Asian Market Update: Australia returns to trade surplus while retail sales continue pace of modest growth, sending AUD higher
***Economic Data*** - (AU) AUSTRALIA DEC TRADE BALANCE: +A$468M (2nd month of surplus following revision of prior after 4 months of deficit) V -A$200ME - (AU) AUSTRALIA DEC RETAIL SALES M/M: 0.5% V 0.5%E - (AU) AUSTRALIA Q4 NAB BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 8 V 3 PRIOR - (HK) HONG KONG JAN HSBC/MARKIT PMI: 52.7 V 51.2 PRIOR (23-month high) - (JP) JAPAN JAN TOKYO AVERAGE OFFICE VACANCIES: 7.2 V 7.3 PRIOR - (JP) Japan investors sold net ¥1.82T in foreign bonds last week (3rd consecutive week of net sales) vs sold net ¥357.0B in prior week; Foreign Investors sold net ¥751.9B in Japan stocks v sold net ¥154.6B in prior week - (TH) THAILAND JAN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: 71.5 V 73.4 PRIOR - (VN) VIETNAM JAN HSBC/MARKIT MANUFACTURING PMI: 52.1 V 51.8 PRIOR - (TW) TAIWAN JAN CPI Y/Y: 0.8% V 0.6%E; WPI Y/Y: 0.4% V 0.3%E
***Observations/Insights*** - Green Mountain surges over 40% in extended session after announcing a 10% equity investment from Cola-Cola; SodaStream fizzles out on diminished likelihood of a buyout (as rumored in June 2013). - Twitter disappoints in its first earnings report as a public company, falling nearly 20% and dragging Facebook down by about 2% afterhours. Analysts are particularly concerned about a slow growth in the Monthly Active Users (MAUs) metric (only in line with the growth at Facebook), prompting CEO to pledge to scale revenues with new ad products. - Pandora tops estimates but shares slide afterhours on soft initial FY14 guidance. - Australia retail sales growth was in line with consensus, while terms of trade turned the corner to the upside. After last month's upward revision (previously seen as a deficit), this marks a 2nd consecutive month of surplus. Exports were particularly strong, rising 4% m/m, with China-bound shipments growing an impressive 8.2%. Exports of iron ore jumped 16.9% m/m to A$7.3B. - Shanghai Composite will resume trading tomorrow after the Lunar New Year week-long break. Local press reports suggest retail market was strong despite the scrutiny placed on luxury gifts amid govt crackdown on corruption. - Pair of BOJ board members hint the central bank will "act as needed" to achieve 2% inflation target within the specified time frame. While the commentary is shy of an explicit commitment to further easing, it does suggest the BOJ took note of yesterday's tepid wage growth.
***Fixed Income/Commodities/Currencies*** - JGB: (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥457.4B in 1.7% (1.7% prior) 30-yr notes; Avg yield: 1.587% v 1.665% prior; Bid to cover: 3.43x v 3.34x prior - SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings fall to 10,090.7 tonnes from 10,095.1 tonnes
- AUD was back in focus, retaking the $0.89 handle after stronger than expected trade data. AUD/USD hit $0.8980 after the reports - up 70pips from opening lows - while AUD/JPY and AUD/NZD also rose about 60pips each for ¥91.25 and NZ$1.09 respective highs. JPY was under slight pressure following BOJ Dep Gov Nakaso commentary, rising over 30pips from the lows above the ¥101.60 level. EUR/USD traded down about 20pips below $1.3520 in the afternoon session ahead of the ECB rate decision that some expect to turn more dovish after the recent soft inflation prints.
