Equity indices trade generally higher

Asia Market Update: Equity indices trade generally higher; UST yields and USD index decline; NZ 2-yr yield continued to rise, AU yields extended drop amid RBA minutes.

General trend

- Hang Seng has extended advance [TECH index rises, Mainland banks trade generally higher; Property sector lags].

- Evergrande bond payments and grace periods still in focus.

- Shanghai Composite ended morning trading higher after the lower open [Coal, Liquor and Banks indices rise; Property index extended drop].

- Nikkei has maintained modest gains; Topix Marine Transportation index outperforms.

- S&P ASX 200 pared gain [Financials rise; BHP declines after issuing Q1 production update, weighs on Resources index].

- NZD supported by higher short-term yields, RBNZ rate hike expectations.

- AU 3-year yield later pares decline.

- Analysts comment on whether the RBA will defend its 3-year yield target amid move up in yields.

- BTC hits multi-year low at 20-yr JGB auction, yield also rose.

- CNH rises, China due to price USD bonds later today.

- Indonesia Central Bank is expected to leave rates unchanged.

- Companies due to report during the NY morning include Bank of NY, Fifth Third, Halliburton, J&J, Manpower, Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris, Travelers.

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened 0.0%.

- BHP.AU Reports Q1 Waio Iron Ore Production: 70.6Mt v 74.0Mt y/y; Shipments 70.8Mt v 71.0Mte; Affirms all guidance.

- BXB.AU Reports Q1 Rev $1.29B v $1.19B y/y; Guides FY22 underlying net +1-2% y/y at cc; Rev +5-7% y/y at cc.

- (AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) OCT MINUTES: Delta variant has interrupted recovery, in central scenario the economy will return to growth in Dec quarter and pre-Delta path in H2 2022.

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opened +0.3%.

- (JP) Japan PM Kishida: North Korea fired 2 ballistic missiles, firing is extremely regrettable, we are gathering information.

- (JP) Japan Deputy Chief Cabinet Sec Isozaki: North Korea missile landed in Sea of Japan, strongly protested to North Korea over launch.

- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥1.2T v ¥1.2T indicated in 0.500% 20-year JGBs, avg yield: 0.4710% v 0.4120% prior, bid to cover 2.69x v 3.20x prior (btc multi-year low).

Korea

-Kospi opened +0.5%.

- (KR) South Korea Joint Chief of Staff: North Korea fired unidentified projectiles to East Sea, according to Yonhap; Japan Coast Guard said North Korea may have fired a ballistic missile.

- (KR) Shipbuilding cos in South Korea have exceeded their annual targets for new orders - South Korea press.

China/Hong Kong

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

- (CN) China's govt advisor: PBoC should cut RRR.

- (CN) China Ministry of Finance (MOF) starts 4 tranche sale of USD bonds.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4307 v 6.4300 prior.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B prior; Net CNY0B v Net CNY0B prior.

- (HK) Macau Q3 Casino Rev (MOP) 5.96B, +155% y/y; Mass Market gaming Rev 12.8B, +403% y/y.

- (CN) China National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) issues sector breakdown of previously released Q3 GDP data: Property Sector GDP -1.6% y/y.

- 1810.HK Exec: Will mass produce our own cars in H1 2024.

North America

- (US) AUG TOTAL NET TIC FLOWS: $91.0B V $126.0B PRIOR; NET LONG-TERM TIC FLOWS: $79.3B V $2.0B PRIOR; Japan Total Holdings of US Treasuries: $1.320T v $1.310T prior (record high); China Total holding of US Treasuries: $1.047T v $1.068T prior (lowest since 2010).

- IVZ.UK Will not launch Bitcoin futures ETF in immediate near term - comments on press.

Europe

- SOW.DE Raises FY21 full year A&N bookings outlook -12% to -8% (prior -30% to -20%).

- (UK) PM Johnson: UK does not want to turn away Chinese investment, do not see Northern Ireland problem as end of the world.

- MGGT.UK UK Govt starts formal investigation of takeover by Parker Hannifin on national security concerns.

Levels as of 01:00ET

- Hang Seng +1.1%; Shanghai Composite +0.7%; Kospi +0.7%; Nikkei225 +0.6%; ASX 200 +0.1%.

- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.0%; Nasdaq100 -0.0%, Dax +0.0%; FTSE100 +0.0%.

- EUR 1.1655-1.1609; JPY 114.36-114.08; AUD 0.7457-0.7408; NZD 0.7131-0.7079.

- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.6% at $1,775/oz; Crude Oil +0.2% at $81.81/brl; Copper +0.9% at $4.76/lb.