US Treasury calls on Korea to exercise restraint on FX support

Asian Mid-session Update: China CPI steady, PPI declines stop accelerating; US Treasury calls on Korea to exercise restraint on FX support

Economic Data

- (CN) CHINA MAR CPI Y/Y: 1.4% V 1.3%E (3-month high)

- (CN) CHINA MAR PPI Y/Y: -4.6% V -4.8%E

- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB HOME LOANS M/M: 1.2% V 3.0%E

- (JP) JAPAN MAR BANK LENDING (INCL TRUSTS): 2.7% V 2.8%E; BANK LENDING (EX- TRUSTS): 2.6% (3-month high) V 2.6%E

- (PE) PERU CENTRAL BANK LEAVES REFERENCE RATE UNCHANGED AT 3.25%; AS EXPECTED

Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)

- Nikkei225 -0.1%, S&P/ASX +0.3%, Kospi +1.0%, Shanghai Composite +0.7%, Hang Seng -0.1%, Jun S&P500 -0.1% at 2,083

Commodities/Fixed Income

- Jun gold +0.2% at $1,196/oz, May crude oil -0.1% at $50.75/brl, May copper +0.2% at $2.735/lb

- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings rise 3.0 tonnes to 736.0 tonnes; 1-week high

- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥375B in 1-3yr JGBs, ¥375B in 3-5yr JGBs, ¥240B in 10-25yr JGBs and ¥140B in JGBs with maturity over 25-yr as well as ¥1.8T in T-bills

- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$2B in 1.75% govt bonds due 2020; Avg yield: 2.0007%; Bid-to-cover: 3.14x

- (CN) China MoF sells 1-yr bonds at 3.13% yield

- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets for week ending Apr 8th: $4.48T v $4.48T prior; Reserve Bank Credit: $4.45T v $4.44T prior; M1 y/y change: 8.4% v 8.8% w/w; M2 y/y change: 5.9% v 5.9% w/w

Market Focal Points/FX

- China kicked off economic reports for the month of March in decent fashion, as CPI held steady at 1.4% beating consensus by a decimal and PPI declines stopped accelerating for the first time in 8 months. Sequentially, CPI fell 0.5% after rising 1.2% in Feb, but YTD CPI edged up to 1.2% from 1.1%. Non-food component was unchanged at 0.9%. Analysts are split on the implications of the latest inflation data - some see the report as beginning of stabilization that would diminish the need for PBoC to ease aggressively, while others do not see the release sufficiently significant to alter the increasingly more regular easing path. Investors will monitor lending, M2 money supply, and Trade figures expected over the next few trading sessions.

- China and Hong Kong equity markets are taking a breather from the volatility of the last two days, however there appears to be a sense of resignation that the path of least resistance is higher still. Local press attributed the sharp rally on the Hang Seng to two straight days of full use of quota for Shanghai - Hong Kong stock connect as investors sought to take advantage of a discount of as much as 24% for individual Hong Kong traded stocks relative to their mainland dual listings. Separately, China State Council reiterated intention to continue prudent monetary policy and proactive fiscal policy, and a Chinese official also pledged more measures to stabilize trade growth, particularly if the trend of falling imports persists. In the property sector, Shanghai announced it would raise the amount of funds allowed for loans under the city's housing fund program to CNY1M from CNY600K.

- USD majors are particularly moribund in spite of the volatility in the US session. EUR/USD is in a 30pip range above $1.0650 and USD/JPY consolidated its gains within the 120.40-60 band. AUD/USD fell over 20pips on the release of China CPI that coincided with disappointing home loans data, but quickly reversed all of those losses. Also of note in FX, US Treasury's Semiannual Report on Exchange Rate Policies once again did not name any major trading partner a "currency manipulator", but renewed calls for South Korea to limit its intervention in FX only to instances of "disorderly" markets. Korea's response was that it leaves exchange rate to the markets, but will not change is "smoothing" operations. On China, US Treasury noted that while it made further progress, the CNY currency remains significantly undervalued.

Equities

US equities/ADRs:

- QTM: Reports prelim Q4 $0.04 v $0.01e, Rev $145M v $130Me; +34.2% afterhours

- ACUR: To Develop Abuse Deterrent Hydrocodone With Acetaminophen Tablets With Limitx Technology; +8.4% afterhours

- RT: Reports Q3 -$0.01 v -$0.06e, R$286M v $284Me; +0.3% afterhours

- EBAY: Provides update on planned spin-off of PayPal, including 5-year non-compete clause - filing; +0.1% afterhours

- GPS: Reports Mar SSS +2% v +0.6%e; -2.0% afterhours

- ANGO: Reports Q3 $0.12 v $0.15e, R$86.6Mv $88.7Me; -5.8% afterhours

- CTXS: Reports prelim Q1 $0.63-0.65 v $0.71e, R$755-760M v $785Me; -5.8% afterhours

- FIS: Guides Q1 lower $0.64-0.66 v $0.72e, Guides FY15 lower $3.27-3.37 v $3.40e, Rev +1-3%(implies R$6.47-6.6B v $6.78Be) ($0.67-0.72, FY15 $3.37-3.49, Rev +5-7% prior) cites FX; Announces Changes in Segment Reporting; -6.0% afterhours

- DB: Said to be close to settling LIBOR manipulation litigation; May pay up to $1.5B to various regulators

- NY Times; -6.5% afterhours

- MDCO: Guides Q1 R$125-130M v $184Me; -8.3% afterhours

- EXTR: Reports prelim Q3 -$0.09 to -$0.07 v $0.00e, R$118-120M v $135Me (prior forecast -$0.03 to +$0.02, R$130-140M); -19.8% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer Discretionary: Fast Retailing 9983.JP +3.8% (H1 results); J.Front Retailing 3086.JP +1.1% (FY14/15 results); Aeon Co Ltd 8267.JP +5.4% (FY14/15 results)

- Financials: Haitong Securities 6837.HK -3.7% (Mar op results); CITIC Securities 6030.HK -2.0% (Mar op results); Greentown China 3900.HK +0.3% (Mar sales results); Poly Real Estate 600048.CN -2.8% (Mar sales results)

- Materials: Panoramic Resources PAN.AU -8.2% (Mar quarter production results)

- Technology: Asahi Glass 5201.JP -2.0% (speculation on Q1 results)