Asian Market Update: Asian Bourses Ride Bullish Wall St. Momentum; China's Premier Wen Elaborates on Stimulus Plan, Committed to 2009 8% GDP Target; Japan Springs to Action with ETF Program, Stimulus Target Date; Post-SNB Swissy Selloff Extended in Crosses as USD Falls

- Equities in Asia shrugged the data-driven malaise of the prior session, tracking broad-based gains in the US that have helped Wall St. stage a near-10% rally in just 3 days. What proved to be the initial short-squeeze trigger - a vote of confidence for a strong start in 2009 from Citi CEO Pandit - was echoed in other financials, namely the 2-month profitability assessment yesterday at JPM and today from Bank of America. Subsequently, XLF saw another session of double-digit gains, picking up 10% today and over 34.5% since the start of the week. This evening's afterhours report of Citi Chairman Parsons suggesting that the bank is "one of the better capitalized banks in the world" and will no longer need US capital injections could add to upward velocity of financials leading the broader indices out of their early-09 doldrums. Asian financials were also comparably stronger over broader indices: In Tokyo, Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo were up over 6%, while Mizuho Nomura were pushing toward 5%. Aussie National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia picked up 6%, while MacQuarie rallied 9%. Korea's KB and Woori were up 4.3% and 2.4% In turn, the Nikkei and Kospi rose 5% and 0.2% late in the day, while S&P/ASX finished up 3.2%.

- After a heavy economic calendar in the prior session, notable numbers were limited to New Zealand, where January retail sales were mixed. Headline figure was much weaker at -1.1% v -0.1% expected, however ex-autos data was slightly better at 0.3% v 0.2%e. Instead, fresh upbeat rhetoric from China's Premier Wen and company dominated the headlines. Most notably, Wen clarified that the most recent announcement of additional stimulus did in fact contain a CNY1.18T pricetag and was misunderstood by investors turning bearish after not seeing additional spending figures in Premier's testimony to lawmakers. Specifically, the additional sum would incur medical reform plan and tax cut charges to be implemented in this year's budget. Moreover, China's Premier said further stimulative measures were likely if needed by the economy, as he pledged further commitment to the 8% GDP target for 2009. Earlier, China's official said that the target was reasonable as long as industrial production continued growing by 11-12% - in line with the most recent February figures. Premier Wen was also optimistic on China's capacity in handling the crisis, noting that its vast labor market supported long term growth and strong fx reserves would cushion further turbulence. China's Commerce Minister Deming referred to the poor February trade data, noting that imports and exports were much improved in March.

- Juxtaposed against China's optimism, Japan officials' tone was notably more alarmist as PM Aso called further economic malaise unavoidable and urged swifter action on the stimulus response.
Finance Minister Yosano targeted April 2nd as the deadline for new stimulus passage - in time for the much anticipated G20 summit. Elsewhere, Japanese press speculated on further LDP activity to backstop the slide in equities and protect bank holdings with expanded stock purchase program to include ETFs. Under the fundraising plan, zero-interest bonds convertible into ETF shares would be sold to investors with the added eligibility for tax breaks.

- In other notable company news, Japan's Seiko Epson was rumored to consider an LCD alliance with Sony under the auspices of potential asset sales going forward, while Mazda would reportedly restart production at some of its plants, following the recent backtracking in output cuts from other carmakers. Australia's mining names traded firm amid reports of growing support for the Chinalco deal from the recently disgruntled Rio Tinto investors. Woodside Petroleum and gold producers were also higher as crude and spot gold prices were bid higher. Elsewhere, Korea's electronics names LG Philips and Samsung contributed to Kospi underperformance. LG was reportedly planning renewed output reductions to meet an increase in output from its rivals, while the CEO of Samsung conceded to a "very difficult" time in 2009 amid sharply contracting consumer demand.

- In currencies, the selloff in Swiss Franc sparked by the intervention announced with the SNB decision persisted into the Asian session, with strengthening against the greenback European majors taking CHF to fresh lows. EUR/CHF nearly reached 1.54, GBP/CHF approached 1.66, and USD/CHF consolidated around 1.19. EUR and GBP largely remained bid above 1.29 and 1.39 respectively against USD. Japanese Yen oscillated in 97.20-98 range against USD, while the Aussie shrugged poor jobs figure in the prior session to reach a 1-month high against USD above 0.6550.

- Crude oil prices are lower, after rallying by more than 10% during the NY floor session. The rise during the US session came as equities rose and as traders speculated about what move OPEC will make regarding production at its upcoming meeting. OPEC members remain split regarding production levels, as some members believe that output should be lowered, while others believe that the cartel should work on complying with its already announced production quotas. Earlier today, Venezuela's oil minister noted that his country would call for a supply reduction of more than 1M bpd, as Venezuela has been one of the main supporters of an output cut. Additionally, Ecuador's oil minister reiterated that he did not see the need for an additional OPEC production cut. Spot Gold is lower at the time of writing, after the metal gained more than $13 during the US session. In terms of physical demand for gold, the SPDR Gold Trust disclosed on 3/12, that it bought 3.4 tons of bullion and the ETF's holdings are now at a record 1,041.5 tons.