Asian Market Update: BOJ maintains policy setting and keeps assessment unchanged but notes "fluctuations due to consumption tax hike"; Samsung Electronics Q1 guidance mixed


Economic Data

- (JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) POLICY STATEMENT: REITERATES TO INCREASE MONETARY BASE AT ANNUAL PACE OF ¥60-70T (AS EXPECTED); Maintains overall economic assessment unchanged (8th consecutive meeting)

- (JP) JAPAN FEB CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE: ¥612.7B (first surplus in 5 months) V ¥618.1BE; ADJ CURRENT ACCOUNT: -¥41.4B V +¥24.7BE; TRADE BALANCE BOP BASIS: -¥533.4B V -¥593.6B

- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR NAB BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 4 (7-month low) V 7 PRIOR; BUSINESS CONDITIONS: 1 V 0 PRIOR

- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q1 NZIER BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 52 V 53 PRIOR

Market Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT):

- Nikkei225 -1.1%, S&P/ASX -0.2%, Kospi +0.1%, Shanghai Composite +1.0%, Hang Seng +0.8%, Jun S&P500 +0.2% at 1,842, Jun gold +0.2% at $1,300, May crude oil +0.5% at $100.94/brl


Highlights/Observations/Insights

- As widely expected, Bank of Japan elected to wait for more clarity on the extent of headwind from higher sales tax before deciding on further policy adjustment. BOJ left its monetary base setting intact (increase of ¥60-70T annual pace) and also maintained economic assessment of "moderate recovery" in domestic economy for the 8th consecutive meeting. Policymakers did tweak some of the accompanying language, noting there were "some fluctuations due to consumption tax hike" regarding the overall recovery as well as private consumption and housing investment, and also added "some cautiousness" around the outlook for business sentiment has been observed. JPY is a touch softer as traders interpreted elevated cautiousness over the outlook potentially paving the way to more easing on Apr 30th when BOJ also releases semi-annual report on economic and price trends.

- Samsung Electronics posted mixed preliminary Q1 figures - Op profit KRW8.40T v KRW8.3Te, Rev KRW53.0T v KRW54.6Te - with the full report to be made available at the end of the month. Shares initially traded down over 1% on revenue miss before recovering some ground. Separately, South Korea finance ministry's monthly assessment saw continued signs of recovery in the domestic economy.

- Australia's NAB Business Confidence fell to a 7-month low as traders brace for Aussie employment data later this week. NAB chief economist said firms are responding to the ongoing sluggishness in business activity, and also pointed to high Australian dollar, uncertainty over the global economy and the potential for significant belt tightening in the upcoming budget.

- In notable Chinese press reports, property agency Centaline announced sales of second-hand homes in Beijing during March fell to a 6-year low for the month at 8.9K units. Separately, Securities Journal speculated the govt may announce fresh measures on investment, seeking to stabilize growth and expand consumption.


Fixed Income/Commodities/Currencies

- (CN) PBoC to drain CNY47B in 14-day repos and CNY16B in 28-day repos (15th consecutive drain)

- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$100M in 2.0% 2035 indexed bonds; bid-to-cover: 3.69x

- USD/JPY initially fell below ¥102.80 after the BOJ but quickly reversed those losses to retest the ¥103. On balance the language may have been a touch more dovish, particularly in the wake of last month's surprisingly neutral stance. Soft USD was also felt in other majors - AUD/USD and NZD/USD rose over 20 and 30 pips from their lows above 0.9280 and 0.8630 respectively. Modest weakness in USD also helped June gold retest $1,300 mark, up over $3/oz.


Equities

US markets:

- AKS: Increases current spot market base price for its hot roll carbon steel to a minimum of $700 (implies 6.1%) per ton (from $660 on 3/20); effective immediately; +6.9% afterhours

- SHLM: Reports Q2 $0.39 v $0.35e, R$588.5M v $515.4M y/y (2 est); +5.6% afterhours

- C: Announces Agreement to Resolve Certain Private-Label Securitization Repurchase Claims; to take about $100M in related Q1 charges; +0.8% afterhours

- SWFT: Guides Q1 $0.11-0.13 v 0.23e; -0.2% afterhours

- GIMO: Reports prelim Q1 Rev $31-31.5M v $35Me ($34-35M prior); -24.3% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer Discretionary: Skyworth Digital 751.HK -2.1% (Mar sales results); Gree Inc 3632.JP -2.9% (speculation on Q4 results)

- Financials: CITIC Securities 6030 +2.4%, China Galaxy Securities 6881.HK +3.1% (receives online brokerage license)

- Materials: Inner Mongolia Junzheng Energy & Chemical Industry 601216.CN +1.4% (Q1 guidance)

- Energy: Sinopec Kantons Holdings 934.HK +2.2% (FY13 results); Hilong Holding 1623.HK -2.3% (FY13 results); Shanghai Aerospace Automobile Electromechanical 600151.CN +2.4% (FY13 results) - Industrials: Avic Heavy Machinery 600765.CN +1.7% (FY13 results)

- Technology: Beijing SuperMap Software 300036.CN -2.7% (FY13 results); HTC 2498.TW -2.2% (Q1 results); Hundsun Technologies Inc 600570.CN +10.0% (Alibaba's Jack Ma acquires stake); Samsung Electronics 005930.KR -0.3% (prelim Q1 results); Asahi Glass 5201.JP -0.3% (speculation on Q1 results)

- Healthcare: Zhejiang Conba Pharmaceutical 600572.CN +3.6% (acquires stake in Guizhou Baite Pharmaceutical)

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