Equities trade generally mixed ahead of US/China trade talks

Asia Market Update: China Jan trade stronger than expected, but notes drastic drop in imports from the US; Equities trade generally mixed ahead of US/China trade talks

General Trend:

- Telecom Services index declines in China, gained over 6% on Wed ahead of trade talks

- S&P ASX 200 Energy index outperforms , Woodside Petroleum rises after earnings

- Telecom index drops in Australia after earnings from Telstra

- Australia’s AMP declines over 8%, reported net outflows from wealth management business

- Large gold miner Newcrest declined after H1 results

- Real Estate index outperforms in Japan, Q4 housing investment rose at fastest pace since 2017

- Japan Q4 GDP rebounds on domestic demand, external demand weighs

- New Zealand Dollar (NZD) and bond yields extend gains following recent RBNZ statement

- China Commerce Ministry may hold weekly press conference later today

- The high level US/China trade talks are due to occur in Beijing from Feb 14-15th (Thursday-Friday).

- US President Trump said to be considering 60-day extension for deadline on higher tariffs for China imports - US financial press

- US companies expected to report earnings on Thursday include Applied Materials, Arch Coal, Avon, Bombardier, CBS, CME Group, Canopy Growth, Coca-Cola, Fannie Mae, Generac, NVIDIA and Waste Management (includes after hours)

 

Headlines/Economic Data

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened flat

- (JP) Japan 2019 Spring Wage Talks: Nissan, Honda labor unions all requesting ¥3,000 base pay raise, flat y/y; Toyota makes no request yet -Japanese press

- (JP) JAPAN Q4 PRELIM GDP Q/Q: 0.3% V 0.4%E; ANNUALIZED Q/Q: 1.4% V 1.4%E; GDP Business Spending q/q: 2.4% v 1.8%e

- (JP) Japan Economy Min Motegi: Economy is in gradual recovery; expects domestic demand to lead recovery; China-bound exports of goods weakened in Q4; will closely monitor effects of trade issue on global economy

-(JP) Bank of Japan (BoJ) said to be shifting its view on CPI, to wanting to include effect of sales tax hike (prior wanted to exclude, on grounds it would be a temporary factor); now expects targeted policies to nearly offset the effect - Nikkei

Korea

-Kospi opens -0.3%

- (KR) South Korea and Russia sign action plan to boost bilateral cooperation; key areas of cooperation between the two countries, including shipbuilding, natural gas, railways, electricity, agriculture, Arctic shipping routes and fisheries – Yonhap

- 034020.KR Reports Q4 (KRW) Net -421.7B v -109.7B y/y; Op 1.0T v 913.4B y/y; Rev 14.8T v 13.8T y/y

- 000240.KR Reports Q4 (KRW) Net 67.7B v 87.2B y/y, Op 146B v 140B y/y, Rev 1.73T v 1.68T y/y

- (KR) South Korea President Moon approval rating slides back under 50%; economic issues cited -Korean Press

China/Hong Kong

-Hang Seng opens -0.4%; Shanghai Composite opens -0.2%

- (CN) CHINA JAN TRADE BALANCE (CNY): 271.2B V 245.0BE; Exports y/y: 13.9% v 3.8%e; Imports y/y: +2.9% v -1.9%e

-(CN) CHINA JAN TRADE BALANCE: $39.2B V $34.3BE; Exports y/y: +9.1% v -3.3%e; Imports y/y: -1.5% v -10.2%e

- High level US China trade talks have started, as expected

- (US) Pres Trump: Trade talks with China are going very well

- (CN) US President Trump said to be considering 60-day extension for deadline on higher tariffs for China imports - US financial press

-(CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips reverse repo operations for 4th consecutive session; Net: CNY200B drain v CNY270B drain prior

-(CN) China PBoC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 6.7744 v 6.7675 prior

-(CN) China manufacturers increasingly turning to automation; 100M jobs threatened; Dongguan city allocated $56M to increase automation in 2018 - SCMP

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened +0.1%

- TWE.AU Reports H1 (A$) Net 219.2M v 187.2M y/y; EBITSA 338.3m v 283.3M y/y; Rev 1.54B v $1.5Be

- NCM.AU CEO: Will keep disciplined approach to growth, do not need M&A; gold at $1,300/oz or higher is good for miners

- TLS.AU Reports H1 (A$) Net 1.2B v 1.7B y/y; EBITDA 4.3B v 5.1B y/y; Rev 13.8B v 14.4B y/y

- (AU) Australia Feb Consumer Inflation Expectation: 3.7% v 3.5% prior

- (AU) Australia sells A$500M v A$500M indicated in April 2019 notes, avg yield 1.9478% v 2.0115% prior, bid to cover 4.34x v 3.78x prior

Other Asia

-(MY) Malaysia Q4 GDP Q/Q: 1.4% v 1.3%e; Y/Y: 4.7% v 4.5%e

-(MY) Malaysia Central Bank (BNM): Reiterates monetary policy remains accommodative and supportive of economic activity; External uncertainties will continue to impact outlook for Ringgit (MYR)

- STEL.SG Reports Q3 (S$) Net 822.8M v 959.2M y/y; Op 972.6m v 1.12B y/y; Rev 4.63B v 4.58B y/y

North America

-(US) Fed's Harker (non-voter, moderate): we are in wait and see mode on rates; sees one rate hike in 2019 and one in 2020

-(US) Pres Trump: will look out for 'landmines' in the govt funding bill but does not want to see a shutdown; giving funding bill a very serious look

- (US) DOE CRUDE: +3.6M V +2ME; GASOLINE: +0.4M V +1ME; DISTILLATE: +1.2M V -1.5ME

-(US) Senator Rubio (R-FL) plans to 'soon' introduce legislation aimed at taxing corporate stock buybacks like dividends, move seen as attempt to increase corporate investment - financial press

Europe

- (UK) Jan RICS House Price Balance: -22% v -20%e (lowest since July 2012)

 

Levels as of 12:50ET

- Hang Seng -0.3%; Shanghai Composite -0.1%; Kospi 0.0%; Nikkei225 0.0%; ASX 200 -0.1%

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

- EUR 1.1249-1.1284; JPY 110.86-111.12; AUD 0.7085-0.7123; NZD 0.6793-0.6834

- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.3% at $1,311/oz; Crude Oil +0.7%at $54.26/brl; Copper +0.2% at $2.78/lb