Asia trades mixed after similar US session on Friday

Asia Market Update: Asia trades mixed after similar US session on Fri; China NDRC comments weigh on commodity sensitive assets.

General trend

- Modest moves have been seen for the equity markets in Asia.

- Nikkei has moved higher after the lower open [automakers track gains in the US, Toyota trades at record high].

- S&P ASX 200 Resources index drops on China NDRC comments, index declines for 4th consecutive session.

- NDRC also weighs on Materials indices in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

- Shanghai Consumer Staples index pares decline.

- Hang Seng TECH index drops over 2% [Tencent extends decline following recently reported Q1 results; Kuaishou Technology is expected to report later today].

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened flat

-(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$222.6B v A$215.2B prior (Record high).

-(AU) Various banks in Australia (including CBA, Westpac, Macquarie and NAB) have raised 3-5-year fixed home lending rates - Australian press.

-(NZ) NZIER Shadow board: Sees a stronger case for tightening by RBNZ; Board members consider current monetary policy setting still appropriate for May 26th (Wed) policy meeting.

-(NZ) New Zealand Q1 Retail Sales Ex-Inflation Q/Q: +2.5% v -1.8%e; Higher retail spending on electronic items and outdoor recreational goods this summer helped boost overall spending in the March 2021 quarter.

China/Hong Kong

-Shanghai Composite opened flat, Hang Seng -0.1%.

-(CN) China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC): holds talks with major commodity companies; vows to have 'zero tolerance' for any commodities futures violations.

-(CN) China Vice Premier Liu: China to crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading.

- (CN) Follow Up: Various cryptocurrency mining operators in China (including Huobi Mall and BTC.TOP) are suspending their operations - financial press.

-(HK) Hang Seng Indexes announced index review results: To add Xinyi Solar, BYD Co. and Country Garden Services [6098.HK] to Hang Seng Index, effective June 7th.

- (CN) China PBoC official: suggests CNY currency (Yuan) to appreciate as prices rise; Should improve the CPI calculation method.

- (CN) China PBOC Deputy Gov: Fluctuations in the Yuan in either direction will become the norm.

- (CN) China Sec Journal: Analysts see China keeping the FX rate system 'stable' (in line).

- (CN) China President Xi: Stresses regulation of tutoring institutions - State TV comments.

-(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.

-(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4408 v 6.4300 prior.

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened -0.4%.

- (JP) Tokyo to begin disclosing daily coronavirus cases at 03:45EST(market closes at 02:00EST).

- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Kato: Lifting or extension of state of emergency to be decided comprehensively.

Korea

- Kospi opened flat.

- (KR) South Korea Finance Ministry: Denies extra budget report.

- (KR) South Korea Govt said to be internally considering 2nd extra budget - Press.

- Hyundai Motor [005380.KR]: Halting Asan plant through May 27th due to chip shortages.

- (KR) South Korea President Moon and US President Biden Joint Statement: Calls for full implementation of UN Sanctions on North Korea.

- (KR) South Korea sells 5-year bonds: avg yield 1.640% v 1.570% prior.

- (KR) Bank of Korea sells KRW840B v KRW700B indicated in 1-year Monetary Stabilization Bonds (MSB): avg yield 0.620% v 0.650% prior.

Other Asia

- (SG) Singapore Apr CPI M/M: -0.2% v -0.2%e; Y/Y: 2.1% v 2.0%e; CPI Core Y/Y: 0.6% v 0.9%e.

- (TW) Taiwan companies said to cut certain 5G component part orders due to lessened demand; growth in 5G smartphone component orders might drop by up to 30% vs Q1 - Taiwan press.

North America

- (US) Fed's Daly (non-voter, dove): policy is in a really good place; see bright things happening across the economy, but we are still not out of the woods [comments from May 21st].

- (US) China says US Intelligence report is an attempt to distract attention from the Coronavirus probe - Press.

- Reminder: The next North American SEMI Billings report is May 24, 2021 at 3:00pm Pacific (Monday).

Europe

- (EU) ECB De Guindos (Spain) said data is improving, but policy must remain very loose - financial press.

Levels as of 01:20 ET

- Nikkei 225, +0.2%, ASX 200 +0.2% , Hang Seng -0.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.2% ; Kospi -0.4%.

- Equity S&P500 Futures: +0.3%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.2%.

- EUR 1.2187-1.2172 ; JPY 108.99-108.81 ; AUD 0.7738-0.7713 ;NZD 0.7182-0.7160.

- Gold +0.5% at $1,886/oz; Crude Oil +0.6% at $63.97/brl; Copper -1.1% at $4.4573/lb.

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