BOJ stays on course without any additional dissent

Asian Mid-session Update: Shanghai Composite enters technical correction, down 10% from peak; BOJ stays on course without any additional dissent

Economic Data

- (JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) POLICY STATEMENT: MAINTAINS ITS MONETARY BASE AT ANNUAL PACE OF ¥80T (AS EXPECTED); Maintains overall economic assessment

- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND MAY ANZ CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX: 119.9 V 123.9 PRIOR; M/M: -3.2% V -3.8% PRIOR

- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND MAY ANZ JOB ADVERTISEMENTS M/M: +0.1 V -1.3% PRIOR (first increase in 3 months)

- (KR) South Korea May PPI Y/Y: -3.5% v -3.6% prior; 10th straight decline

Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)

- Nikkei225 +0.8%, S&P/ASX +1.3%, Kospi +0.5%, Shanghai Composite -2.0%, Hang Seng +1.0%, Sep S&P500 -0.1% at 2,112

Commodities/Fixed Income

- Aug gold -0.2% at $1,199/oz, Jul crude oil -0.2% at $60.35/brl, Jul copper flat at $2.61/lb

- USD/CNY: PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1104 v 6.1126 prior setting; strongest Yuan setting since May 19th

- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets for week ending June 17th: $4.49T v $4.47T prior; M1 y/y change: 7.8.% v 8.0% prior; M2 y/y change: 5.9.% v 6.0% prior

Market Focal Points/FX

- Asian indices are generally higher, picking up on the firm tone from Wall St where traders continued to express a bullish post-FOMC view. Shanghai Composite is once again an outsized decliner however. After a near-4% slide overnight, the index fell by as much as 3% in the afternoon session. The lows also corresponded with the 10% drop from its high, which is widely considered to be the indication of a technical correction. Overnight, local press report put some of the blame for the selloff on the large IPO pipeline this week freezing up as much as CNY7T in investment funds.

- After much speculation that today's BOJ decision will reveal a growing rift within the policy board, the announcement produced no such ripple. Bank of Japan reiterated it would maintain annual monetary base expansion at ¥80T, kept its assessment of economy continuing moderate recovery unchanged, and also repeated rate of CPI would remain around 0% due to recent decline in energy. The only change made was a slight boost to the BOJ's assessment of the housing market now seen as "started to pick up". The BOJ also reduced the number of its official meetings each year to just 8 from 14 but increased the number of instances when it publishes its GDP/CPI projections from 2 to 4.

- Greek uncertainty will remain on the forefront of investors worries on conflicting developments heading into the US close. One widely cited press report warned there's chatter of Greek banks not opening on Monday, though EU officials have denied that was a possibility. Bank of Greece also requested an increase to emergency ELA funds ceiling, and the ECB will hold an emergency meeting to consider that request later on Friday. Recall earlier this week the ECB has already raised that ceiling from €83B to €84.1B. EU's Dijsselbloem comments also weighed on the single currency, stating he believes Greece is still moving in the direction of a euro exit.

Equities

US/ADRs afterhours:

- CAG: Jana Partners discloses 7.2% stake, may seek 3 board seats - 13D filing; +6.7% afterhours

- REXX: Announces Sale of Keystone Clearwater Solutions for about $130M; +2.0% afterhours

- RHT: Reports Q1 $0.44 v $0.41e, R$481M v $472Me; -2.2% afterhours

- SWHC: Reports Q4 $0.45 v $0.35e, R$181M v $170Me; Guides Q1 $0.21-0.23 v $0.29e, Rev $140-145M v $147Me; -4.9% afterhours

- HWAY: Cuts FY15 R$770-785M v $809Me ($800-25M prior); -26.0% afterhours

Asia-Pac equity news by sector:

- Financials: SCE Property +3.5% (positive profit alert)