***Speakers/Political/In the Papers*** - (CN) China National Audit Office: To impose stricter audits to intensify crackdown on corruption - China Daily - (CN) China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC): To improve agricultural product price system - Chinese press - (CN) China Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM): Consumer market was strong during Lunar new year despite the decline in luxury sales - Shanghai Daily - (JP) Japan BOJ Dep Gov Nakaso: BOJ will act to achieve 2% target if necessary; Expects growth in developed economies to accelerate, as well as effect to spread to emerging markets - (JP) BOJ Dep Gov Iwata: Will not stop easing abruptly without inflation target achieved; Japan making steady progress towards BOJ's 2% inflation target - (AU) Australia Treasurer Hockey: Australia must maintain fiscal flexibility; Govt has to repair budget as budget is structurally unsustainable - (NZ) Auckland avg home price in Jan fell 7.6% m/m to NZ$647.2K; Still up 7.7% y/y - NZ press - (KR) South Korea state-run think tank Korea Development Institute (KDI): Economy showing signs of "moderate recovery" - Korean press - (KR) South Korea Financial Supervisory Service (FSS): Foreign investors were net sellers of Korean stocks in Jan for the 3rd consecutive month - Korean press - (RU) US Govt issues advisory to airlines flying into Russia for the Olympic games, suggesting potential terrorist threat
***Equities*** Market Snapshot (as of 04:30 GMT): - Nikkei225 +0.4%, S&P/ASX +1.1%, Kospi +0.8%, Shanghai Composite closed, Hang Seng +0.5%, Mar S&P500 +0.3% at 1,748, Apr gold -0.1% at $1,255, Mar crude oil +0.2% at $97.54/brl
US markets: - GMCR: Coca-Cola and GMCR enter into Long-Term Global Strategic Partnership; KO takes a 10% stake for $1.25B; Reports Q1 $0.96 v $0.91e, R$1.39B v $1.41Be; +45.1% afterhours - AKAM: Reports Q4 $0.55 v $0.51e, R$436M v $422Me; Guides Q1 $0.51-0.55 v $0.49e, R$426-442M v $414Me - conf call; +17.8% afterhours - YELP: Reports Q4 -$0.03 v -$0.02e, R$70.7M v $67.1Me; +7.4% afterhours - DIS: Reports Q1 $1.04 adj v $0.91e, R$12.31B v $12.3Be; +3.4% afterhours - ALL: Reports Q4 $1.70 v $1.38e, R$8.79B v $7.45Be; +2.3% afterhours - HOG: Raises quarterly dividend by 31% to $0.275/shr; announces 20M (9.0% of shares outstanding) share repurchase authorization; +1.3% afterhours - ORLY: Reports Q4 $1.40 v $1.32e, R$1.62B v $1.60Be; +1.3% afterhours - CSCO: Enter Into Patent Cross-License Agreement with Samsung; Marks Important Industry Step to Enhance Cooperation by Curbing Unnecessary Patent Litigation; +0.4% afterhours
- PRU: Reports Q4 $2.20 v $2.23e, R$10.98B v $11.5Be; -1.2% afterhours - FMC: Reports Q4 $1.05 v $0.95e, R$1.1B v $1.04Be; -2.0% afterhours - MRO: Reports Q4 $0.60 adj v $0.74e, R$3.29B v $3.53Be; -3.4% afterhours - TSO: Reports Q4 $0.04 v $0.30e, R$10.1B v $9.92Be; -3.9% afterhours - SRI: Guides FY13 lower to $0.55-0.60 v $0.76e, R$945-950M v $956Me ($0.75-0.95, R$939-974M prior); Guides initial FY14; -4.6% afterhours - IRBT: Reports Q4 $0.11 v $0.11e, R$126.3M v $126Me; -6.6% afterhours - WNC: Reports Q4 $0.15 v $0.23e, R$458.4M v $457Me; -7.6% afterhours - P: Reports Q4 $0.10 v $0.07e, R$204M v $197Me; Exec: expect to return to profitability after net loss expected in Q1 - press interview; -9.9% afterhours - TWTR: Reports Q4 $0.02 v -$0.02e, R$243M v $212Me; Confident we can continue to scale revenue by adding new ad products - conf call; -17.9% afterhours
Notable movers by sector: - Consumer Discretionary: Fuji Media Holdings 4676.JP +5.5% (9M results); Wynn Macau 1128.HK +3.1%, Sands China 1928.HK +7.0%, Galaxy Entertainment Group 27.HK +4.0% (positive comment from JP Morgan) - Consumer staples: Woolworths Limited WOW.AU +2.0% (H1 results) - Materials: Alumina Ltd AWC.AU +2.7% (intends to delist from NYSE); Ube Industries 4208.JP -6.6% (9M results) - Industrials: Mazda Motor 7261.JP +5.2% (9M results); Asciano Ltd AIO.AU -1.5% (provides update on damaged equipment); Virgin Australia VAH.AU +7.0% (response to ASX price query) - Healthcare: Takeda Pharmaceutical 4502.JP -2.0% (9M results)