Asian Mid-session Update: China 2014 trade balance missed official target; Japan posted smallest deficit in 5 months
***Economic Data***
- (NZ) New Zealand Dec ANZ Truckometer Heavy M/M: +2.1% v -2.9% prior
- (KR) South Korea Dec Export Price Index M/M: -2.4% v 1.3% prior; Y/Y: -4.3% v -2.1% prior
- (KR) South Korea Dec Import Price Index M/M: -5.1% v -0.8% prior; Y/Y: -13% v -7.9% prior
- (JP) JAPAN NOV CURRENT ACCOUNT: ¥433B V ¥140BE; ADJ CURRENT ACCOUNT: ¥915B V ¥693BE (7th consecutive surplus); TRADE BALANCE: -¥637B V -¥734BE (smallest deficit in 5 months)
- (JP) JAPAN DEC BANK LENDING INCL TRUSTS: 2.6% V 2.7% PRIOR; BANK LENDING EX-TRUSTS: 2.7% V 2.8% PRIOR
- (UK) UK DEC BRC SALES LFL Y/Y: -0.4% V +1.0%E; TOTAL SALES Y/Y: +1.0% V +2.2% PRIOR
- (CN) CHINA DEC TRADE BALANCE: $49.6B V $49.0BE
***Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 -1.8%, S&P/ASX -0.4%, Kospi -0.2%, Shanghai Composite +0.3%, Hang Seng +0.5%, Mar S&P500 +0.1% at 2,023
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Feb gold +0.3% at $1,236, Feb crude oil -1.8% at $45.25/brl, Mar Copper flat at $2.71/lb
- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥70B in JGB with maturity less than 1-yr, ¥400B in 5-10yr JGB
- (CN) PBoC won't conduct open market operations (OMO) in today's session (13th consecutive halt)
- JGB: (JP) 5-yr JGB yield drops to zero for the first time; 10-yr yield hits record low near 0.255%
- (TW) Taiwan to sell NT$25B in 6-month bills; Yield: 0.490% v 0.530% prior; bid-to-cover: 3.02x
***Market Focal Points/Key Themes/FX***
- China released December trade balance today at a surplus of $49.6B, slightly higher than consensus of $49.0B surplus. China December adjusted exports grew at 6.6% y/y, while adjusted imports shrank 6.2% y/y. Overall in 2014, China's trade growth was at 3.4% y/y, missed official target of 7.5%. China Customs Bureau official said weak 2014 trade growth due to slow global recovery, also forecasted 2015 trade growth to be higher than 2014. Taking a look at some components, iron ore imports rose to 86.9M tons, and crude oil imports rose to 30.4M, both at record high level. Aussie/Dollar traded initially higher to just below 0.82 level, then moved back lower during the later session.
- Japan released November adjusted current account figure at surplus of ¥915B, beating consensus of ¥693B, also marked 7th consecutive surplus. Trade balance for Japan was at a deficit of ¥637B, a smaller deficit than ¥734B expected, also the smallest trade deficit for Japan in 5 months. JGBs moved higher on today's session amid BoJ buying. Yield for 5-year JGB dropped to zero for the first time in history, while 10-year JGB yield hit record low near 0.255%. Dollar/Yen moved below ¥118 handle after Japan trade balance data, then traded back higher to about ¥118.40 in later Asian session, on stronger Dollar across the currency board.
***Equities***
US markets:
- BEBE: Reports prelim Q2 SSS +8%; Sees Q2 adj loss per share in low single digit range, high end; +18.6% afterhours
- PCYC: Reports prelim Q4 net product revenue $185M; Guides FY14 Imbruvica sales $492M and FY15 Imbruvica sales $1B; +11.1% afterhours
- XENT: Reports preliminary Q4 R$13.2-13.4M v $11.6Me; +10.9% afterhours
- SNX: Reports Q4 $1.83 v $1.70e, R$3.82B v $3.72Be; +5.7% afterhours
- HXL: Reports prelim FY14 adj $2.16 v $2.15e, Rev $1.86B v $1.85Be; Initiates quarterly dividend of $0.10/shr (implied yield 1.0%); +4.1% afterhours
- NEWP: Guides Q4 Rev $156M or higher v $154Me - conf presentation materials; +2.1% afterhours
- AA: Reports Q4 $0.33 v $0.26e, R$6.38B v $6.02Be; +1.5% afterhours
- AGIO: Celgene Agrees to Exercise its Option to License AG-120 under Global Strategic Collaboration; +1.1% afterhours
- VMI: Cuts FY14 $8.10-8.20 adj v $8.59e (prior $8.55-8.65); -0.2% afterhours
- WWW: Reports prelim Q4 R$808M v $789Me, FY14 at high end of $1.57-1.63 v $1.61e, R$2.76B v $2.74Be; Guides initial FY15 EPS flat y/y (implies $1.57-1.63 v $1.76e); -6.8% afterhours
- BGFV: Reports prelim Q4 $0.14-0.16 v $0.20e, R$250.3M v $257Me, SSS -0.5%; -8.3% afterhours
- ECOM: Lowers Q4 Rev guidance to $23.7M v $25.9Me (pior $25.6-26.1M); -29.6% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer Discretionary: Air China 601111.CN +1.6%, China Southern 600029.CN +0.5% (WTI crude lower)
- Financials: Huatai Securities 601688.CN +0.5% (Dec op results)
- Materials: BBMG 2009.HK -6.3% (FY14 guidance); Alumina AWC.AU +3.6% (Q4 production)
- Energy: JX Holdings 5020.JP -2.0% (to miss guidance)
- Industrials: Cardno Ltd CDD.AU -7.9% (appoints acting CEO)