Australia released higher than expected CPI Q/Q data

Asian Mid-session Update: Australia released higher than expected CPI Q/Q data; Japan posted 1st trade surplus in 33 months

Economic Data

- (JP) JAPAN MAR MERCHANDISE TRADE BALANCE: ¥229B V ¥44.6BE (1st trade surplus in 33 months); ADJ TRADE BALANCE: ¥3.3B V -¥409BE

- (TW) Taiwan Mar Unemployment Rate: 3.8% v 3.7%e

- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR SKILLED VACANCIES M/M: 0.4% V 0.8% PRIOR

- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR WESTPAC LEADING INDEX M/M: -0.3% V +0.1% PRIOR

- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q1 CONSUMER PRICES (CPI) Q/Q: 0.2% V 0.1%E; Y/Y: 1.3% v 1.3%E; TRIMMED MEAN Q/Q: 0.6% V 0.6%E ; Y/Y: 2.3% V 2.2%E

- (US) NORTH AMERICA MAR SEMI BOOK/BILL RATIO: 1.10 V 1.02 PRIOR (3rd straight month above parity)

Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)

- Nikkei225 +1.1%, S&P/ASX -0.9%, Kospi +0.6%, Shanghai Composite +1.7%, Hang Seng +0.6%, Jun S&P500 +0.1% at 2,093

Commodities/Fixed Income

- Jun gold -0.4% at $1,199/oz, Jun crude oil -1.0% at $56.04/brl, May copper -0.1% at $2.70/lb

- (US) API Petroleum Inventories: Crude: +5.5M v +3Me; Gasoline: +1.1M v -1Me; Distillate: +1.7M v +1Me

- (CN) PBoC gauges demand for 7-day reverse repos, 14-day and 28-day repos as well as 91-day bill sales

- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥375B in 1-3yr JGBs, ¥375B in 3-5yr JGBs and ¥400B in 5-10yr JGBs

- AUD/USD: Rallies about 35pips to $0.7755 after Australia Q1 CPI data

Market Focal Points/FX

- Australia released Q1 CPI Q/Q at 0.2% during today's session, higher than expected 0.1%. Y/Y reading came in at 1.3%, in line with expectations. Just a reminder that RBA has an inflation target between 2-3%. AUD/USD rallied by over 35pips to $0.7755 after the data. In the rest of the Asia trading session, AUD continued with momentum and reached as high as $0.7770 levels. Australia's CBA expected RBA to cut cash rate at the following meeting on May 5th by 25th, but in a close call within RBA. Major mining company BHP Billiton today reported Q3 production results. Iron ore production by BHP was expanded by 20% over last year's number. BHP also raised FY15 iron ore production guidance to 230Mt from 225Mt, but cut copper production guidance to 1.7Mt from 1.8Mt, and reaffirmed petroleum guidance at 255mmboe. BHP traded lower by about 2% after those production results)

- Japan posted Mar Merchandize Trade Balance at a surplus of ¥229B, better than consensus of ¥44.6B, also marks the 1st trade surplus in 33 months. During today's session, speculation that BOJ to cut FY15 inflation forecast has been circulated among press. This is in line with previous US press's report that BOJ to consider cutting this year's inflation forecast, and forecasts next FY inflation near 2%. USD/JPY traded little changed today after those comments.

Equities

US equities/ADRs:

- BRCM: Reports Q1 $0.64 v $0.60e (First Call consensus), R$2.06B v $2.01Be; +5.7% afterhours

- YUM: Reports Q1 $0.80 v $0.72e, R$2.62B v $2.65Be; +5.0% afterhours

- ILMN: Reports Q1 $0.91 v $0.72e, R$538.6M v $525Me; +3.9% afterhours

- IBKR: Reports Q1 -$0.22 (adj) v -$0.11e, R$172M v $197Me (2 est); +2.5% afterhours

- AMGN: Reports Q1 $2.48 v $2.07e, R$5.03B v $4.92Be; +2.3% afterhours

- INFN: Reports Q1 $0.16 v $0.11e, R$186.9M v $186Me; +1.4% afterhours

- SALT: Announces Agreements to Sell Seven Newbuildings for $290M and the Financing of an Ultramax Newbuilding for $17M; +1.0% afterhours

- YHOO: Reports Q1 $0.15 v $0.17e, R$1.04B v $1.06Be; +0.7% afterhours

- PRGO: Confirms Board Unanimously Rejects Unsolicited $205/shr Proposal From Mylan; Reports Q3 $1.85 v $1.80e, R$1.05B v $1.09Be; +0.4% afterhours

- SYK: Reports Q1 $1.11 v $1.09e, R$2.38B v $2.38Be; +0.2% afterhours

- TSLA: Tesla tells analysts that its new product announcement on April 30th will be a home utility battery - financial press; +0.1% afterhours

- ACE: Reports Q4 $2.05 v $2.22e, R$4.48B v $4.43Be; flat afterhours

- VMW: Reports Q1 $0.86 v $0.84e, R$1.51B v $1.51Be; Trims FY15 $3.94-4.02 v $4.01e, R$6.57-6.69B v $6.71Be (prior $3.96-4.04, Rev $6.64-6.76B), citing increasing FX headwinds - conf call; -0.1% afterhours

- CREE: Reports Q3 $0.22 v $0.24e, R$409.5M v $407Me; -2.3% afterhours

- SMCI: Reports Q3 $0.47 v $0.50e, R$471.2M v $476Me; -2.3% afterhours

- DFS: Reports Q1 $1.28 v $1.26e, R$2.17B v $1.79Be; -2.3% afterhours

- ISRG: Reports Q1 $3.57 v $3.83e, R$532M v $536Me; -3.9% afterhours

- URI: Reports Q1 $1.34 v $1.16e, R$1.32B v $1.31Be; -4.8% afterhours

- CMG: Reports Q1 $3.88 v $3.61e, R$1.09B v $1.10Be; -5.4% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer Discretionary: Alibaba Pictures Group 1060.HK +11.8% (announces acquisition); Wanda Cinema 002739.CN +1.5% (Q1 results)

- Financials: China Minsheng Bank 1988.HK -1.3% (Q1 results)

- Materials: United Rusal 486.HK +4.8% (Q1 production results)

- Energy: BHP Billiton BHP.AU -1.8% (Q3 production results); Origin Energy ORG.AU -2.6% (S&P cuts rating)

- Industrials: Hitachi Ltd 6501.JP +2.8% (press speculation on FY14/15 results)

- Technology: Sharp Corp 6753.JP +1.5% (lenders to extend loans)

- Healthcare: Astellas Pharma 4503.JP +1.5% (parters with Potenza Therapeutics on Immuno-Oncology therapeutics)