Asia drops after US losses; UST FUTs remained volatile; Aussie yields pared rise as RBA acted

General Trend

- After opening broadly lower equity indices are generally closer to session lows

- Earnings reactions: [Australia] Lynas, Austal, BWX rise ; Harvey Norman, Orocobre, Isentia, Kogan.com decline; [Hong Kong]: ASM Pacific declines

- BOJ might release March bond buying plan after the market close

- Companies expected to report during the NY morning include AMC Networks, Carter’s, DraftKings, Foot Locker, Fluor Corp, Liberty Media Corp, Liberty SiriusXM

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened -0.6%

-*(AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) TO BUY UP TO A$3.0B IN GOVT SECURITIES TO DEFEND 3-YEAR YIELD TARGET (Unscheduled operation)

-(AU) Australia Jan Private Sector Credit M/M: 0.2% v 0.3% prior; Y/Y: 1.7% v 1.9%e

-(NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Gov Orr: Reiterates could stimulate further with negative cash rate (OCR) if needed; NZD is operating somewhere near vast groups of people's models of fair value

-(NZ) New Zealand Jan Trade Balance (NZD): -626M v -600Me

China/Hong Kong

-Hang Seng opened -2.2%. Shanghai Composite -2%

-(HK) Hong Kong stamp duty on stock trading to become effective Aug 1st

-(CN) China PBoC Advisor Liu Shijin: China GDP could grow 8-9% in 2021 under usual circumstances, Q1 GDP could grow by >15% y/y; Says this speed of recovery would not mean China has returned to a 'high growth' period, cites the low base comparison with 2020 (China's economy grew by 2.3% in 2020). - Press

-(CN) China Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM): Opposes EU Blaming WTO Crisis on China, citing new EU Trade rules

-(TW) China Customs: to stop imports of Pineapples from Taiwan starting Mar 1st, citing plant disease prevention

-(CN) China Oil Reserves reported to have leveled at 100 days of imports, the oil reserves are said to be nearing storage capacity - US financial press

-(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4713 v 6.4522 prior

-(CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY20B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY20B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net injects CNY0B v Net injects CNY0B prior

- (CN) China Minister: In 2021 China employment will continue to be stable

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opened -1.4%

-(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: Local currency debt defaults are not 100% impossible; Stability in Yields is important

- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Price growth affected by various factors including oil

-*(JP) JAPAN JAN PRELIMINARY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: 4.2% V 3.8%E; Y/Y: -5.3% V -2.0%E

-(JP) JAPAN FEB TOKYO CPI Y/Y: -0.3% V -0.4%E; CPI (EX-FRESH FOOD) Y/Y: -0.3% V -0.4%E

-*(JP) JAPAN JAN RETAIL SALES M/M: -0.5% V -0.3%E; Y/Y: % V -2.5%E

-*(JP) JAPAN JAN ANNUALIZED HOUSING STARTS: 801K V 799KE; Y/Y: -3.1% V -1.9%E

-(JP) Senior BOJ Official: Various uncertainties exist over CPI outlook; Consumer prices likely to remain negative for time being

-(JP) Japan Govt said to lift emergency declaration outside of Tokyo at end of Feb - financial press

-(JP) Japan Finance Ministry: To use ¥3.0B of reserve funds to support small businesses

-(JP) Japan MOF sells ¥3.0T v ¥3.0T indicated in 0.10% 2-year JGBs: avg yield: -0.0990% v -0.1270% prior; bid to cover 4.27x v 4.97x prior

Korea

-Kospi opened -0.3%

-(KR) Bank of Korea (BOK): To make outright purchases of KRW5.0-7.0T in Govt bonds in H1; Will take extra steps to stabilize market if needed

Other Asia

- (SG) Singapore Jan Industrial Production M/M: 4.6% v 4.3%e; Y/Y: 8.6% v 3.6%e

North America

- (US) TREASURY $62B 7-YEAR NOTE AUCTION RESULTS: DRAWS 1.195%; BID-TO-COVER: 2.04 V 2.30 PRIOR

-*(US) SENATE PARLIMENTARIAN: MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE TO $15/HR RULED OUT OF ORDER FOR CORONAVIRUS STIMULUS

-Boeing [BA]: Boeing 777 flying from Hong Kong to Madrid said to seek emergency landing in Moscow due to engine issue - Russia media

Europe

-(UK) UK Finance Minister said to consider a dual share structure plan - UK Press

-(UK) Feb Lloyds Business Barometer: +2 v -7 prior

Levels as of 00:20 ET

- Nikkei 225, -3.6%, ASX 200 -2.4% , Hang Seng -2.9%; Shanghai Composite -2.1%; Kospi -3.3%.

- Equity S&P500 Futures: -0.4%; Nasdaq100 -0.9%, Dax -0.4%; FTSE100 -1.4%.

- EUR 1.2184-1.2137 ; JPY 106.43-105.84 ; AUD 0.7884-0.7819 ;NZD 0.7384-0.7308.

- Gold -0.5% at $1,766/oz; Crude Oil -1.2% at $62.78/brl; Copper flat at $4.2070/lb.