China property price growth slows further

Economic Data

- (CN) CHINA JUN NEW HOME PRICES M/M: PRICES RISE IN 8 OF 70 CITIES V 15 PRIOR; Y/Y: PRICES RISE IN 69 OF 70 CITIES V 69 PRIOR

- NPD: June total US video game sales $736M, +24% y/y

Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)

- Nikkei225 -1.3%, S&P/ASX +0.1%, Kospi -0.4%, Shanghai Composite +0.3%, Hang Seng -0.5%, Sept S&P500 -0.1% at 1,951

Commodities/Fixed Income/Currencies

- Aug gold -0.1% at $1,316, Aug crude oil +0.6% at $103.83/brl, Sept Copper flat at $3.22/lb

- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$1.5B in 2.75% bonds due 2019; Avg yield: 2.8736%; Bid-to-cover: 2.59x

- (JP) Japan's MoF sells ¥2.46T in 0.1% (0.2% prior) 5-yr notes; Avg yield: 0.147% v 0.185% prior; Bid to cover: 4.14x v 4.62x prior

- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets Week ending July 16th: $4.40T v $4.38T prior; Reserve Bank Credit: $4.36T v $4.34T prior; M1 y/y change: 11.1% v 10.9% w/w; M2 y/y change: 6.5% v 6.4% w/w

- USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1568 v 6.1564 prior setting (weakest Yuan setting since Jul 8th; 6th consecutive weaker setting)

Market Focal Points/Key Themes

- China property sector is in focus with the release of June property price data. Across all-70 cities prices fell m/m for the 2nd consecutive month, down -0.5% v -0.2% prior, while y/y price growth slowed to 4.2% from 5.4%. Overall, new home prices rose in just 8 cities vs 15 in the prior month and fell in 52 cities vs 35 prior. Existing home sales price declines were pronounced even in the top-tier cities, with 1.3% m/m declines in Beijing and -0.7% in Shanghai. Top property names are trading higher however on indication of more relaxed sentiment toward easing property curbs from a Chinese govt official. Newly appointed Land and Resources (MLR) Minister Chen Zhenggao said the local govt can introduce policies on property market according to their situation. Those comments come in the context of the statement from Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development official overnight who said the govt supports reasonable housing needs, but would curb speculative demand.

- Sentiment started out cautious overall across the Asian markets, tracking late-session selloff on Wall Street. There is little certainty over the details in the downing of Malaysian Airlines aircraft in east Ukraine, as Western leaders express their condemnation for the presumed terrorist act and call for international investigations on the ground. Rebel leaders said they will hand over the aircraft blackbox to Moscow and that they will agree to a ceasefire to facilitate the recovery operation. Separatists are also pleading innocence, stating they do not have the required technology to down an aircraft flying at 10km altitude, while Ukraine Pres Poroshenko said he was certain his side did not fire on any aerial targets. Russia Pres Putin said the entire conflict is to blame for the tragedy, but that ultimately the fault is with Kiev for conducting military action in the region. Malaysian Airlines shares were down 10%, and most international carriers have now formally diverted their routes away from Ukraine. Geopolitical tensions were also emanating out of the Middle East, where Israeli govt confirmed it has started ground operations in Gaza.

- BOJ released the minutes of its June policy meeting, reiterating most members agree on continued easing until 2% inflation is stable. BOJ also agreed to monitor risks and adjust policy if needed, while some members saw the easing effects intensifying. Nikkei225 is the underperformer among the regional indices, tracking firmer JPY receiving the safe-haven bid during the US session when USD/JPY fell below 101.10 - 1-week low.

- Among notable US names reporting results after market close, GOOG is up modestly despite missing on earnings as paid clicks rose 25% y/y. Seagate and IBM are down about 2% each in extended session, and AMD is down a pronounced 19% on contracting gross margins and soft revenue guidance for Q3.

Equities

US markets:

- GTIV: Rejects Kindred offer; receives alternative proposal from another party at $17.25/shr (8% higher than $16/shr offer from KND); does not disclose the name of the alternative party; +10.9% afterhours

- SWKS: Reports Q3 $0.83 v $0.80e, R$587.0M v $570Me; +8.3% afterhours

- CE: Reports Q2 $1.47 v $1.23e, R$1.77B v $1.72Be; Raises FY14 EPS growth to 15-17% (implies $5.18-5.27 v $5.09e) from 12-14%; +2.4% afterhours

- MATW: Reports Q2 $0.86 v $0.80e, R$280.0M v $264Me; +1.1% afterhours

- GOOG: Reports Q2 $6.08 v $6.23e, R$12.7B v $12.4Be; +1.0% afterhours

- PETM: Said to be interviewing investment banks, seeking advice amid investors' demand for sale - financial press; +0.9% afterhours

- COF: Reports Q1 $2.04 v $1.79e, R$5.5B v $5.43Be; -0.3% afterhours (after initially rising over 0.6%)

- STX: Reports Q4 $1.10 (adj) v $1.10e, R$3.30B v $3.32Be; Guides Q1 Rev at least $3.55B v $3.52Be; Q1 product GM to be relatively flat - conf call; -1.7% afterhours

- IBM: Reports Q2 $4.32 v $4.31e, R$24.4B v $24.2Be; -2.0% afterhours

- AMD: Reports Q2 $0.02 v $0.03e, R$1.44B v $1.44Be; Guides Q3 Rev +2%, +/- 3% q/q implies $1.47B v $1.58Be; -19.0% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer Discretionary: Unicharm 8113.JP +1.8% (press speculation on Q1 results); Qingdao Doublestar 000599.CN -1.7% (prelim H1 results)

- Financials: Haitong Securities 6837.HK -0.3% (H1 prelim results); China Vanke 000002.CN +3.8%, Poly Real Estate 600048.CN +6.6% (China Jun housing price data)

- Materials: OZ Minerals OZL.AU -0.7% (Q2 production results); BBMG Corp 2009.HK -1.4% (H1 guidance)

- Energy: China Shenhua Energy 1088.HK -1.4% (Jun coal output)

- Technology: Sharp Corp 6753.JP -3.1% (press speculation on Q1 results); Forgame 484.HK -10.5% (H1 guidance)

- Utilities: Yaskawa Electric 6506.JP +2.9% (Q1 results)