Crude, nickel and palladium rise amid Russia concerns

Asia Market Update: Equity markets trade mixed after sharp losses on Wall St; there were no takers at the BOJ’s fixed-rate JGB operation; China MLF rate in focus; Crude, Nickel and Palladium rise amid Russia concerns.

General trend

- AUD and NZD decline; EUR pared gain.

- USD/JPY rises after prior decline; UST yields also move higher [yield curve extends flattening].

- Will the BOJ continue to conduct fixed-rate operations?; 5-year JGB yield hits highest since Dec 2015.

- Copper rises after prior decline.

- China Iron Ore FUTs drop >8% amid regulatory concerns.

- US equity FUTS move between gains and losses after prior decline.

- Energy firms trade generally higher.

- Tire makers decline after results from Goodyear.

- Nikkei 225 declines by >2.5% following holiday; Automakers drop [USD/JPY is below ¥116].

- Japanese Consumer Staples and Insurance firms to report earnings [Kirin, Suntory, Lion Corp, Japan Post Insurance, T&D Holdings, Dai-ichi Life, Sompo].

- Other cos. to report include Toshiba, Rakuten, Dentsu, Recruit, Japan Tobacco, Kubota Corp, Nippon Paint, Matsumotokiyoshi.

- Property firms and Financials trade sharply lower in Shanghai and HK; Zhenro Properties remains volatile.

- S&P ASX 200 has outperformed; Energy and Financial indices outperform; Consumer discretionary index supported by JB Hi-Fi; REITS lag on higher rates and ex-dividends.

- BHP to report H1 results on Tuesday.

- UMC’s Suzhou (China) production impacted by local COVID measures.

- The PBOC generally conducts MLF operations around the 15th each month [Tues].

- RBA Feb minutes due tomorrow [Feb 15th].

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened -0.0%.

- JBH.AU Reports H1 (A$) Net 287.9M v 317.7M y/y; EBIT 420.5M v 462.7M y/y; Rev 4.86B v 4.9B y/y; will not give FY22 guidance.

- BLD.AU Reports H1 (A$) underlying Net 145M v 156M y/y; adj EBIT 238M v 215M y/y; Rev 2.4B v 2.70B y/y.

- CWN.AU Confirms to accept A$13.10/shr Blackstone offer in a A$10B deal, break fee of A$89M payable to either party.

- (AU) Australia sells A$500M v A$500M indicated in 2.75% Nov 2028 bonds; Avg Yield: 1.9903% ; bid-to-cover: 3.11x.

- WBC.AU Completes A$3.5B off market share buyback at A$20.90/shr (4.6% of share).

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened -1.4%.

- (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) Bank of Japan (BOJ): There were no takers in 5-10-year JGB Fixed-Rate buying operation.

- (JP) Japan's four largest ESG funds have put at least 95% of their net assets overseas – press.

- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Matsuno: Reiterates to leave monetary policy to BOJ.

- 4004.JP Reports FY21 Net -¥12.1B v -¥76.3B y/y, Op +¥87.2B v -¥19.5B y/y, Rev ¥1.42T v ¥973.7B y/y; Guides initial FY22 Net ¥27.0B, Op ¥84.0B, Rev ¥1.40T.

Korea

- Kospi opened -1.2%.

- (KR) South Korea opposition presidential candidate Yoon leads Lee 43.5% to 40.4% - Yonhap.

- (KR) South Korea Unification ministry: Closely monitoring North Korea's nuclear missile activities - Yonhap.

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened -0.7%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%.

- (CN) Renewed speculation of PBOC rate cuts during Q1.

- (CN) China PBOC Q4 Policy Implementation Report: To meet financing needs of economy; Vows to increase support for real economy (Friday).

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.3664 v 6.3681 prior.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Sells CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY20B prior; Net drain CNY210B v Net drain CNY180B prior.

Other

- DBS.SG Reports Q4 (S$) Net 1.4B v 1.0B y/y; Rev B v 3.3B y/y; raises annual dividend 9% to S$1.44/shr.

- UMC Suzhou Unit has suspended production in China due to coronavirus, not expecting major impact from production halt.

North America

- AJRD Lockheed Martin ends agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne due to FTC action.

- (CA) Ambassador Bridge has been fully reopened after police clear out protests - press.

Europe

- (RU) Biden said to have warned Putin of "swift and severe" costs should Russia invade Ukraine – press.

- (UK) John Lewis notes excellent Christmas sales at Waitrose, cost cuts boosted profit in a "fantastic achievement given the complexity of trading through this year" - UK press.

Levels as of 00:15ET

- Hang Seng -1.4%; Shanghai Composite -0.9%; Kospi -1.2%; Nikkei225 -2.1%; ASX 200 +0.4%.

- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.3%; Nasdaq100 +0.3%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.6%.

- EUR 1.1369-1.1338; JPY 115.60-115.29 ;AUD 0.7150-0.7116; NZD 0.6650-0.6613.

- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.7% at $1,854/oz; Crude Oil +1.6% at $94.62/brl; Copper +1.4% at $4.50/lb.