Asian Mid-session Update: China Finance Minister held news conference in Beijing; Market quiet ahead of US non-farm payrolls data


Economic Data

- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB AIG PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTION INDEX: 43.9 V 45.9 PRIOR

- (JP) JAPAN FEB OFFICIAL RESERVE ASSETS: $1.25T V $1.26T PRIOR

- (MY) Malaysia Jan Trade Balance (MYR): 9.0B v 7.0Be

- (CO) Colombia Jan Exports FOB: $2.88B v $3.60Be

- (CO) Colombia Feb CPI M/M: 1.2% v 0.7%e; Y/Y:4.4% v 3.9%e


Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)

- Nikkei225 +1.1%, S&P/ASX -0.2%, Kospi +0.5%, Shanghai Composite +0.2%, Hang Seng +0.1%, Mar S&P500 flat at 2,099


Commodities/Fixed Income

- Apr gold +0.2% at $1,199, Apr crude oil +0.5% at $51.13/brl, May Copper +0.1% at $2.65/lb

- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets for week ending Mar 4th: $4.49T v $4.49T prior; Reserve Bank Credit: $4.45T v $4.45T prior; M1: +$3.9B v +$12.1B prior; M2: +$43.5B v +$29.0B prior

- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$700M in 5.75% bonds due 2022; Avg yield: 2.3850%; Bid-to-cover: 2.63x

- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥300B in 1-3 yr JGBs, ¥350B in 3-5yt JGBs, ¥240B in 10-25 yr JGBs and ¥140B in JGBs with maturity over 25-yr

- USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1533 v 6.1528 prior setting


Market Focal Points/FX

- Slow session during Asian trading hours today. China Finance Minister Lou Jiwei held a news conference at annual political meeting in Beijing. Lou reiterated China fiscal policies to be moderately expansionary. Lou mentioned that China's fiscal deficit for 2015 to be 2.7% of GDP, versus 2.3% in Premier Li Keqiang's government work report, after counting new disposable spending. Lou also noted that China is facing weak tax revenue growth. On local government debt problem, Finance Minister expressed optimism, saying risks are controllable in local debts. Shanghai Composite traded slightly higher by 0.1% in morning trading session, during Finance Minister's news conference.

- US released stress test results for banks just after US market closed. All banks were above thresholds in Fed's stress test. Citi was in the spotlight, with Tier 1 common ratio of 8.2% under extreme scenarios, just at its minimum required ratio. Zions was also at minimum required ratio of 5.1%. Just note that each bank has its own mandated minimums required to meet. Major currency pairs traded little changed during evening's Asia session. AUD traded up by about 10pips to just below $0.78 level. EUR traded off the US session low, at around $1.1025 level during evening session. Overall, market was quiet ahead of morning's US non-farm payrolls data, expected at 08:30 EST.


Equities

US markets:

- FNSR: Reports Q3 $0.25 v $0.25e, R$306.3M v $306Me; +5.8% afterhours

- YY: Reports Q4 $1.04 v $0.86e, R$188.7M v $101.1M y/y; +5.6% afterhours

- THO: Reports Q2 $0.54 v $0.43e, R$852M v $770M; +3.5% afterhours

- COO: Reports Q1 $1.75 v $1.53e, R$445.2M v $449Me; +2.9% afterhours

- SKUL: Reports Q4 $0.26 v $0.24e, R$96.8M v $82.2Me; -0.6% afterhours

- GPS: Reports Feb SSS -4.0% v +2.2%e; -1.9% afterhours

- EBS: Reports Q4 $0.75 v $0.72e, R$148M v $148Me; discloses BioThrax manufacturing issues; -8.3% afterhours

- CKP: Reports Q4 $0.26 v $0.30 y/y, R$183.1M v $194.4M y/y; Declares $0.50/share special dividend; -19.6% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer Discretionary: Sekisui House 1928.JP +2.6% (FY14/15 results); Melco Crown Entertainment 6883.HK -6.1% (HSBC cuts rating)

