Asian Mid-session Update: China Flash PMI remains in contraction; Greece closer to agreement, but Euro falls
***Economic Data***
- (CN) CHINA JUNE HSBC FLASH MANUFACTURING PMI: 49.6 V 49.4E; 4th month of contraction
- (JP) JAPAN JUNE PRELIMINARY MARKIT/JMMA MANUFACTURING PMI: 49.9 V 50.5E
- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q1 HOUSE PRICE INDEX Q/Q: 1.6% V 2.0%E; Y/Y: 6.9% V 7.4%E
***Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 +1.6%, S&P/ASX +1.2%, Kospi +1.3%, Shanghai Composite -2.4%, Hang Seng +0.2%, Sep S&P500 +0.1% at 2,117
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Aug gold +0.1% at $1,186/oz, Aug crude oil -0.3% at $60.01/brl, Jul copper +1.2% at $2.61/lb
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings rise 3.6 tonnes to 705.5 tonnes; first rise since May 26
- SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings falls to 10,168 tonnes from 10,198 tonnes
- (CN) PBoC won't conduct open market operations (OMO) in today's session (19th consecutive halt)
***Market Focal Points/FX***
- European negotiators have seemingly made substantive progress with Athens, announcing the two sides have come to terms on the principles of Greek debt program. While there were few details announced in the press conference and European side stated there is still a lot of work that needs to be done over the next 48 hours, EC president Juncker said today's set of proposals from Greece "represents a major step", expressing confidence the process could be finalized this week. Juncker added capital controls and debt relief were not discussed. Separately, Germany's Merkel said EU leaders support commitments toward the deal which does not contain extension of the bailout. Greek PM Tsipras also spoke, stating the solution needs to include economic viability and growth measures.
- Shanghai Composite trading resumed where it left off the week - with another selloff in spite of strength everywhere else. After a volatile morning, bears exerted more control, sending the A-shares to a 1-month low below 4,300 despite China's CICC anticipating a 2nd half recovery in China economy. China June flash manufacturing PMI data were also mixed - although the gauge remains in contraction for the 4th straight month, the headline figure was above consensus and Output component rose to 50.0 from 49.3. New Orders and Backlog components were also notably stronger, while Employment conditions deteriorated further in what the resident economist called the sharpest staff reduction in 6 years.
- In other Asia-Pac economic data, Japan's prelim manufacturing PMI slid back into marginal contraction, as production growth slowed and new order demand contract for the 3rd time this year. Similar to China, Japan PMI employment component was also soft, even though Japan's more favorable exchange rate translated into an upbeat exports view. Australia's house price index came in below expectations, but the bifurcated nature of the regional property sector remained evident inside the numbers, with Sydney prices rising over 3% m/m and 13% y/y, eclipsing all others by a large margin.
- In currencies, USD traded higher across the board, particularly against the single currency. EUR/USD fell 80pips below $1.1270, USD/JPY rose 30pips to ¥124.70, while AUD and NZD fell as much as 40pips against the greenback to as low as $0.7695 and $0.6835 respectively.
***Equities***
US ADRs:
- GDOT: To Remain Program Manager and Green Dot Bank to Remain Issuing Bank for Walmart MoneyCard; +31.6% afterhours
- SONC: Reports Q3 $0.38 v $0.37e, R$164.7M v $163Me; -5.6% afterhours
Notable Asia-Pacific:
- FLT.AU: Cuts FY14/15 guidance NPAT A$355-365M (prior A$360-390M); -13%
- HSO.AU: Announces sale of Australian Pathology operations for A$105M; +2.6%