Asian Mid-session Update: China brokers post mixed monthly results; Greece defiance weighs on EUR
***Economic Data***
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAY AIG PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTION INDEX: 47.8 V 47.0 PRIOR (2nd consecutive month of contraction)
- (JP) JAPAN MAY OFFICIAL RESERVE ASSETS: $1.25T V $1.25T PRIOR
***Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 -0.4%, S&P/ASX -0.1%, Kospi -0.3%, Shanghai Composite +1.2%, Hang Seng -0.5%, Jun S&P500 flat at 2,098
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Aug gold +0.2% at $1,177/oz, Jul crude oil +0.1% at $58.04/brl, Jul copper -0.2% at $2.68/lb
- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$1.5B in 1.75% 2020 Bonds; avg yield: 2.4527%; bid-to-cover: 2.10x
- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥375B in 1-3yr JGBs, ¥400B in 3-5yr JGBs, ¥240B in 10-25yr JGBs, and ¥140B in 25yr+ JGBs
- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets for week ending June 3rd: $4.47T v $4.46T prior; M1 y/y change: 8.2% v 8.4% prior; M2 y/y change: 6.0% v 6.1% prior
***Market Focal Points/FX***
- Asian equity markets were mixed in the opening hours but mid-afternoon has yet again given to more selling pressure. After opening at a 7-year high above 5,000, Shanghai Composite headed into its break down 0.1%. Volatility in other markets was more contained in the absence of significant economic data. The quiet is also typical for the session going into the key US jobs report. Only press report of note out of China in today's session came from a PBoC official who said Shanghai FTZ has already met the conditions for full Yuan convertibility. Offshore Yuan weakened, with USD/CNH pair rising above 100-day MA of 6.21.
- In FX, EUR/USD fell as much as 60pips to 1.1180 in early Asian hours but pared much of that decline by the afternoon. Weakness followed reports from Greece govt official that PM Tsipras announced the latest plan by the creditors cannot be the basis for the deal. Subsequently, Bundesbank's Dombret remarked that a Grexit would be manageable, adding Greek financial situation is challenging even with the banks still solvent. Also note that Athens has moved to bundle IMF loan obligations, pushing out the deadline for combined payments to the end of the month. Other USD majors were little changed - AUD/USD traded in a 30pip range just below 0.77, while USD/JPY was in a 20pip range around 124.40.
***Equities***
US equities / ADRs:
- INO: Inovio is attracting interest from major pharma firms - UK press; +4.2% afterhours
- VOD: Said to be exploring options with Liberty Global, including a possible merger; also considering acquiring certain European assets - financial press; +1.4% afterhours
- ZUMZ: Reports Q1 $0.09 v $0.12e, R$177.6M v $177Me; -8.9% afterhours
- ESL: Reports Q2 $1.20 v $1.31e, R$500M v $526Me; -11.1% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Financials: China Vanke Co 000002.CN +3.0% (May result); CITIC Securities 600030.CN -0.7% (May result); GF Securities Co 000776.CN +2.1% (May result); China Merchants Securities 600999.CN +1.3% (May result); SooChow Securities Co 601555.CN -1.3% (to halt margin trade for some stocks); Shenzhen Investment 604.HK -8.3% (May result, share placement); Changjiang Securities 000783.CN -2.2% (May result)
- Industrials: Great Wall Motor 2333.HK -7.9% (May sales); SAIC Motor Corp 600104.CN +1.1% (May result); Bradken Ltd BKN.AU +1.8% (speculation for KKR's bid); Fuji Heavy Industries 7270.JP -1.0% (expectations for FY15 N American sales); Mazda Motor Corp 7261.JP -1.1% (vehicle recalls); Guangzhou Automobile Group 2238.HK -1.9% (May result)
- Technology: Mesoblast Ltd MSB.AU +1.8% (receives fund); Sharp Corp 6753.JP -1.2% (speculation of net loss)