Asian Mid-session Update: Broken Greece talks send stocks and euro lower
***Economic Data***
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND MAY PERFORMANCE SERVICES INDEX: 58 V 56.5 PRIOR; highest since July 2014
- (UK) UK JUN RIGHTMOVE HOUSE PRICES M/M: +3.0% (13-month high) V -0.1% PRIOR, Y/Y 4.5% V 2.5% PRIOR
***Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 -0.2%, S&P/ASX -0.6%, Kospi -0.4%, Shanghai Composite -1.5%, Hang Seng -1.4%, Sep S&P500 -0.4% at 2,076
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Aug gold +0.1% at $1,180/oz, Jul crude oil -0.4% at $59.74/brl, Jul copper -0.4% at $2.67/lb
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings decline 0.2 tonnes to 704.0 tonnes; lowest since Sept 2008
- USD/CNY: IMF team has arrived in Beijing to evaluate whether CNY currency (Yuan) should be included in the SDR basket - China Daily
***Market Focal Points/FX***
- More Greek turmoil and yet another failure between Athens and creditors to reach an agreement has translated into a decisively bearish start to the week. Despite hopeful comments from Greek govt officials on Saturday, talks in Brussels on Sunday reportedly lasted just 45 minutes before unravelling. Greek negotiators said they will not accept demands for cuts to pensions and wages or a rise in value-added tax on electricity, calling creditors' demands "irrational". Report out of European Commission meanwhile estimated that the overhaul plans presented by the Greek government still remain as much as €2B annually short of what has been demanded by its creditors. IMF representatives, who reportedly drive a harder stance in Greek negotiations, heeded the calculations by chief economist Blanchard who said the current economic and political developments make the target of a primary surplus in Greece an unattainable goal. Already skeptical of Greece commitment to reform, Germany's vice chancellor Gabriel summed up the Greek conflict with: "not just time is running out but also, everywhere in Europe, patience".
- China's Shanghai Comp and Hong Kong's Hang Seng are leading the slide in Asia despite the regulators' best attempts to cushion the slowdown. Ministry of Housing announced it would strengthen distribution of individual housing loans and to support housing consumption in H2. A local press report also noted the govt could announce a restructuring plan for iron and steel sector sometime soon to help ease overcapacity by merging 5 central SOEs into 2-3 companies. The financial sector remains in focus, with reports of total margin debt posting a new record high of CNY2.22T late last week, up another 2.3% w/w. Local press reports also noted CSRS has given a stern warning against margin financing and limited brokerages' margin trading volume to be up to 4 times of net capital. CSRC did conclude that the current margin trade risks are manageable, but intends to strengthen risk management and protect investors' interests.
- In FX, USD made notable gains against EUR on Greek concerns, as EUR/USD fell as much as 60pips to briefly test the downside of $1.12. Other USD major pairs are less impacted - with AUD/USD and NZD/USD down nearly 0.2% as low as 0.7710 and 0.6960 respectively. USD/JPY was little changed just below 123.50. S&P futures are down 10pts or 0.5% at 2,075, while the yield on the US 10-year is down 5bps at 2.34%.
***Equities***
US equities / ADRs:
- RYL: Standard Pacific Corp. and The Ryland Group, Inc Announce Merger of Equals; New entity to have $5.2B market cap
- BABA: To launch a subscription video service comparable to Netflix in the next 2 months in China - financial press
- CMCSA: Universal Pictures-distributed "Jurassic World" was the top film at the box office this weekend with $511.8M in sales
Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer discretionary: Belle International Holdings 1880.HK -3.1% (Q1 result); China Huishan Dairy Holdings 6863.HK -3.1 (profit warning)
- Financials: China Construction Bank 939.HK -1.3% (President to resign); China Overseas Grand Oceans Group 81.HK -1.9% (May result); Guotai Junan Securities 1788.HK +6.7% (A-share to be listed this week); China Resources Land 1109.HK +0.2% (May result); China Overseas Land 688.HK -1.2% (May result)
- Industrials: Isuzu Motors 7202.JP +1.2% (to form jv with GM)
- Materials: Wuhan Iron & Steel 600005.CN -0.4% (graft probe); Metcash MTS.AU +3.2% (Reports FY15, sells automotive business); Arrium ARI.AU -1.6% (lowers guidance)
- Telecom: Ten Network TEN.AU -1.9% (proposes to issue new shares to Foxtel)