Asian Mid-session Update: Soft China CPI raises concern over buildup in deflationary pressure
***Economic Data***
- (CN) CHINA OCT CPI Y/Y: 1.3% V 1.5%E; 6-month low
- (CN) CHINA OCT PPI Y/Y: -5.9% V -5.9%E; 44th straight month of decline
- (JP) JAPAN OCT BANK LENDING (INCL TRUSTS) Y/Y: 2.5% V 2.6%E; BANK LENDING (EX- TRUSTS) Y/Y: 2.5% V 2.6%E
- (JP) JAPAN SEPT CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE: ¥1.47T V ¥2.15TE; ADJUSTED CURRENT ACCOUNT: ¥0.78T V ¥1.50TE; TRADE BALANCE: ¥82.3B (first rise in 3 months) V ¥85.3BE
- (AU) AUSTRALIA SEPT HOME LOANS M/M: 2.0% V 0.0%E
- (AU) AUSTRALIA OCT NAB BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 2 V 5 PRIOR; CONDITIONS: 9 V 9 PRIOR
- (AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index: 116.6 v 115.2 prior
- (NZ) New Zealand REINZ Oct House Sales Y/Y: 18.6% v 38.3% prior
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND OCT RETAIL CREDIT CARD SPENDING M/M: 0.0% V 0.3%E; TOTAL M/M: 0.0% V 0.6% PRIOR
- (NZ) New Zealand Oct Truckometer Heavy M/M: 0.9% v 1.7% prior
- (PH) PHILIPPINES SEPT EXPORTS: $4.40B V $5.13B PRIOR; Y/Y: -24.7% V -8.3%E (biggest decline in 4 years)
- (UK) OCT BRC SHOP PRICE INDEX Y/Y: -0.2% V +0.8%E (31st month of decline)
***Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 -0.3%, S&P/ASX -0.6%, Kospi -1.5%, Shanghai Composite +0.4%, Hang Seng -1.2%, Dec S&P500 +0.2% at 2,077
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Dec gold +0.4% at $1,092/oz, Dec crude oil +0.7% at $44.16/brl, Dec copper -0.3% at $2.22/lb
- IEA Monthly Report: Sees production at 5M bpd after 2020 v 4.3M bpd in 2015
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall 3.0 tonnes to 666.1 tonnes; Lowest since 2008
- JGB: (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥500B in 0.1% 10-year CPI-linked Bonds; Bid-to-cover ratio: 2.21 x v 2.33x prior
- (CN) PBoC to inject CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos (37th consecutive injection)
- USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.3602 v 6.3578 prior setting; weakest Yuan setting since Oct 20th
***Market Focal Points/FX***
- Asian equity markets tracked more cautious sentiment on Wall St, where investors continued to take profits from a month-long rally after stronger than expected non-farm payrolls last week boosted expectations of rate liftoff next month and a potentially faster pace of tightening next year. Recovery in the US remains juxtaposed against less stellar datapoints in the far east. After soft China trade components released over the weekend, today's inflation data did little to dispel concerns over consumer demand. October CPI slowed to a 6-month low of 1.3% - Food component slid to 1.9% v 2.7% prior while Non-food was down slightly at 0.9% v 1.0% prior. Economists reflected on data potentially opening the door to further policy easing by the PBoC and the State Council to stimulate growth. Latest comments from PBoC Gov Zhou taken by Caixin press from his 5-yr plan statement did suggest that PBoC would look to intensify targeted measures and also improve economic policy coordination on fiscal and monetary policies.
- Japan current account was in surplus for the 15th straight month but the balance was well below expectations. YTD, however, the surplus quadrupled relative to y/y levels amid lower oil prices and weaker JPY. Economists did note that weak Asia demand for products such as steel weighed on the data. Separately, Econ Min Amari and PM Abe discussed reducing Japan corporate tax rates by wider than expected margin to boost corporate investment.
- Down under, Australia property sector data saw a modest bounce in home loans growth. NAB put out its Business Confidence and Conditions figures that were little changed from last month's levels, and NAB economists noted the findings support RBA remaining on hold for the medium term before an eventual rate hike some time in 2017.
- FX majors were generally rangebound, further consolidating outsized USD rally on Friday. USD/JPY traded in a 25-pip range above 123, AUD/USD in a 15-pip range above 0.7040, and NZD/USD in a 20-pip range above 0.6520. Copper contract was down for the 5th straight trading session, falling another 0.5% to multi-week lows of $2.21/lb.
***Equities***
US equities / ADRs:
- MDR: Reports Q3 +$0.09 adj v -$0.05e, R$806M v $780Me; +14.3% afterhours
- JIVE: Reports Q3 -$0.03 v -$0.06e, R$49.9M v $49.2Me; +9.0% afterhours
- BLCM: Reports Q3 -$0.51 v -$2.08 y/y, R$0.1M v $0.7M y/y; +8.4% afterhours
- DEPO: Reports Q3 $0.33 v $0.26e, R$105M v $103Me; +6.4% afterhours
- FSLR: Reports final Q3 GAAP EPS $3.41 (revised from prelim $3.38 reported on 10/29); Rev $1.3B v $987Me (prelim $1.3B); +1.0% afterhours
- SYF: To enter S&P 500 index, replacing GNW; Rovi demoted to S&P SmallCap 600 index from MidCap400; +0.9% afterhours
- CZR: Reports Q3 -$5.44 v -$0.22e (only 1 est.), R$1.14B v $1.02B y/y; -2.3% afterhours
- GPS: Reports prelim Q3 $0.62-0.63 v $0.67e; Rev $3.86B v $3.94Be; Reports Oct SSS -3%; -5.7% afterhours
- CPE: Announces 10M Share Common Stock Offering (15% of shares outstanding); -6.6% afterhours
- LGF: Reports Q2 -$0.19 adj v +$0.03e (unclear if comp), R$477M v $478Me; -6.6% afterhours
- BBSI: Responds to letter from Independent Auditor about a possible "illegal act": audit committee hires advisor to investigate BBSI's workers' compensation reserve; -19.9% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer discretionary: Toray Industries 3402.JP 0.1% (H1 result)
- Financials: Devine DVN.AU +25.6%, CIMIC Group CIM.AU -5.1% (CIMIC's offer); Eclipx Group ECX.AU -9.7% (FY15 result); OzForex Group OFX.AU +2.9% (H1 result); China Merchants Property Dev Co 000024.CN -1.3% (Oct result)
- Industrials: Incitec Pivot IPL.AU -2.5% (FY15 result); Bradken BKN.AU -5.8% (guidance); Asciano Limited AIO.AU +2.8% (receives proposal from Qube), Qube Logistics QUB.AU -3.1%
- Technology: Pegatron Corp 4938.TW +2.1% (Oct result); Universal Scientific Industrial Shanghai Co 601231.CN -1.1% (Oct result)
- Healthcare: Hanmi Pharmaceutical 128940.KR -2.7% (signs exclusive license agreemetn)