Asian Mid-session Update: China property prices slide again; USD listless ahead of key Fed decision
***Economic Data***
- (CN) CHINA FEB NEW HOME PRICES M/M: FALL IN 66 OUT OF 70 CITIES VS 64 PRIOR; Y/Y: FALL IN 69 CITIES V 69 PRIOR
- (JP) JAPAN FEB MERCHANDISE TRADE BALANCE: -¥425B (smallest deficit in 2 years) V -¥987BE; ADJ TRADE BALANCE: -¥639B V -¥1.2TE
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB WESTPAC LEADING INDEX M/M: 0.3% V 0.1% PRIOR
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q4 CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE (NZ$): -3.2B V -3.1BE
- (KR) SOUTH KOREA FEB UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 3.9% V 3.4%E
- (SL) SRI LANKA LEAVES REVERSE REPO RATE UNCHANGED AT 8.00% (EXPECTED); LEAVES REPURCHASE RATE UNCHANGED AT 6.50% (EXPECTED)
***Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 -0.1%, S&P/ASX -0.6%, Kospi +0.2%, Shanghai Composite +0.7%, Hang Seng +0.9%, Jun S&P500 flat at 2,066
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Apr gold +0.2% at $1,150, Apr crude oil +0.2% at $42.58/brl
- (NZ) Fonterra Global Dairy Trade auction: Dairy Trade price index -8.8% (first decline in 7 auctions) from prior auction v +1.1% prior
- (US) API PETROLEUM INVENTORIES: CRUDE: +10.5M (largest build in 4 weeks) v +4Me, GASOLINE: -0.58M v -1Me, DISTILLATE: -0.25M v -0.5Me
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall 2.7 tonnes to 748.0 tonnes; Lowest since Jan 26th
- JGB: (JP) Japan's MoF sells ¥1.09T in 1.2% (1.2% prior) 20-year JGBs; Avg yield: 1.199% v 1.274% prior; bid-to-cover: 3.42x v 3.51x prior
- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$700M in 4.25% bonds due 2026; Avg yield: 2.5432%; Bid-to-cover: 3.86x
- USD/CNY: PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1556 v 6.1585 prior setting (strongest yuan setting since Mar 6th)
***Market Focal Points/FX***
- China indices are leading Asia trade yet again, with particular strength observed among the property developers on expectation of more govt intervention. China property price average in the top 70 cities fell for the 10th consecutive month sequentially, and y/y decline accelerated to -5.7% from -5.1%. Top-tier Beijing and Shanghai markets were not immune to the February slowdown, falling by 3.6% and 4.7% respectively. Stats Bureau has once again hid behind the holiday seasonality in explaining away the decline, forecasting a significant rebound in March.
- All eyes are on the FOMC policy statement in the US on Wednesday, with much of the focus falling on whether the statement will take out the "patient" language as forecasted by Fed watcher Hilsenrath. USD majors are particularly quiet before tomorrow's storm - EUR/USD is trading about 10pips on either side of $1.06 mark, USD/JPY is in a 15pip range below 121.40, and AUD/USD in a 20pip range below 0.7630. NZD fell nearly 100pips during the US session, accentuated by loss following the first decline in Fonterra auction price in 4 months, but remains supported above 0.73 in Asia. Also of note in New Zealand, Q4 current account registered a slightly wider than expected current account deficit ahead of tomorrow's GDP report.
- In Japan, a number of automakers largely confirmed press speculation related to their spring wage negotiations - Toyota raises monthly base pay by ¥4K, Nissan by ¥5K, and Mitsubishi Motors by ¥2K - well below its union's request of ¥6K/month. Sony revised its Q3 higher and traded up 5%, while Nintendo was in bid-only mode up 20% on partnership with DeNA in mobile gaming. Japan trade data finally showed some improvement, posting its smallest headline deficit in 2 years on much higher than expected exports and surprise decline in imports. Shipments to China fell 14%, but those to US were up 14% and Europe up 2%.
***Equities***
US markets:
- VRML: Unit entered into three agreements with Quest Diagnostics - filing; +35.8% afterhours
- ZQK: Reports Q1 -$0.11 v -$0.13 y/y, R$341M v $337Me; +16.5% afterhours
- WIX: Guides Q1 higher R$44-45M v $44Me (prior $43-44M); EBITDA -$1M to -$2M v -$4 to -$3M prior; +10.1% afterhours
- HLF: Los Angeles Federal Judge: Herbalife wins dismissal of shareholders' pyramid scheme suit; +3.7% afterhours
- ORCL: Reports Q3 $0.68 (adj) v $0.68e, R$9.33B v $9.45Be; Raises quarterly dividend 25% to $0.15/shr; +1.7% afterhours
- STLD: Guides Q1 $0.12-0.16 v $0.24e; -3.1% afterhours
- ADBE: Reports Q1 $0.44 v $0.39e, R$1.11B v $1.08Be; -3.8% afterhours
- NKTR: Etirinotecan Pegol (NKTR-102) Prolonged Median Overall Survival by 2.1 Months versus Active Control in Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer in Phase 3 Study; Trial Did Not Achieve Statistical Significance; -16.8% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer Discretionary: Zensho Holdings 7550.JP +1.8% (sells asset)
- Financials: China Aoyuan Property Group 3883.HK +2.3% (FY14 results); Ping An Insurance 601318.CN +1.5% (restructure of Lufax); China Vanke 000002.CN +2.0%, Poly Real Estate 600048.CN +3.9%, China Merchants Property 000024.CN +3.3% (China Feb home prices)
- Materials: Wuhan Iron & Steel 600005.CN +3.4%, Xinjiang Ba Yi Iron & Steel 600581.CN +10.1% (comments on M&A activities in steel industry); Fortescue FMG.AU -7.1% (scraps plan of notes offering, citing unmet cost objectives)
- Energy: Huaneng Renewable Corp 958.HK +3.8% (FY14 results)
- Industrials: Boral Ltd BLD.AU +1.0% (plans buyback)
- Technology: Nintendo 7974.JP +21% (to sell shares to DeNA; to design mobile games with DeNA); Sony 6758.JP +5.3% (revises Q3 results)