Modest equity losses generally seen after declines on Wall Street

Asia Market Update: Modest equity losses generally seen after declines on Wall St; Regulatory concerns weigh on HK casino cos.; China Aug data further slows, misses ests; 10-yr yields drop amid US CPI and CN data; NZ GDP and AU jobs data due on Thursday.

General trend

- Equity indices pare losses after China data [monetary easing speculation?].

- Financials trade generally lower amid the decline in 10-yr government bond yields.

- Hang Seng has pared drop; Regulatory concerns weigh on HK casino cos. [Wynn Macau drops over 30%, co’s USD bonds also decline]; Macau gaming names collectively fall after govt plans to increase direct supervision.

- Shanghai Composite ended morning trading +0.3% [Property index pared drop amid gov’t comments; Industrials rise despite weaker IP data; Weaker retail sales weigh on Consumer indices].

- Nikkei has remained modestly lower [Topix Banks, Information & Communication, Electric Appliances and Iron & Steel indices decline; Marine Transportation index gains].

- S&P ASX 200 moved lower after opening flat [Energy, Resources and Financial indices lag].

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened 0.0%.

- (AU) Australia Sept Westpac Consumer Confidence: 106.2 v 104.1 prior; M/M: +2.0% v -4.4% prior.

- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) offers to buy A$800M in Semi Govt Bonds v A$800M prior.

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opened -0.7%.

- 9984.JP CEO Claure: Returns in LatAm have been exceptional; Values are 'where they should be'.

- (JP) Said that Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA) will undergo a review of setting IPO price ranges – Nikkei.

- (JP) JAPAN JULY CORE MACHINE ORDERS M/M: 0.9% V 2.5%E; Y/Y: 11.1% V 14.8%E.

- (JP) LDP official Tanigaki to support Kishida in LDP leadership race - Japanese press.

Korea

-Kospi opened -0.1%.

- (KR) South Korea Aug Unemployment Rate: 2.8% v 3.5%e (record low).

- (KR) South Korea Fin Min Hong: Aug Jobs report shows that stable recovery is continuing; Govt will explore additional measures to curb household debt, including tighter lending rules at non-banking institutions, if needed.

- 005380.KR To again suspend production at Asan factory from Sept 15-17th due to chip supply issue.

- (KR) Japan Coast Guard reports North Korea may have fired ballistic missile.

China/Hong Kong

-Hang Seng opened -0.8%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%.

- Evergrande [3333.HK]: China said to have told banks that company will not pay interest that is Due on Mon, Sept 20th.

- (CN) CHINA AUG INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Y/Y: 5.3% V 5.8%E (SLOWEST GROWTH SINCE JULY 2020).

- (CN) CHINA AUG RETAIL SALES Y/Y: 2.5% V 7.0%E (slowest in over a year).

- (CN) China National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Official: Reiterates major macro economic indicators are in reasonable range; foundation for economic recovery needs to be consolidated.

- (CN) CHINA AUG NEW HOMES PRICES M/M: 0.2% V 0.3% PRIOR; Y/Y: 4.2% V 4.6% PRIOR.

- (CN) CHINA PBOC CONDUCTS CNY600B V CNY600B MATURING IN 1-YEAR MEDIUM-TERM LENDING FACILITY (MLF) AT 2.95% V 2.95% PRIOR.

- (CN) CHINA AUG YTD PROPERTY INVESTMENT: 10.9% V 11.3%E.

- (CN) CHINA AUG YTD FIXED URBAN ASSETS Y/Y: 8.9% V 9.0%E.

- (CN) China Aug Surveyed Jobless Rate: 5.1% v 5.1%e.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net CNY0B v Net drain CNY0B prior.

- (CN) China Tianjin Province said to have raised interest rates for some 2nd home purchases, effective Sept 22nd.

- (CN) China Vice Commerce Min: China to roll out targeted measures for small exporters, notes factors including uncertainties in overseas demand and the global economic recovery - China Securities Journal.

- (CN) China Aug electricity consumption 760.7BkWh, +3.6% y/y.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4492 v 6.4500 prior.

- China revised land sale rules may lower prices; various large Chinese cities (including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen) have updated their land sale guidelines in order to cap land plot premiums at 15% – China Securities Journal.

North America

- (CN) US President Biden: Untrue China President Xi turned down face to face meeting.

- UPS President Price: To increase rates by 2.8% in 2022; Notes supply chains are moving more intra regional to avoid shocks; Mismatch between supply and demand to continue into 2022 - press.

- YUMC Guides Aug SSS "down mid teens y/y"; and -20% from 2019 notes increased impact of Delta variant and impact on operations; Guides Q3 adj Op -60% to -50% y/y.

- MSFT Announces $60B share buyback (2.7% of market cap); Raises dividend by 11% to $0.62 from $0.56 (indicated yield 0.83%).

- PFE Said to seek FDA vaccine approval in Nov for coronavirus injections for those aged 6 months to 5-years – FT.

- PFE Two additional cities in Japan reported a white colored floating substances was found in COVID vaccine vials before administration; vials were from the same production lot FF5357 that was reported earlier by Kamakura City in Kanagawa prefecture.

Europe

- (UK) PM Johnson laid out 2 plans to deal with COVID going into winter, including booster shots or more restrictions.

-DAI.DE CFO Wilhelm: Mercedes Q4 expected to return to a more normal level, affirms FY21 profit margin target 10-12%.

Levels as of 01:15ET

- Hang Seng -1.0%; Shanghai Composite +0.3%; Kospi +0.3%; Nikkei225 -0.4%; ASX 200 -0.2%.

- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.2%, Dax +0.3%; FTSE100 -0.4%.

- EUR 1.1812-1.1801; JPY 109.75-109.54; AUD 0.7329-0.7302; NZD 0.7100-0.7074.

- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,805/oz; Crude Oil +0.6% at $70.91/brl; Copper +0.3% at $4.33/lb.