Asian markets trade generally lower amid trade and Brexit uncertainty

Asia Market Update: Asian markets trade generally lower amid trade and Brexit uncertainty; Weaker confidence data weighs on Aussie, BoJ 2-day meeting due to begin on Thursday

General Trend:

- ZTE declines over 6% on plan by controlling shareholder to cut stake, Shanghai Telecom Services index underperforms

- Ping An Insurance rises on earnings and buyback

- Sportswear firm XTEP International rises over 13% in Hong Kong, reported earnings on Tuesday

- Securities brokers, Electric Appliance companies and Softbank decline in Japan

- Australian Dollar (AUD) and bond yields decline after weaker consumer confidence data

- UK Parliament expected to vote on ‘no-deal’ Brexit on Wednesday (March 13th)

- China’s Feb Industrial Production, Fixed Asset Investment (YTD) and Retail Sales data are due for release on March 14th (Thursday)

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened -0.0%

- (AU) Australia Mar Westpac Consumer Confidence Index: 98.8 v 103.8 prior; m/m: -4.8% v +4.3% prior (largest decline since 2015)

- (AU) Australia banks said to be considering divesting New Zealand operations in light of new NZ capital requirements - Aussie press

- CTD.AU Confirms market speculation has held prelim talks on travel business with Capita Plc

- SIG.AU API proposal is not in the best interest of shareholders

- (NZ) New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority: Suspends operation of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to or from New Zealand

- Virgin Australia [VAH.AU]: Will not rollout Boeing 737 Max planes until completely satisfied with safety

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opened -0.4%

- (JP) JAPAN FEB PPI (CGPI) M/M: 0.2% V 0.1%E; Y/Y: 0.8% V 0.7%E

- (JP) JAPAN JAN CORE MACHINE ORDERS M/M: -5.4% V -1.5%E (largest decline since Sept 2018); Y/Y: -2.9% V -2.1%E

-(JP) Japan Jan Tertiary Industry Index M/M: +0.4% v -0.3%e

- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: Up to BOJ to decided monetary policy; hope that BOJ continues to make efforts to reach 2% CPI target

- (JP) Japan Regional Banks' Assoc Head: BOJ's easy policy has had sufficient benefits to the economy, as various side-effects of financial intermediation, JGB market emerging; Want the BOJ to take into account the side effects of guiding monetary policy

- 7201.JP Confirms to withdraw premium brand Infiniti to exit Western Europe early 2020; will end production of 2 models in UK this year – press

- RNO.FR To create new Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance operating board

- (JP) Quarterly venture capital investment in Japan has fallen for the first time in more than 3-years, due to investor worries over exposure to China – Nikkei

- 7203.JP Workers said to receive base pay increase of ¥10.7K, below increase sought by the union - Japanese Press

Korea

-Kospi opened -0.2%

- (KR) South Korea Feb Unemployment Rate: 3.7% v 4.2%e

- (KR) US Sec of State Pompeo: North Korea needs to act on its pledge to dismantle its nuclear weapons program – Yonhap

- (KR) IMF: Maintains South Korea 2019 GDP growth forecast at 2.6%, risks to domestic economy tilted towards the downside

- (KR) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was not included in a list of deputies newly elected to the rubber-stamp parliament; if true would be the first time the leader has not held a seat - Yonhap

China/Hong Kong

-Hang Seng opened flat; Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%

- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO (10th consecutive skip); Net: nil v nil prior

- (CN) China PBoC Sets Yuan Reference Rate: 6.7114 v 6.7128 prior

- (CN) US Trade Rep Lighthizer: Talks with China on trade are in their final weeks, whether there is a deal or no deal – Nikkei

- 2318.HK Reports FY18 (CNY) Net 107.4B v 97.5Be, Rev 1.08T v 974B y/y; Plans to buyback CNY5.0-10.0B in shares

- 763.HK Controlling shareholder plans to cut its A-Share holding in the company by up to 2% via bloack trades within 90 days

- (CN) Shift in China breeding of pigs, caused rally in US hog futures – press

- (CN) China PBoC said to be studying impact of rate overhaul on banks' loan pricing - financial press

- (CN) China Foreign Investment Law (FIL) draft includes provision that requires Chinese officials to protect commercially confidential information they obtain from overseas businesses – SCMP

- (CN) China National Bureau of Statistics chief Ning Jizhe: Economy has achieved a good start to 2019 despite a recent drop in sales of cars and mobile phones; there is stable industrial production and steady employment in first 2 months of the year - SCMP

-293.HK Reports final FY18 (HK$) Net +2.3B v -1.3B y/y; Rev 111.1B v 97.3B y/y

North America

- (US) Weekly API Oil Inventories: Crude: -2.6M v +7.3M prior

- BA FAA: Continues to review Boeing 373 Max, so far no basis to order grounding; No other civil authorities provided data to warrant action

- (CA) Canada Transport Minister to hold news conference on Wed to discuss Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, along with safety and security; Officials see no reason at this time to ground the planes

Europe

- (UK) PM MAY'S REVISED BREXIT DEAL REJECTED BY PARLIAMENT BY 391-242 VOTE

- (UK) Prime Min May spokesperson: no more talks with the EU are currently planned; PM May has not discussed resigning; PM will set out how she plans to vote on no deal in her opening remarks tomorrow

- (DE) Germany Foreign Minister Maas: Getting closer to 'no-deal' scenario, notes UK parliament's rejection of PM May's Brexit deal - financial press

- (UK) A group of UK lawmakers said to test whether parliament would support seeking 'standstill arrangements' with the EU - financial press

Levels as of 1:25 ET

- Nikkei 225, -1.2%, ASX 200 -0.2%, Hang Seng -0.5%; Shanghai Composite -0.7%; Kospi -0.6%

- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax -0.2%

- EUR 1.1292-1.1284 ; JPY 111.36-111.24 ; AUD 0.7083-0.7054 ;NZD 0.6863-0.6852

- Gold +0.5% at $1,304/oz; Crude Oil +0.5% at $57.17/brl; Copper -0.2% at $2.925/lb