Colonial Pipeline situation continues to develop

Asia Market Update: Asia generally tracks declines on Wall St, HK TECH index drops over 4%; China released 2020 census; Japan earnings remain in focus; Colonial Pipeline situation continues to develop.

General trend

- Asian markets extended losses after the mostly lower opens; US equity FUTs continued to move lower led by Nasdaq.

- Tech has lagged in Asia after the Nasdaq declined by over 2.5%.

- Mining shares trade generally lower after gains on prior session; China Iron Ore FUTs drop over 3.5%.

- Nikkei dropped >3% after opening lower by ~1% [Panasonic drops over 6% after issuing results/guidance, weighs on Topix Electric Appliances index; Softbank Group declines over 6%].

- Japan earnings remain in focus [Nissan, Sharp, Takeda, Subaru, SUMCO, Kobe Steel and Mitsubishi Motors are due to report today; Toyota Motor reports on Wed (May 12th) ].

- Hang Seng TECH index drops over 4% [Meituan extends decline amid regulatory concerns; Tencent drops over 3%].

- Shanghai Composite has pared declines [IT and Consumer Discretionary indices lag; Consumer Staples index rises].

- S&P ASX 200 moved lower by over 1% after the flat open [Energy and Resources indices underperform].

- NZD lags during Asia.

- Australia budget statement to be released at 9:30 GMT.

- MSCI May Semi-Annual Index Review announcement scheduled for May 11.

- Companies due to report during the NY morning include Aramark, Hanesbrands, International Game Technology, Kornit Digital, Palantir, Perrigo.

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened 0.0%.

- BLD.AU Rejects A$6.50/shr offer from Seven Group Holdings, it is opportunistic and undervalues the company.

- (AU) Australia sells A$100M in 2050 Indexed Bonds, avg yield 0.3107%; bid to cover 3.60x.

- (AU) Australia total weekly payroll jobs change for Apr 10-24th: +0.4% v -1.8% prior; Wages +0.3% v -3.1% prior.

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened -0.9%.

- (JP) Japan Governors notes that a Nationwide state of emergency should not be ruled out – Press.

- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Summary of Opinions from April: Japan could see huge pent up demand in services once pandemic subsidies as households accumulate savings, deposits.

- (JP) Japan Cabinet approval rating -9ppt to 35% - NHK poll.

- (JP) Japan Mar Household Spending M/M: 7.2% v +2.4% prior; Y/Y: +6.2% v 1.6%e (1st y/y gain in 4-months).

- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥2.6T v ¥2.6T indicated in 0.1% 10-year JGBs; avg yield 0.0720% v 0.1230% prior; bid to cover: 3.04x v 3.5x prior (btc lowest since 2015).

Korea

- Kospi opened -0.3%.

- (KR) South Korea May 1-10 Imports Y/Y: 51.5% v 14.8% prior; Exports Y/Y: 81.2% v 24.8% prior.

- 017670.KR Reports Q1 (KRW) Net 466B v 405B y/y; Op 307B v 258B y/y; Rev 4.78T v 4.45T y/y; to complete spin-off of non telecom units within this year.

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened -1.1%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.6%.

- (CN) CHINA APR CPI M/M: -0.3% V -0.2%E; Y/Y: 0.9% V 1.0%E, Pork prices Y/Y: -21.4% v -18.4% prior.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4254 v 6.4425 prior (Strongest fix since June 19 2018).

- (CN) China Sec Journal: Analysts expect CNY to rise against USD in the short term.

- (HK) American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham): China and US should reduce unproductive rhetoric and ringfence issues of national security, they need to rebuild mechanisms for communication - annual white paper.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net inject CNY10B v Net inject CNY10B prior.

- (CN) China releases 2020 census: Total population 1.412B v 1.4005B y/y; Total population increased 5.38% from 2010-2020 v 5.84% from 2000-2010.

- (CN) China State Planner (NDRC): Will extend VAT concessions, particularly those targeted to small companies and raise the eligibility threshold to monthly sales of CNY150K (prior CNY100K) – press.

- (CN) Shanghai Consumer council orders Meituan and Pinduoduo to protect consumer rights.

Other

- (TW) Taiwan President Tsai said to request trade talks with the EU – Press.

- 2610.TW New COVID rules to cut freight capacity by 10% due to quarantining of pilots.

North America

- AAPL Foxconn iPhone production at India factory is down >50%; cites rise in COVID cases among co's Indian workforce; Co. has implemented a no-entry ban at its Tamil Nadu plant until late May - financial press.

- (US) Colonial pipeline is now manually operating pipeline segment from North Carolina through Maryland.

- (US) Colonial Pipline CEO: Warns of fuel shortages in the east coast due to hack of pipeline.

- (US) FDA expands Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for BNT162b2, Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, to include adolescents 12 through 15 years of age (as expected).

- OXY Reports Q1 -$0.15 v -$0.33e, Rev $5.48B v $4.92Be.

- WYNN Reports Q1 -$2.41 v -$2.00e, Rev $725.8M v $760Me.

- BRKS Reports Q2 $0.61 v $0.51e, Rev $286.6M v $272Me; Guides ahead of cons.

Europe

- (DE) ECB's Schnabel (Germany): Inflation in Germany could exceed 3% this year but ECB will look through such fluctuations.

- (UK) UK said to be seeking to institution restrictions on bulk purchases of real estate by Summer time – Press.

- (UK) Apr BRC Sales LFL Y/Y: 39.6% v 20.3% prior.

- (DE) Germany expects to receive €18B more in tax revenue than previously foretasted through 2025 - German press.

Levels as of 01:15ET

- Hang Seng -1.9%; Shanghai Composite +0.2%; Kospi -1.4%; Nikkei225 -3.2%; ASX 200 -1.1%.

- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.5%; Nasdaq100 -0.8%, Dax -0.5%; FTSE100 -1.3%.

- EUR 1.2149-1.2126; JPY 108.98-108.78; AUD 0.7845-0.7822; NZD 0.7277-0.7252.

- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.0% at $1,836/oz; Crude Oil -0.9% at $64.33/brl; Copper +1.1% at $4.74/lb.