AUD/USD higher on NAB business confidence figure

Asian Mid-session Update: Singapore Central Bank kept fx policy stance; AUD/USD higher on NAB business confidence figure

Economic Data

- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q1 NZIER BUSINESS OPINION SURVEY: 23 V 24 PRIOR

- (NZ) New Zealand REINZ Mar House Price Index: 4,340.9 v 4,069.7 prior; House Sales Y/Y: 20.3% v 12.6% prior

- (AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index: 109.8 v 109.7 prior

- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR NAB BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 3 V 0 PRIOR; CONDITIONS: 6 V 2 PRIOR

- (SG) SINGAPORE Q1 ADVANCED GDP Q/Q: 1.1% V 0.2%E; Y/Y: 2.1% V 1.7%E

- (ID) Indonesia Mar Motorcycle Sales: 546.2K v 556.1K prior

- (UK) UK MAR BRC SALES LFL Y/Y: 3.2% V 0.5%E (highest since Apr 2014)

Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)

- Nikkei225 -0.1%, S&P/ASX -0.1%, Kospi +0.1%, Shanghai Composite +1.0%, Hang Seng -0.5%, Jun S&P500 +0.1% at 2,089

Commodities/Fixed Income

- Jun gold +0.1% at $1,200/oz, May crude oil +0.9% at $52.40/brl, May copper +0.2% at $2.72/lb

- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$200M in 1% indexed bonds due 2018; Avg yield: -0.0763% (first time below zero yield for inflation-linked bonds); Bid-to-cover: 4.62x

- (CN) PBoC to inject CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos (14th consecutive injection); Offer yield at 3.35% v 3.45% prior on Apr 8th (5th yield cut this year)

- JGB: (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥2.29B in 0.1% (0.1% prior) 5-yr bonds; Avg yield: 0.0810% v 0.122% prior; Bid-to-cover: 3.38x v 3.64x prior

Market Focal Points/FX

- Japan Prime Minister Abe's advisor Hamada today said Yen is weak at 120/$, calling for 105/$ an appropriate level for the Japanese currency. Hamada reiterated Bank of Japan's monetary policy has been working well, and more consumption in Japan is expected as stocks rise. The Japanese currency has been trading weak after those comments from Hamada in the morning. During Asia session, USD/JPY dipped over 30pips to around ¥119.80 levels.

- Australia posted better than expected NAB business confidence index for March. NAB economist forecasts another rate cut in coming months, most likely in May, but saying rate cut could be delayed if the recovery in non-mining becomes more entrenched. AUD/USD traded higher by over 20pips above 0.76 levels after NAB business confidence data.

- Singapore released Q1 advanced GDP data, Q/Q at 1.1% better than 0.2% expected, Y/Y at 2.1% better than 1.7% expected. After the GDP figure, Singapore central bank released statement on monetary policy, keeping the slope and width of the fx policy band. Central bank also maintained 2015 headline CPI forecast at -0.5% to +0.5%, core inflation at 0.5-1.5%. Singapore's reiteration of policy at a modest and gradual appreciation of SGD sent the Singapore currency stronger. USD/SGD traded lower by over 100pips to about 1.36 levels after the statement.

Equities

US equities/ADRs:

- ALTR: Some shareholders said to be pushing the company to sell itself to Intel - financial press; +1.2% afterhours

- AAOI: Guides Q1 lower to R $30-30.3M v $35.7Me ($35-36.5M prior); Cites supply constraints; -2.5% afterhours

- PBY: Reports Q4 -$0.50 (incl items)* v +$0.03e, R$502.4M v $505Me; -3.1% afterhours

- NSC: Guides Q1 $1.00 v $1.31e, R$2.6B v $2.73Be; cites weather and service recovery costs; -5.5% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer Discretionary: AP Eagers APE.AU +11.6% (H1 guidance); Mobile Embrace MBE.AU +12.5% (9-month results); Hainan Airlines 600221.CN +10.1% (plans private placement; to acquire Tianjin Airlines)

- Consumer staples: Arcs Co Ltd 9948.JP -1.0% (FY14/15 results)

- Financials: Ping An Insurance 2318.HK -1.7% (Q1 gross premium)

- Materials: MACA MLD.AU -1.2% (cuts FY15 guidance)

- Industrials: Obayashi Corp 1802.JP +1.7% (raises FY14/15 guidance)

- Technology: Tencent Holdings 700.HK -4.8% (CEO sells shares)