Aussie quarterly wage data to be released on Wed

Asia Market Update: Chinese tech component firms remain in focus, next round of US/China talks due to begin on Tuesday; Aussie quarterly wage data to be released on Wed

 

General Trend:

- HSBC declines after FY profits missed estimates (Reports FY18 Adj pretax $21.7B v $20.99B y/y, Adj Rev $53.9B v $51.5B y/y)

- BHP reported H1 underlying profit $3.7B ($4.03B from continuing ops) v $4.4Be

- Japanese securities brokers gain, Iron/Steel companies decline

- Financials rise in Australia

- Australian vitamin company Blackmores declines over 30%, made cautious comments about China

- Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Feb minutes in line with most recent quarterly statement on monetary policy

- Walmart expected to report results on Tuesday

 

Headlines/Economic Data

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%

- (JP) Japan Economy Min Motegi: Reiterates seeing some risks in outlook due to China slowdown, Capex overall on expansion trend; Abe has confirmed with Trump auto tariffs will not be applied while talks continue

- (JP) UK said not able to resign trade agreement with Japan by March - financial press

- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Reiterates stance that BOJ does not have currency manipulation as a target; may consider easing if yet moves impact economy, prices; BOJ doesn't link policy to FX moves; ETF purchases have impacted markets but currently no intention to stop ETF purchases

- 7267.JP Spokesman: Not source of report related to factory closure in the UK (responds to press report)

-(JP) Japan MoF sells ¥1.0T v ¥1.0T indicated in 0.50% (prior 0.50%) 20-yr bonds; avg yield 0.419% v 0.467% prior; bid to cover 4.67x v 4.57x prior

Korea

- Kospi opens -0.1%

- (KR) South Korea Jan Exports Prices y/y: -1.4% v -0.6% prior; Imports Prices y/y: +2.5% v +3.2% prior

- (KR) South Korean airlines to increase fuel surcharge on international flights by 55% to KRW34.8K in March - Korean Press

- (KR) According to Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA): South Korea steel exports to US fell more than rivals in China and Japan that were subjected to higher tariffs – Yonhap

- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov Lee calls for improvement to make manufacturing more competitive; Manufacturing sector is crucial for growth of national economy

- (KR) South Korea to allow import of medical cannabis, effective March – Yonhap

- 086790.KR Partners with SK Telekom and Kiwoom Securities for internet only bank (3rd in the country) - Korean press

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opens +0.3%; Shanghai Composite opens +0.2%

- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips reverse repo operations for 7th consecutive session; Maintains neutral position in OMO

- (HK) Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in talks with China PBoC on cross boarder wealth management

- (CN) China PBoC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 6.7642 v 6.7659 prior

-(CN) China PBoC Monetary Policy Dept Chief Sun Guofeng: To start first central bank bill swap soon, to publish tax policies for perpetual bond soon

- (CN) China Vice Premier Liu He to visit the US for trade talks Feb 21-22 (Thursday-Friday)

- (HK) Hong Kong Chief Exec Lam: Will respond to land supply report later in Feb

- (CN) China foreign investment banks expected to attract large foreign capital in 2019, as it gives wider and easier foreign access to its capital market - Xinhua

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened -0.1%

- COL.AU Reports H1 (A$) EBIT (Retail Basis) 733.0M v 778M y/y; Rev 20.9B v 20.3B y/y

- COH.AU Reports H1 (A$) net 128.6M v 110.8M y/y, EBIT 177.0M v 160.4M y/y, Rev 711.9M v 639.6M y/y

- BHP.AU Reports H1 underlying Net $3.7B v $4.1B y/y, Underlying EBITDA $10.5B v $10.8B y/y, Rev $21.6B v$21.8B y/y

- (AU) Chinese coal traders halting purchases of Australian coal due to customs delays reaching up to 45 days from usual 5-20 days -Financial Press

- (AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) FEB 5TH MEETING MINUTES: BOARD SAW "SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTIES" ON THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK AND FORECAST

North America

- GOOG Allegations being made that pedophiles are using YouTube to trade child pornography, error in code is facilitating them to do so through a "wormhole", most can be found in 5 clicks and it is being monetized - press

- RIG Reports Q4 -$0.34 v -$0.24e, Rev $770M v $735Me; current customer conversations suggest that FIDs in 2019 could increase materially over last year

- (US) Group of states including California has filed suit against Trump Administration over emergency declaration to fund border wall (as expected)

Europe

- (EU) ECB's Praet (Belgium, chief Economist): ECB could adapt rate guidance if economy slows sharply - press

- (EU) EU's Juncker: Trump gave me his word that there won't be any tariffs on European cars for time being; If Trump breaks his promise on car tariffs, the EU won't stick to its promise to buy more soy, LNG

- (UK) EU Brexit Negotiator Barnier to meet UK Brexit Sec Barclay in Brussels: Barclay said UK can reach its goals on Brexit backstop without reopening withdrawal agreement

 

Levels as of 12:50ET

- Hang Seng -0.2%; Shanghai Composite -0.3%; Kospi -0.1%; Nikkei225 +0.2%; ASX 200 +0.3%

- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 +0.0%

- EUR 1.1290-1.1317; JPY 110.45-110.69; AUD 0.7108-0.7143; NZD 0.6827-0.6863

- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.4% at $1,327/oz; Crude Oil +0.4% at $56.22/brl; Copper -0.2% at $2.83/lb