Tokyo Core CPI hits 22-year highs

Asian Market Update: Tokyo Core CPI hits 22-year highs; Baidu, Microsoft rally on earnings

Economic Data

- (JP) JAPAN APR TOKYO CPI Y/Y: 2.9% (multi-year high) V 3.0%E; CPI CORE Y/Y: 2.7% (22-year high) V 2.8%E

- (JP) JAPAN MAR NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: 1.6% V 1.6%E; CPI CORE Y/Y: 1.3% V 1.4%E; FY13/14 core CPI 0.8%, above 0.7% BOJ target

- (CN) CHINA Q1 PRELIMINARY CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE $7.2B v $49.8B PRIOR - FX REGULATOR SAFE

- (KR) SOUTH KOREA APR CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: 108 V 108 PRIOR

Market Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT):

- Nikkei225 +0.6%, S&P/ASX closes, Kospi -0.7%, Shanghai Composite +0.1%, Hang Seng -1.1%, Jun S&P500 flat at 1,873, Jun gold +0.1% at $1,292, Jun crude oil flat at $101.97/brl

Highlights/Observations/Insights

- Another busy session of top-tier earnings in US extended hours saw a fairly strong set of results from Baidu, Microsoft, and Starbucks. BIDU beat on top and bottom lines (Reports Q1 $1.24 adj v $0.94e, R$1.53B v $1.46Be) and also guided Q2 revenues well above consensus at $1.90-1.95B v $1.78Be. Bidu online marketing Rev rose 57% in Q1, helping send its shares up nearly 5% afterhours. Starbucks EPS was in line with ests at $0.56, but the company also raised its FY14 EPS target to $2.62-2.68 from $2.59-2.67. SBUX further noted it increased revenue and profits across all of its reportable segments in Q2, while its China Rev was up nearly 20%. MSFT is up 2.5% on a 6cent beat on the bottom line and revenues in line. Commercial licensing segment sales rose 3.4% while revenues in Hardware spiked up by 41%.

- Japan headlined economic data calendar with CPI figures that were largely in line with estimates for March on nationwide basis. FY13/14 core CPI at 0.8% was also above the 0.7% BOJ target ahead of next week's central bank update on growth and inflation projections. April Tokyo CPI - a forward looking gauge reflecting adjustment for the Apr 1st start to higher sales tax - rose to a 22-year high on core basis at 2.7%. Analysts are divided whether the stripped-down inflation is sufficiently high enough to keep the BOJ on the sidelines without more easing, however Fin Min Aso said the Tokyo figure indicates sales tax hike has been reflected in prices "steadily".

- Separately, Fin Min Aso also commented on the stalled TPP talks after Pres Obama left Japan for Korea, noting it does not appear the administration has the ability to push through a deal until mid-term elections. Even then, he said, there was no guarantee that Congress would pass TPP if a deal is reached. USD/JPY traded up about 30pips from session lows seen just before the inflation report.

- US State Sec Kerry kept up the pressure on the Russian side after tensions flared up into more violence in Ukraine overnight. Kerry said the Geneva agreement was "not optional", and after a week since the signing, only Ukraine side is keeping its promise toward de-escalation. Late in the US session, press reports indicated the next round of sanctions could target Gazprom's financing arm Gazprombank.

Fixed Income/Commodities/Currencies

- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥170B in JGBs with maturity over 10-yr and ¥140B in floating-rate JGBs

- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets Week ending April 23rd: $4.30T v $4.24T prior; Reserve Bank Credit: $4.25T v $4.20T prior; M1: +$28.3B v +$21.4B prior; M2: +$25.2B v +$41.5B prior; M1 y/y change: 10.2% (7-month high) v 10.0% w/w; M2 y/y change: 6.2% (3-month high) v 6.1% w/w

Equities

US markets:

- SYNA: Guides Q4 EPS $1.10-1.32 v $0.99e, Rev $275-295M v $235Me; GM 45-46% v 45.2% q/q - conf call; +10.9% afterhours

- CUDA: Reports Q4 $0.06 v $0.00e, R$60.3M v $59.2Me; +8.3% afterhours

- DECK: Reports Q4 -$0.08 v -$0.15e, R$295M v $285Me; +6.5% afterhours

- BIDU: Reports Q1 $1.24 adj v $0.94e, R$1.53B v $1.46Be; +4.6% afterhours

- SPWR: Reports Q1 $0.49 v $0.32e, R$684M v $655Me; +4.3% afterhours

- HBI: Reports Q1 $0.76 v $0.58e, R$1.06B v $1.08Be; +4.1% afterhours

- ALTR: Reports Q1 $0.37 v $0.32e, R$461.1M v $439Me; +4.0% afterhours

- DV: Reports Q3 $0.86 v $0.75e, R$496.1M v $492Me; +3.7% afterhours

- UA: Navient, Under Armour to Join the S&P 500; SLM, PolyOne to Join S&P MidCap 400; Aceto to Join S&P SmallCap 600; effective after close of trading on April 30th; +3.1% afterhours

- MSFT: Reports Q3 $0.68 v $0.62e, R$20.4B v $20.5Be; +2.5% afterhours

- SBUX: Reports Q2 $0.56 v $0.56e, R$3.87B v $3.97Be; +1.5% afterhours

- AMZN: Reports Q1 $0.23 v $0.22e, R$19.74B v $19.5Be; +0.3% afterhours

- EMN: Reports Q1 $ 1.61 v $1.60e, R$2.3B v $2.4Be; -2.0% afterhours

- BRCM: Reports Q1 $0.51 v $0.46e, R$1.98B v $1.96Be; -2.1% afterhours

- CB: Reports Q1 $1.50 v $1.50e, R$3.06B v $3.42Be; -2.7% afterhours

- CLF: Reports Q1 -$0.54 v -$0.21e, R$940M v $1.04Be; -3.5% afterhours

- EW: Reports Q1 $0.74 v $0.68e, R$522.4M v $524Me; -4.1% afterhours

- P: Reports Q1 -$0.13 v -$0.14e, R$194.3M v $176Me; -4.4% afterhours

- V: Reports Q2 $2.20 v $2.19e, R$3.16B v $3.20Be; -4.5% afterhours

- KLAC: Reports Q3 $1.23 v $1.10e, R$832M v $823Me; -5.5% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer Discretionary: BYD Corp 1211.HK +2.0% (Q1 results); Hisense Kelon Electrical 000921.CN -5.0% (Q1 results); Shiseido 4911.JP -3.9% (FY13/14 results)

- Consumer staples: Kweichow Moutai 600519.CN -7.4% (Q1 results)

- Financials: Bank of China 601988.CN +0.8% (Q1 results)

- Energy: PetroChina 601857.CN -0.1% (Q1 results)

- Industrials: Fuji Electric Holding 6504.JP +6.5% (FY13/14 results); Kawasaki Heavy Industries 7012.JP +5.7% (FY13/14 resulst); Hitachi Chemical 4217.JP +7.2% (FY13/14 results); Hitachi Construction Machinery 6305.JP +2.8% (FY13/14 results); Hitachi Metals Ltd 5486.JP +10.7% (FY13/14 results); Kia Motors 000270.KR -1.2% (Q1 results)

- Technology: Wangsu Science & Technology 300017.CN -4.0% (Q1 results); TCL Corp 1070.HK -3.7% (q1 results); Denso Corp 6902.JP -1.6% (FY13/14 results); Omron Corp 6645.JP -7.5% (FY13/14 results)

- Healthcare: Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical 002603.CN -4.9% (Q1 results)