Asia Mid-Session Market Update: Japan data weaker overall; currencies range bound; Toshiba may take loss
***US Session Highlights***
- US markets closed for holiday Monday and will re-open Tuesday December 27th
***US markets on close Friday: Dow +0.07%, S&P500 +0.12%, Nasdaq +0.48%***
- Best Sector in S&P500: Healthcare
- Worst Sector in S&P500: Consumer Discretionary
- Biggest gainers: WMB +4.2%; RHT +3.4%; DNB +3.7%
- Biggest losers: CME -3.1%; CTAS -3.1%; BBBY -1.5%
- At the close: VIX 11.44 (+0.01pts); Treasuries: 2-yr 1.206% +-0.01bps), 10-yr 2.54% (-0.008bps), 30-yr 3.116% (-0.013bps)
***Key economic data:***
- (CN) CHINA NOV INDUSTRIAL PROFITS Y/Y: 14.5% V 9.8% PRIOR; YTD: 9.4% V 8.6% PRIOR
- (JP) JAPAN NOV JOBLESS RATE: 3.1% V 3.0%E; Job to applicant: 1.41 v 1.41e (highest level since July 1991)
- (JP) JAPAN NOV OVERALL HOUSEHOLD SPENDING Y/Y: -1.5% V 0.1%E; 9th consecutive decline
- (JP) JAPAN NOV NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: 0.5% V 0.5%E; CPI EX FRESH FOOD (CORE) Y/Y: -0.4% V -0.3%E (9th straight decline, longest streak since 2011)
- (JP) JAPAN DEC TOKYO CPI Y/Y: 0.0% V 0.4%E; CPI EX-FRESH FOOD Y/Y: -0.6% V -0.4%E
- (KR) South Korea Dec Consumer Confidence: 94.2 (7.5 year low) v 95.8 prior
- (IL) ISRAEL CENTRAL BANK (BOI) LEAVES BASE RATE UNCHANGED AT 0.10%, 23rd straight month of hold
- (FR) France Nov Net Change in Jobseekers: -31.8K v -4.0Ke; Total Jobseekers: 3.45M v 3.477Me
- (JP) Japan Nov BOJ National CPI Ex Fresh Food, Energy (core-core) Y/Y: 0.2% v 0.2%e
- (JP) JAPAN DEC SMALL BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 48.8 V 48.3 PRIOR
***Asia Session Notable Observations, Speakers and Press***
- Generally markets remained mixed in thin holiday trade (Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong remain closed). US dollar remained a bit firmer against most currencies, gold remained higher by nearly $3.50 throughout the session. China navy activities continue to keep the region on edge.
- Russian Ruble rose overnight attributed to expected corporate tax payments in Russia and higher oil
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: BoJ's new policy framework aimed at keeping long term interest rates around 0% will help maximize the benefits of global tailwinds for Japan's economy; Japan to take big step toward beating deflation in 2017 - speaking to Keidanren business lobby
- Toshiba, 6502.JP: May take an extraordinary loss of ¥100B (prior $850M) on US nuclear ops - Nikkei; Not the source on US nuclear ops loss report; may book charge on US nuclear operations and a one time loss on CB&I Stone & Webster value
- China Issues several papers and comments covering space activity, cyber security and intelligence reform
- (CN) Shanghai Avg New Home prices w/w +21.3% to CNY47.4/sqm v -4.6% prior; New home sales w/w -22.4% to 116K sqm v +14.2% prior - Uwin
- (CN) China Commerce Min Gao Hucheng: Sees 2016 FDI at CNY785B, +6% y/y
***Asian Equity Indices/Futures (00:00ET)***
- Nikkei -0.3%, Hang Seng closed, Shanghai Composite +0.1%, ASX200 closed, Kospi +0.15%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.6%; Nasdaq +0.3%, Dax -0.5%
***FX ranges/Commodities/Fixed Income (00:00ET)***
- EUR 1.0433-1.0458; JPY 117.06-117.46; AUD 0.7273-0.7191; NZD 0.6879-0.6899
- Feb Gold +0.40% at 1,138/oz; Feb Crude Oil +0.17% at $53.11/brl; Mar Copper -0.01% at $2.46/lb
- USD/JPY: (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: Attributes yen depreciation following election of Donald Trump to "proper crisis management" of exchange rates by Japan Govt
- (CN) PBOC to inject combined CNY80B in 7-day, 14-day and 28-day reverse repo operation vs. CNY70B prior
- (CN) PBOC SETS YUAN MID POINT AT 6.9462 V 6.9459 PRIOR
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥2.09T v ¥2.3T indicated in 2-yr 0.1% JGBs; Avg yield: -0.157% v -0.156% prior; bid to cover: 4.51x (highest since June) v 4.27x prior
***Asia equities / Notables / movers by sector***
- Consumer discretionary: Start Today Co 3092.JP +1.8% (raised to outperform)
- Financials: Sealand Securities Co 000750.CN halted (update on bond dispute); Guotai Junan International Holdings 601211.CN -0.2% (requested to increase internal checks)
- Industrials: Shimadzu Corp 7701.JP -0.2% (SMBC Nikko upgraded to outperform ); Fuji Heavy Industries 7270.JP +0.5% (Nov result
- Technology: Toshiba Corporation 6502.JP -13.5% (speculation on US nuclear ops loss); NavInfo Co 002405.CN -0.1%, Tencent 700.HK -1.0% (JV with Tencent and NavInfo); Nintendo 7974.JP -0.8% (plans to release 3 smartphone games a year); Sharp Corp 6753.JP +3.4% (guidance)
- Materials: Itochu Corp 8001.JP +0.6% (acquisition)
- Healthcare: Ono Pharmaceutical Co 4528.JP +6.0% (seeks wider opdivo use); Chugai Pharma 4519.JP +0.7% (emicizumab antibody meets target in phase 3 study for hemophilia)
- Telecom: KDDI Corp 9433.JP +0.9% (forms tie-up)