Asian Mid-session Update: SNB "tsunami" spills into Asia as rising Yen pummels the Nikkei
***Economic Data***
- (SG) SINGAPORE NOV ELECTRONIC EXPORTS Y/Y: 0.4% V -9.0%E; NON-OIL DOMESTIC EXPORTS M/M: 0.1% V -1.6%E; Y/Y: 2.3% V -2.2%E
- (KR) South Korea Sept Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) 108.1, -0.6% m/m v -0.4% prior
- (JP) JAPAN NOV TERTIARY INDUSTRY INDEX M/M: 0.2% V 0.2%E
- (PE) PERU CENTRAL BANK CUTS REFERENCE RATE BY 25BPS TO 3.25%; NOT EXPECTED
***Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 -3.0%, S&P/ASX -1.1%, Kospi -1.2%, Shanghai Composite +1.0%, Hang Seng -0.9%, Mar S&P500 -0.7% at 1,975
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Feb gold -0.3% at $1,260, Feb crude oil +0.6% at $46.52/brl, Mar Copper -0.7% at $2.57/lb
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings rise 9.6 tonnes to 717.2 tonnes; highest since Dec 22nd, largest incresase since Aug 2012
- SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings fall to 10,108 tonnes from 10,150 tonnes priors; Lowest since Aug 2014
- CME raises margin requirements on Natural Gas (by 9.5%), Copper (by 17.2%), and FX futures
- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$700M in 2.75% 2019 bonds; Avg yield: 2.1532%; Bid-to-cover: 3.05x
- USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1188 v 6.1193 prior setting (strongest Yuan setting since Dec 26th)
- (JP) Japan investors bought net ¥455.1B in foreign bonds v bougt ¥20.1B in prior week; Foreign investors sold net ¥684.4B in Japan stocks v sold ¥40.7B in prior week
- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets for week ending Jan 14th: $4.52T v $4.50T prior; M1 y/y change: 9.3% v 11.0% w/w; M2 y/y change: 6.0% v 6.0% w/w
***Market Focal Points/Key Themes/FX***
- Volatility from the surprise SNB move to end the cap on EUR/CHF cross - infamously referred to as a "tsunami" for exporters by Swatch CEO - has reverberated further in other parts of the world. Nikkei225 was under the most extreme pressure, falling as much as 3% to 2 1/2 month lows in the morning session, as investors fled the yen-funded carry trades in favor of Treasuries. USD/JPY hit 1-month lows below ¥116, while EUR/JPY fell to 3-month lows below ¥134.80. In other USD majors, EUR/USD consolidated overnight losses in a 40pip range above $1.16, and USD/CHF regained CHF0.87 level late in the day after falling below CHF0.8450. Retail FX broker giant FXCM was also in the headlines, announcing "the company may be in breach of some regulatory capital requirements" given that clients generated combined negative equity balances of $225M from extreme liquidity drain after the SNB decision.
- Intel was down 2.5% afterhours despite beating on earnings and reporting revenues in line with consensus, as the company lowered its CapEx projections by 5% in FY15. In a conference call, the CFO said global PC supply chain appears to be healthy, though no emerging market PC recovery was likely.
- Shanghai Composite is a standout among regional indices, helped in part by PBoC announcing a CNY50B provision to support agriculture industry and small companies. Ahead of March announcement of 2015 GDP targets, China Vice Fin Min Zhu Guangyao said the govt would focus on maintaining growth in proper range, calling for timely promotion of economic reform.
- Ahead of next week's ECB decision and Greek elections later in the month, Austria's Nowotny warned the Greek exit would be extremely dangerous for Greece and all Europe development. ECB's Coeure added he would like to review US and UK QE to determine appropriate bond buy amount, and earlier reports from Greek press indicated two banks may have requested cash from the Bank of Greece via emergency liquidity assistance (ELA).
***Equities***
US markets:
- EOPN: Reportedly hires advisors to find a buyer for the company - press; +8.0% afterhours
- DEPO: To Acquire U.S. Rights to NUCYNTA for $1.05B; +4.9% afterhours
- RRC: Guides FY15 CAPEX lower to $870M (from $1.3B); cites lower commodity prices; Reports prelim 2014 production; +1.6% afterhours
- RNDY: Guides Q1 -$0.05 to $0.00 v $0.03e, Rev $980-990M v $1.06Be; +1.0% afterhours
- SLB: Reports Q4 $1.50 v $1.47e, R$12.6B v $12.7Be; cutting workforce by 9,000 jobs due to lower E&P spending (7% of workforce); to take $967M in charges on workforce reduction, Venezuela FX devaluation, and Eagle Ford impairment; flat afterhours
- RGC: Provides Update on Strategic Review Process; not seeking to sell company; -1.6% afterhours
- INTC: Reports Q4 $0.74 v $0.66e, R$14.7B v $14.7Be; -2.5% afterhours
- TESS: Reports Q3 $0.20 v $0.31e, R$135.2M v $147Me; To restructure further; -3.0% afterhours
- PCP: Reports prelim Q3 $3.05-3.10 v $3.41e, Rev $2.42-2.47B v $2.56Be; -3.1% afterhours
- BJRI: Reports prelim Q4 Rev $213.9M v $214Me; -5.4% afterhours
- FXCM: Comments on Swiss Franc movement; Clients generated combined negative equity balances of $225M; -12.1% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer Discretionary: Shanghai Yanhua Smartech Group 002178.CN +10.0% (plans private placement); JSR Corp 4185.JP -5.0% (press speculation on 9-month results)
- Financials: Industrial Bank of China 601166.CN -1.5% (prelim FY14 results); Central China Real Estate 832.HK +2.7% (Dec sales result)
- Materials: Resolute Mining RSG.AU +10.5% (update on gold project); Dowa Holdings 5714.JP +2.3% (press speculation on 9-month results)
- Energy: Solargiga Energy Holdings 757.HK +3.8% (FY14 results)
- Industrials: COSCO Shipping 600428.CN +2.3% (prelim FY14 results); Leighton Holdings LEI.AU -2.1% (Stockland walked away from property unit acquisition)
- Utilities: Huadian Power International 600027.CN +1.4% (2014 power generation results); China Yangtze Power 600900.CN +1.5% (FY14 results)