TradeTheNews.com Staff
TradeTheNews.com
Asian Mid-session Update: China Finance Minister held news conference in Beijing; Market quiet ahead of US non-farm payrolls data
Economic Data
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB AIG PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTION INDEX: 43.9 V 45.9 PRIOR
- (JP) JAPAN FEB OFFICIAL RESERVE ASSETS: $1.25T V $1.26T PRIOR
- (MY) Malaysia Jan Trade Balance (MYR): 9.0B v 7.0Be
- (CO) Colombia Jan Exports FOB: $2.88B v $3.60Be
- (CO) Colombia Feb CPI M/M: 1.2% v 0.7%e; Y/Y:4.4% v 3.9%e
Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)
- Nikkei225 +1.1%, S&P/ASX -0.2%, Kospi +0.5%, Shanghai Composite +0.2%, Hang Seng +0.1%, Mar S&P500 flat at 2,099
Commodities/Fixed Income
- Apr gold +0.2% at $1,199, Apr crude oil +0.5% at $51.13/brl, May Copper +0.1% at $2.65/lb
- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets for week ending Mar 4th: $4.49T v $4.49T prior; Reserve Bank Credit: $4.45T v $4.45T prior; M1: +$3.9B v +$12.1B prior; M2: +$43.5B v +$29.0B prior
- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$700M in 5.75% bonds due 2022; Avg yield: 2.3850%; Bid-to-cover: 2.63x
- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥300B in 1-3 yr JGBs, ¥350B in 3-5yt JGBs, ¥240B in 10-25 yr JGBs and ¥140B in JGBs with maturity over 25-yr
- USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1533 v 6.1528 prior setting
Market Focal Points/FX
- Slow session during Asian trading hours today. China Finance Minister Lou Jiwei held a news conference at annual political meeting in Beijing. Lou reiterated China fiscal policies to be moderately expansionary. Lou mentioned that China's fiscal deficit for 2015 to be 2.7% of GDP, versus 2.3% in Premier Li Keqiang's government work report, after counting new disposable spending. Lou also noted that China is facing weak tax revenue growth. On local government debt problem, Finance Minister expressed optimism, saying risks are controllable in local debts. Shanghai Composite traded slightly higher by 0.1% in morning trading session, during Finance Minister's news conference.
- US released stress test results for banks just after US market closed. All banks were above thresholds in Fed's stress test. Citi was in the spotlight, with Tier 1 common ratio of 8.2% under extreme scenarios, just at its minimum required ratio. Zions was also at minimum required ratio of 5.1%. Just note that each bank has its own mandated minimums required to meet. Major currency pairs traded little changed during evening's Asia session. AUD traded up by about 10pips to just below $0.78 level. EUR traded off the US session low, at around $1.1025 level during evening session. Overall, market was quiet ahead of morning's US non-farm payrolls data, expected at 08:30 EST.
Equities
US markets:
- FNSR: Reports Q3 $0.25 v $0.25e, R$306.3M v $306Me; +5.8% afterhours
- YY: Reports Q4 $1.04 v $0.86e, R$188.7M v $101.1M y/y; +5.6% afterhours
- THO: Reports Q2 $0.54 v $0.43e, R$852M v $770M; +3.5% afterhours
- COO: Reports Q1 $1.75 v $1.53e, R$445.2M v $449Me; +2.9% afterhours
- SKUL: Reports Q4 $0.26 v $0.24e, R$96.8M v $82.2Me; -0.6% afterhours
- GPS: Reports Feb SSS -4.0% v +2.2%e; -1.9% afterhours
- EBS: Reports Q4 $0.75 v $0.72e, R$148M v $148Me; discloses BioThrax manufacturing issues; -8.3% afterhours
- CKP: Reports Q4 $0.26 v $0.30 y/y, R$183.1M v $194.4M y/y; Declares $0.50/share special dividend; -19.6% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer Discretionary: Sekisui House 1928.JP +2.6% (FY14/15 results); Melco Crown Entertainment 6883.HK -6.1% (HSBC cuts rating)
- Financials: Resona Holdings 8308.JP -1.2% (analyst action); PAX Global Technology 327.HK -4.6% (FY14 results)
- Materials: Regis Resources RRL.AU -28.0% (issues op update)
- Energy: Caltex Australia CTX.AU -1.4% (Jan op results)
- Industrials: CSR Corp 601766.CN +5.1%, CNR Corp 601299.CN +4.6% (receives approval for merger); Great Wall Motor 2333.HK +1.1% (Feb production results); Guangzhou Automobile 2238.HK +1.7% (Feb production results)
- Technology: Skyworth Digital 751.HK +1.5% (Feb sales results)
- Healthcare: GI Dynamics GID.AU -48.3% (provides update from US FDA)
- Telecom: Recruit Holdings 6098.JP -1.7% (acquisition)
All information provided by Trade The News (a product of Trade The News, Inc. "referred to as TTN hereafter") is for informational purposes only. Information provided is not meant as investment advice nor is it a recommendation to Buy or Sell securities. Although information is taken from sources deemed reliable, no guarantees or assurances can be made to the accuracy of any information provided. 1. Information can be inaccurate and/or incomplete 2. Information can be mistakenly re-released or be delayed, 3. Information may be incorrect, misread, misinterpreted or misunderstood 4. Human error is a business risk you are willing to assume 5. Technology can crash or be interrupted without notice 6. Trading decisions are the responsibility of traders, not those providing additional information. Trade The News is not liable (financial and/or non-financial) for any losses that may arise from any information provided by TTN. Trading securities involves a high degree of risk, and financial losses can and do occur on a regular basis and are part of the risk of trading and investing.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
Australian Dollar maintains ground amid subdued US Dollar, US Nonfarm Payrolls awaited
The Australian Dollar rises on hawkish sentiment surrounding the RBA prolonging higher interest rates. Australia’s central bank is expected to maintain its current rate at 4.35% until the end of September. US Nonfarm Payrolls is expected to print a reading of 243K for April, compared to 303K prior.
EUR/USD: Optimism prevailed, hurting US Dollar demand
The EUR/USD pair advanced for a third consecutive week, accumulating a measly 160 pips in that period. The pair trades around 1.0760 ahead of the close after tumultuous headlines failed to trigger a clear directional path.
Gold bears take action on mixed signals from US economy
Gold price fell more than 2% for the second consecutive week, erased a small portion of its losses but finally came under renewed bearish pressure. The near-term technical outlook points to a loss of bullish momentum as the market focus shifts to Fedspeak.
Bitcoin Cash could become a Cardano partnerchain as 66% of 11.3K voters say “Aye”
Bitcoin Cash is the current mania in the Cardano ecosystem following a proposal by the network’s executive inviting the public to vote on X, about a possible integration.
Week ahead: BoE and RBA decisions headline a calm week
Bank of England meets on Thursday, unlikely to signal rate cuts. Reserve Bank of Australia could maintain a higher-for-longer stance. Elsewhere, Bank of Japan releases summary of opinions.