Modest gains generally seen in Asia after strength on Wall Street, Shanghai outperforms
|General trend
- Shanghai Composite extends gain and outperforms [leaders included the IT, Consumer Staples and Financial indices]; No new headlines seen related to Huarong.
- Hang Seng has also extended gains after the higher open [Financials trade generally higher].
- Nikkei opened higher and is currently near the opening level.
- S&P ASX 200 rose following the flat open [Resources index is gaining for the first time in 5 sessions].
- RBNZ is due to hold policy decision on Wed (May 26th); NZ 10-yr yield declines ahead of decision.
- Companies due to report during the NY morning include AutoZone, Cracker Barrel, Citi Trends, Tarena International, ViaSat.
Headlines/Economic data
Australia/New Zealand
-ASX 200 opened 0.0%.
-DVN.AU Cimic to acquire all remaining outstanding shares off market at A$0.24/shr, ~A$15.6M.
- (AU) South Australia imposes new border restrictions with Victoria over Melbourne coronavirus cluster.
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$223.7B v A$222.6B prior (record high).
- (AU) Australia sells A$150M v A$150M indicated in 1.25% Aug 2040 indexed bonds, avg yield 0.1663%, bid to cover 5.53x.
- (AU) Australia total weekly payroll jobs change for Apr 24th to May 8th: -0.5% v +0.4% prior; Wages -1.3% v +0.3% prior.
- (AU) Australia Apr Prelim Merchandise Trade Balance A$10.1B, Exports M/M: 0%, Imports M/M: -7%.
Japan
-Nikkei 225 opened +0.5%.
- (JP) US State Dept raises travel advisory to 'Do Not Travel' amid COVID-19 for Japan and Sri Lanka.
- (JP) Japan to begin imposing a 3 day quarantine rule for travelers from the UK - Press.
- (JP) Japan govt considering extending COVID emergency for Tokyo and eight other areas - Japanese press.
- (JP) Japan said to be extending period of 0% loan program - Press.
-(JP) Former BOJ gov Shirakawa op-ed: failure to reach inflation targets despite the presence of a targeting framework exposes the limitations in knowledge of inflation dynamics, traditional theoretical models have not worked – Nikkei.
- 9449.JP Confirms to acquire YJFX trading platform for ¥28.9B from Z Holdings.
- (JP) Japan Labor Ministry to delay release of wage data, unable to determine when the data will be released; cites the need to 'scrutinize' certain figures - financial press.
Korea
-Kospi opened +0.3%
- (KR) South Korea May Consumer Confidence: 105.2 v 102.2 prior (~3 year high).
China/Hong Kong
- Hang Seng opened +0.2%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.2%.
- (CN) China NDRC unveils 5-year price mechanism reform plan; To strengthen management of market expectation on prices.
- (CN) China PBOC Gov Yi Gang met with foreign bank delegation on Monday (May 24th); foreign banks’ business developments in China were said to have been discussed – US financial press (update).
- (CN) China PBOC: To raise tolerance of bad loans in Ag sector, To encourage banks to issue Agricultural FInancial bonds.
- Ant Financial: Microlending unit CNY18B ABS issuance was terminated.
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4283 v 6.4408 prior.
- (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 CNY0B prior.
Other
- (SG) SINGAPORE FINAL Q1 GDP Q/Q: 3.1% V 2.7%E; Y/Y: 1.3% V 0.9%E; Maintains 2021 GDP at 4-6%.
- (SG) Singapore Apr Industrial Production M/M: 1.0% v 1.0%e; Y/Y: 2.1% v 3.5%e.
North America
- (US) Commerce Dept reaches final determination that dumping of vehicle and light truck tires is occurring from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam – press.
- (US) Sen Wicker (R-MS): GOP could support a total $1.0T package for infrastructure.
- (US) Fed's George (non-voter): Flexible approach to policy will serve Fed well; hard to distinguish between one off bottlenecks' and broad lack of capacity; inflation expectations have moved up, do not dismiss risk of higher inflation.
- (US) SEMI Apr North America-based Manufacturers of Semi Equipment Billings: $3.41B, +4.1% m/m and +49.5% y/y.
Europe
- (EU) EU Commission President Von Der Leyen: No alternative to full and correct implementation of Irish protocol in UK relations.
- (UK) BOE's Cunliffe: Emphasizes guidance that we will not tighten policy until we have clear evidence progress is being made in eliminating spare capacity - Testifying in Parliament.
- (TR) Turkey has removed one of the 4 Central Bank (CBRT) Deputy Govs, Oguzhan Ozbas to be replaced by Semih Tumen (adviser to President Erdogan) - Turkish press.
Levels as of 01:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.5%, ASX 200 +0.7% , Hang Seng +1.4%; Shanghai Composite +1.9% ; Kospi +0.6%.
- Equity S&P500 Futures: +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.3%, Dax -0.1%%; FTSE100 +0.2%.
- EUR 1.2231-1.2211 ; JPY 108.86-108.68 ; AUD 0.7762-0.7745 ;NZD 0.7229-0.7204.
- Gold -0.3% at $1,879/oz; Crude Oil +0.3% at $66.22/brl; Copper +0.8% at $4.5685/lb.
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers.