest Yuan fix since May 31st and 3rd straight weaker setting
- (CN) PBOC to inject combined CNY20B v CNY40B prior in 7-day reverse repos
***Asia equities notable movers***
Australia
- Caltex (CTX) +0.6%; Guides H1
- Vicinity Centres Re (VCX) -0.9%; CEO transition
Japan
- Toshiba (6502) +0.6%; INCJ reportedly plans to take majority 50.1% stake in Toshiba's memory unit in order to keep technology located in Japan as part of consortium's acquisition - NIkkei
- Tokyo Gas (9531) +0.2%; To cut gas prices
- Takata (7312) -51.6%; Resumes trading
Hong Kong
- Citic Dameng Hldg (1091) +9.1%; Guides H1
- Wang On Group (1222) +2.7%; Reports FY17
- Emperor International Holdings (163) -1.5%; Reports FY17
- HKR International (480) -1.6%; Reports FY17
- Singamas (716) -5.5%; Guides H1