Asian markets swing, but less volatility seen vs prior day

Asia Market Update: Asian markets swing, but less volatility seen vs. prior day; Generally quiet session for UST yields; USD index rises after prior drop, AUD lags.

General Trend

- Asian equities have pared gains, after opening higher following the strength on Wall St; Tech trades mixed despite the over 3.5% rise on the Nasdaq [Hang Seng TECH index opened higher by over 5.5%, later pared some of gain]; Financials are generally weaker with the lower gov’t bond yields; Decline in oil prices weigh on energy producers.

- Shanghai Composite ended morning trading near the opening level [Consumer stocks outperform; Financial and Property shares trade generally lower]; Hang Seng and HK TECH indices are off the highs [China Telecom rose amid earnings and listing plan; Cathay Pacific declined after reporting wider than expected loss].

- Nikkei is near the opening level [Electric Appliances, Pharma and Information & Communication indices rise; Iron & Steel index lags; Banks and Insurance indices also drop; Tokio Marine issued statement on Greensill];

- Australian equities have lagged [Resources, Energy and Financial indices declined; China Iron Ore FUTs dropped by over 5%]

- AUD underperforms [RBA Gov spoke; Aussie bond yields declined during session]

- BOK purchases bonds after recent rise in yields

- USD/JPY rises amid Gotobi day

- Taiwan Semi may release Feb sales later today (US financial press)

- Companies expected to report during the NY morning include Campbell Soup, Express, Tupperware

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened +0.1%

- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Gov Lowe: Recovery in employment has been V-shaped, close to recovering to pre-pandemic levels, will consider case for extending bond buying later this year, not considering removing 3-year yield target or changing from 0.10%

- (AU) Australia Port Hedland Feb Iron Ore Exports: 37.5Mt v 42.2Mt m/m

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opened +0.3%

- 8766.JP Spokesperson: Will not adjust FY guidance due to Greensill, checked transactions between Greensill and BCC

- (JP) Japan Olympic Min Marukawa: Will make a decision in late March if we will allow foreign spectators at Tokyo Olympics

- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Kato: Confirms Japan, India, US and Australia leaders to meet Friday (press notes they will focus on COVID vaccine production)

Korea

-Kospi opened %

- (KR) Govt of South Korea to invest KRW200B to develop automotive chip technology - Yonhap

- (KR) Yesterday Bank of Korea (BOK) purchased KRW2.0T in Govt bonds as part of market stabilizing measures under KRW7.0T bond purchase program (1st purchase under program announced last month)

- (KR) South Korea Feb Household Credit (KRW): 1,003.1T (exceeds 1,000T for the first time) v 996.4T prior

- (KR) South Korea reports 452 COVID cases (3 week high) speculation increased social distancing measures could be re-implemented

China/Hong Kong

-Hang Seng opened +1.7%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.9%

- (CN) CHINA FEB CPI M/M: 0.6% V 0.4%E; Y/Y: -0.2% V -0.3%E

- (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 CNY0B prior

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.5106 v 6.5338 prior

- (CN) Local institutions in Shanxi said to have been asked to purchase the debt of regional coal miners when the bond prices decline to a certain level - US financial press

Other

- (SG) Singapore Central Bank (MAS) Economy Survey: Raises 2021 GDP outlook from 5.5% to 5.8%; Raises 2021 CPI from 0.6% to 0.9%

North America

- (US) Treasury Sec Yellen: city economies will look more like 2019 than than 2020 in 2021; helping cities is very good economic policy

- (CN) Japan and US govts reportedly considering condemning China over ship intrusions – press

- AAPL Said to be planning to reduce H1 production by 20% with most of it related to iPhone 12 mini, cites weaker than expected demand - Nikkei

Europe

- (CH) Swiss National Bank (SNB) Official Zurbruegg: It is too early to talk about a rate rise; welcomes recent weakening of the CHF - Swiss press

Levels as of 12:15ET

- Hang Seng +0.1%; Shanghai Composite +0.2%; Kospi -0.7%; Nikkei225 -0.0%; ASX 200 -0.8%.

- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.3%; Nasdaq100 -0.4%, Dax -0.3%; FTSE100 -0.8%.

- EUR 1.1903-1.1873; JPY 108.88-108.47; AUD 0.7720-0.7677; NZD 0.7183-0.7136.

- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.3% at $1,711/oz; Crude Oil -0.8% at $63.50/brl; Copper 0.0% at $4.01/lb.