Cautious equity gains seen ahead of US CPI data

Asia Market Update: Cautious equity gains seen ahead of US CPI data; USD trades mixed; 2-yr UST yield eases.

General trend

- AUD lags; Negative Australian M&A news has been in the headlines [Link Administration, Ramsay Health Care].

- Chinese markets return from holiday.

- BOK might release minutes later today.

Headlines/economic data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened +0.2%.

- (AU) Australia Aug CBA Household Spending M/M: 0.8% v 1.1% prior; Y/Y: 15.1% v 11.9% prior.

- Star SGR.AU New South Wales Commission issues report: Company unsuitable to hold casino license in state.

- (AU) Australia Aug Westpac Consumer Confidence: 84.4 v 83.8 prior; M/M: +3.9% v -3.0% prior (1st expansion in 7 months).

- (AU) Australia sells A$100M v A$100M indicated in 1.00% Feb 2050 Indexed Bonds; Avg Yield: 1.7712%; bid-to-cover 1.51x.

- (AU) Australia Aug NAB Business Confidence: 10 v 8 prior.

- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Gov Lowe to deliver testimony to parliament on Sept 16th (Fri).

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened slightly higher.

- (JP) Japan Q3 BSI large all industry Q/Q: +0.4 V -0.9 prior; large manufacturing  Q/Q: +1.7 V -9.9 prior.

- (JP) Japan Aug PPI (CGPI) M/M: 0.2% v 0.3%e; Y/Y: 9.0% v 8.6%e.

- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) offers to buy 5-10 year JGBs at fixed rate of 25bps; Opens window to buy unlimited amount of 10-year JGBs at 0.25% [as expected].

- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Matsuno: Confirms will start a domestic travel program if infections fall.

- (JP) US Defense Sec Austin and Japan Defence Min Hamada to meet on Weds - Nikkei.

Korea

- Kospi opened +1.4%.

- (KR) South Korea Sept 1-10 Exports Y/Y: -16.6% v +23.2% prior; Imports Y/Y: -10.9% v +34.1% prior.

- (KR) South Korea Finance Ministry: Proposes fiscal rule revision, aiming for legislation in Dec; Slowdown worries and market uncertainty are rising.

- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Dep Gov: Volatility is likely to increase.

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened +0.2%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.3%.

- (CN) China Sec Daily: Analysts expect the PBOC to maintain the MLF rate.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.8928 v 6.9098 prior.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Sells CNY2.0B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY2.0B prior; Net CNY0B v Net CNY0B prior.

North America

- (MX) Mexico Fin Min Ramirez: Mexico reaffirms its commitment to deeper commercial and economic integration with the US.

- (US) US Sec of State Blinken: Discussed efforts to address irregular migration with Mexico, Talked about strengthening Energy security between countries; Iran Response to EU proposal on Nuclear deal makes agreement in near term unlikely.

- (US) Treasury's $32B 10-year note reopening draws 3.330% V 2.96% prior; Bid-to-cover ratio: 2.37 V 2.34 prior and 2.48 over last 8 reopenings.

Europe

- (EU) EU said to still be working on measures to bolster energy sector liquidity - press.

- (EU) European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA): Actively considering whether any regulatory measures are needed to ease strains in collateral.

Levels as of 01:20 ET

- Nikkei 225, +0.2%, ASX 200 +0.7% , Hang Seng +0.5%; Shanghai Composite +0.3% ; Kospi +2.6%.

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

- EUR 1.0146-1.0117 ; JPY 142.86-142.31 ; AUD 0.6899-0.6863 ;NZD 0.6152-0.6124.

- Gold -0.5% at $1,732/oz; Crude Oil -0.1% at $87.65/brl; Copper flat at $3.6155/lb.