Asian markets trade mixed amid lack of direction due to US and UK holidays

Asia Market Update: Asian markets trade mixed amid lack of direction due to US and UK holidays; Chinese banks underperform after gov’t takeover of Baoshang Bank

General Trend:

- Little US/China trade news seen over the weekend

- Regional bank funding costs rise in China after bank takeover

- Chinese IT firms gain on speculation related to policy support , chipmakers gain amid focus on supplies to Huawei

- Chinese chipmaker SMIC to delist from NYSE amid trade war

- Tencent on track for 8th straight session of declines, shares have remained weaker following Q1 earnings report

- Japan moves to restrict foreign investments related to IT and telecom

- Nissan CEO declined comment on merger speculation regarding Renault and Fiat

- Offshore Yuan (CNH) rises on warning by China to currency speculators

- AUD/JPY outperforms, tracks rise in Nikkei Futures and Aussie bond yields

- Little initial market impact seen from EU Parliamentary elections

- Trump visiting Japan, notes trade agreement could be announced in August

 

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened +0.1%

- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Dep Gov Bascand: RBNZ is open to softening stance on capital requirements of big banks – AFR

- VOC.AU Receives offer from EQT Infrastructure for A$5.25/shr; grants non-exclusive due diligence to EQT

- AIR.NZ Guides FY19 pretax above NZ$340M (prior NZ$340-400M); sees H2 avg jet fuel price of $78/bbl (prior $75 prior)

-(NZ) New Zealand Fin Min Robertson: Will review budget rules before 2020 election; Govt to retain fiscal responsibility

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened +0.2%

- (JP) US President Trump: US and Japan are close to a "big" trade announcement - Nikkei

- (JP) President Trump: Great progress being made in our Trade Negotiations with Japan. Agriculture and beef heavily in play. Much will wait until after their July elections where I anticipate big numbers! – tweet

- (JP) Japan MOF Asakawa (Japan's top currency official): Little link between FX and Japan exports

- (JP) US President Trump: Great talk on Trade, imbalance with Japan will work out; will announce some things on trade in August - meeting with PM Abe in Japan

-(JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: High uncertainties remain for global economy, concerns over capital outflows and currency depreciation have eased globally

-(JP) Japan Mar Final Leading Index CI: 95.9 v 96.3 prelim; Coincident Index: 99.4 v 99.6 prelim

Korea

- Kospi opened -0.1%

- (KR) US President Trump: "North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Bidan a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?" – tweet

- (KR) South Korea government considering extending tax cut for cars - Korean Press

-(KR) South Korea sells KRW508B v KRW500B indicated in 20-yr bonds; avg yield 1.83% v 1.94% prior, bid to cover 3.19x

-(KR) North Korea KCNA: US Bolton's statements are ruining peace and security, banning ballistic technology is giving up self defense

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened -0.4%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.1%

- (CN) CHINA APR INDUSTRIAL PROFITS Y/Y: -3.7% V +13.9% PRIOR; YTD Y/Y: -3.4% V -3.3% PRIOR

- 1766.HK US Senate has introduced a bill that will block the ability to deliver subway cars to Washington DC – press

- (CN) Joint report by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said to see 2019 passenger car sales at ~23.7M units, flat y/y (in line with Jan projection) – Xinhua

- (CN) China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) Spokesman Xiao Yuanqi: Those who speculate and short the yuan (CNY) will for sure suffer heavy loss - financial press

- (CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate: 6.8924 v 6.8993 prior

- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY80B in 7-day reverse repos v skips prior; Net: CNY80B injection v CNY0B prior

- (CN) Yields on some of the NCDs issued by regional banks in China rise after recent gov’t takeover of Baoshang Bank

- (CN) China Ministry of Finance (MoF) said to plan to restrict direct investment from foreign IT companies, starting in August - US financial press

North America

- (US) MP Materials, which runs the sole operating rare earths mine in the United States targeting to start processing operation by the end of 2020 now that China has raised rare earth import tariffs to 25% - SCMP

Europe

- (EU) EU Parliament Early Election Results show that more pro-EU parties remain relatively unchanged; France President Macron's En Marche was defeated; traditional centerist parties lost seats to Greens and Liberal parties

- (EU) ECB Weidmann (Germany) reiterated sees no need for ECB to change its policy at present, despite weaker euro zone economy - financial press

- (GR) Greece PM Tsipras: Cannot ignore election result; calls general snap elections

 

Levels as of 01:20ET

- Hang Seng -0.4%; Shanghai Composite +0.7%; Kospi -0.2%; Nikkei225 +0.3%; ASX 200 -0.1%

- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.2%, Dax -0.0%; FTSE100 -0.0%

- EUR 1.1203-1.1216; JPY 109.28-109.50; AUD 0.6925-0.6937; NZD 0.6550-0.6560

- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.2% at $1,286/oz; Crude Oil -0.8% at $58.32/brl; Copper +0.4% at $2.71/lb