- Financials: Resona Holdings 8308.JP -1.2% (analyst action); PAX Global Technology 327.HK -4.6% (FY14 results)

- Materials: Regis Resources RRL.AU -28.0% (issues op update)

- Energy: Caltex Australia CTX.AU -1.4% (Jan op results)

- Industrials: CSR Corp 601766.CN +5.1%, CNR Corp 601299.CN +4.6% (receives approval for merger); Great Wall Motor 2333.HK +1.1% (Feb production results); Guangzhou Automobile 2238.HK +1.7% (Feb production results)

- Technology: Skyworth Digital 751.HK +1.5% (Feb sales results)

- Healthcare: GI Dynamics GID.AU -48.3% (provides update from US FDA)

- Telecom: Recruit Holdings 6098.JP -1.7% (acquisition)

All information provided by Trade The News (a product of Trade The News, Inc. "referred to as TTN hereafter") is for informational purposes only. Information provided is not meant as investment advice nor is it a recommendation to Buy or Sell securities. Although information is taken from sources deemed reliable, no guarantees or assurances can be made to the accuracy of any information provided. 1. Information can be inaccurate and/or incomplete 2. Information can be mistakenly re-released or be delayed, 3. Information may be incorrect, misread, misinterpreted or misunderstood 4. Human error is a business risk you are willing to assume 5. Technology can crash or be interrupted without notice 6. Trading decisions are the responsibility of traders, not those providing additional information. Trade The News is not liable (financial and/or non-financial) for any losses that may arise from any information provided by TTN. Trading securities involves a high degree of risk, and financial losses can and do occur on a regular basis and are part of the risk of trading and investing.

Recommended Content


Recommended Content

Editors’ Picks

USD/JPY pops and drops on BoJ's expected hold

USD/JPY pops and drops on BoJ's expected hold

USD/JPY reverses a knee-jerk spike to 142.80 and returns to the red below 142.50 after the Bank of Japan announced on Friday that it maintained the short-term rate target in the range of 0.15%-0.25%, as widely expected. Governor Ueda's press conference is next in focus.  

USD/JPY News
AUD/USD bears attack 0.6800 amid PBOC's status-quo, cautious mood

AUD/USD bears attack 0.6800 amid PBOC's status-quo, cautious mood

AUD/USD attacks 0.6800 in Friday's Asian trading, extending its gradual retreat after the PBOC unexpectedly left mortgage lending rates unchanged in September. A cautious market mood also adds to the weight on the Aussie. Fedspeak eyed. 

AUD/USD News
Gold consolidates near record high, bullish potential seems intact

Gold consolidates near record high, bullish potential seems intact

Gold price regained positive traction on Thursday and rallied back closer to the all-time peak touched the previous day in reaction to the Federal Reserve's decision to start the policy easing cycle with an oversized rate cut.

Gold News
Ethereum rallies over 6% following decision to split Pectra upgrade into two phases

Ethereum rallies over 6% following decision to split Pectra upgrade into two phases

In its Consensus Layer Call on Thursday, Ethereum developers decided to split the upcoming Pectra upgrade into two batches. The decision follows concerns about potential risks in shipping the previously approved series of Ethereum improvement proposals.

Read more
Bank of Japan set to keep rates on hold after July’s hike shocked markets

Bank of Japan set to keep rates on hold after July’s hike shocked markets

The Bank of Japan is expected to keep its short-term interest rate target between 0.15% and 0.25% on Friday, following the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy review. The decision is set to be announced during the early Asian session. 

Read more
Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know

Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know

VERIFIED In this review, the FXStreet team provides an independent and thorough analysis based on direct testing and real experiences with Moneta Markets – an excellent broker for novice to intermediate forex traders who want to broaden their knowledge base.

Read More

Majors

Cryptocurrencies

Signatures