Asian equity markets trade mostly lower following mixed session in the US

Asia Market Update: Asian equity markets trade mostly lower following mixed session in the US; Aussie jobs data due on Thursday’s session

General Trend:

- Hang Seng declines for the 6th straight session

- Meituan speculated to price HK IPO in the upper half of the expected range

- Electric Vehicle company NIO’s IPO said to price at the lower end of range

- China PBoC holds first OMO in 16 sessions, injects liquidity

- China Agricultural Ministry cuts its 2018/19 soybean imports forecast amid trade war

- Japan Q3 BSI indices move into positive territory ahead of the Oct 1st release of the BoJ Tankan Survey

- US and Japan are speculated to hold bilateral trade talks on Sept 21st (financial press)

- South Korea’s unemployment rate moves to the highest level since early 2010

- South Korea sold 50-year bonds at lower yield

- Australia Westpac consumer confidence has largest m/m decline since 2016

- Australia monthly employment data due for release on Thursday

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened -0.1%

- ASX 200 Financials index -0.4%, Telecom -0.2%, Resources -0.1%; Energy +1.8%, Utilities +0.4%, Consumer Discretionary +0.2%

- (AU) Australia Sept Westpac Consumer Confidence Index: 100.5 v 103.6 prior; M/M: -3.0% v -2.3% prior (largest decline since 2016)

- (AU) Australia sells A$1.0B v A$1.0B indicated in May 2028 bonds, avg yield 2.589%, bid to cover 3.2x

- (NZ) ANZ expects next week's release of New Zealand's Q2 GDP to be overshadowed by forward indicators - US financial press

- (NZ) New Zealand to offer NZ$250M in April 2029 bonds at auction on Thursday

China/Hong Kong

-Shanghai Composite opened -0.2%, Hang Seng +0.2%

- Shanghai Composite moved below the 2016 closing low

-Hang Seng Consumer Goods index -1.9%, Services -1.5%, Telecom -0.9%, Financials -0.4%, Industrials -0.3%, Property/Construction -0.2%; Utilities +0.3%, Info Tech +0.2%

- (CN) China A-shares show 'value investing opportunity' - Chinese Press

- (HK) Certain property developers in Hong Kong said to raise commissions for agents in order to push sales - HK Press

- (US) Pres Trump: The US is taking a very tough stand on China regarding trade

- (CN) S&P downgrades 7 Local Government Financing Vehicles (LGFVS) in China

- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): To inject CNY60B in 7-day reverse repos; Net: CNY60B injection (first open market operation held in 16 sessions)

- (CN) China PBoC set yuan reference rate: 6.8546 v 6.8488 prior

- (CN) China PBoC and securities regulator announced measures to improve supervision of credit-rating businesses as improvements in the quality of credit ratings are sought – Nikkei

- (CN) According to research by Plug and Play valuations among start-ups in China are up to 3X higher than Silicon Valley - Japanese Press

- (CN) China Premier said to call for stepped up oversight related to food and drugs - US financial press

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opened +0.2%

- TOPIX Electric Appliances index -1.5%, Marine Transportation -1.2%, Iron & Steel -1%, Real Estate -0.6%, Securities -0.6%; Info & Communications +0.9%

- Automakers trade generally lower, megabanks decline

- (JP) Japan PM Abe: Says he met with China President Xi, agreed to work towards visit to China in Oct; reaffirmed the agreement to deepen Japan-China cooperation

- (JP) Japan Economy Min Motegi and USTR Lighthizer are likely to hold trade talks in the US on Sept 21st - financial press

- (JP) JAPAN Q3 BSI LARGE ALL INDUSTRY Q/Q: +3.8 V -2.0 PRIOR; LARGE MANUFACTURING Q/Q: +6.5 V -3.2 PRIOR

- (JP) Japan said to consider a law which would eliminate postal deliveries on weekends, cites labor shortages - Japanese Press

- (JP) Japan government said to consider certain drug price cuts in FY2019 - Japanese Press

Korea

-Kospi opened +0.1%

- (KR) SOUTH KOREA AUG UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.2% V 3.8%E (highest since Jan 2010)

- (KR) South Korea Finance Min Kim comments after release of worse than expected Aug unemployment data: Does not expect short-term recovery in the labor market

- North Korea, US and South Korea said to be considering Oct summit for second Kim-Trump meeting - Nikkei

- (KR) South Korea sells KRW660B in 50-year bonds: yield 2.09% v 2.64% prior

Other

- (ID) Indonesia Central Bank Official: Domestic lenders to help assist the central bank in the defense of the Rupiah (IDR) currency

- (PH) Philippines President Duterte said to have ‘dared’ the military to stage a coup to remove him – Press

-(SG) Singapore July Retail Sales M/M: -2.9% v 1.3% prior; Y/Y: -2.6% v 0.7%e

- (TW) Certain companies in Taiwan said to have repatriated profits from China - Local Press

North America

-US equity markets ended mixed: Dow +0.4%, S&P500 +0.2%, Nasdaq +0.2%, Russell 2000 -0.2%

-S&P500 Communications Services +1%; Consumer Staples -0.4%

- (US) EPA approves emergency fuel waiver for North and South Carolinas ahead of Hurricane Florence

- (US) Weekly API Oil Inventories: Crude: -8.6M v -1.2M prior

Europe

-(UK) Reportedly Downing street is ready to drop chequers plan if it is rejected by the EU - UK press

- (UK) Group of 50 Tory Brexiter MPs said to be openly discussing desire to remove PM May from her position - ITV News

-(EU) EU's Juncker: EU firmly sticking to Brexit divorce terms demands but wants a close future relationship with UK

-(UK) BOE's Carney: Chinese financial system is "one of the biggest risks" for world economy - UK press

- (FR) France govt cuts 2018 GDP growth forecast to 1.7%, cuts 2019 GDP growth forecast to 1.7%

- IMF's Lagarde: US-China trade dispute could cause shock to emerging markets - FT interview

- (RU) Russia Energy Min Novak comments on upcoming meeting with US Energy Sec Perry: Says such meetings are important; oil market still vulnerable, in part due to geopolitics, need to continue to monitor the market and make decisions: Current oil prices are beneficial to producers and consumers

Levels as of 01:30ET

- Nikkei 225, -0.5%, ASX 200 -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.3%; Shanghai Composite -0.3%; Kospi -0.3%

- Equity Futures: S&P500 flat; Nasdaq100 flat, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 -0.1%

- EUR 1.1609-1.1583; JPY 111.67-111.44 ; AUD 0.7125-0.7093 ; NZD 0.6530-0.6504

- Dec Gold -0.3% at $1,199/oz; Oct Crude Oil +0.9% at $69.86/brl; Dec Copper +0.2% at $2.629/lb