Equity markets rise ahead of the FOMC minutes, US Retail Sales also in focus

Asia Market Update: Equity markets rise ahead of the FOMC minutes, US retail sales also in focus; NZD initially rises as RBNZ raises rate path; AUD drops following wage data, AU jobs data due on Thurs.

General trend

- RBNZ raised rates as expected, AUD/NZD down, NZD later pared rise.

- Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Gov Orr said: Did not consider 75bps rate hike today; 50bps is orderly and sufficient.

- Aussie Q2 wage price index rose at fastest pace since 2014.

- AU corporate earnings in focus (Dexus, Brambles, Santos, CSL, Magellan Financial).

- Chinese markets trade slightly higher.

- Tencent due to report results after the market close.

- Japanese equities see modest gains.

Headlines/economic data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened +0.2%.

- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) raises official cash rate 50BPS TO 3.00%; as expected; Now sees Cash rate peaking at 4.1% (prior 3.95%) in Q2 2023 (prior Q3 2023); Remains appropriate to continue tightening at recent pace; Raises OCR path outlook.

- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Gov Orr: We are in a strong position to get on top of inflation; we forecast low, below potential GDP growth; Subdued consumer spending is drive of low growth - post rate decision press conference.

- BXB.AU Reports FY22 Net $572M v $557M y/y, EBITDA -176.9M v -115.1M y/y; Rev $5.56B v $5.21B y/y; Guides FY23 underlying Net +8-11% y/y; Rev at cc +7-10% y/y.

- (NZ) New Zealand Q2 PPI Input Q/Q: 3.1% v 3.4% prior; PPI Output Q/Q: 2.4% v 2.6% prior.

- STO.AU Reports H1 Net $1.17B v +$354M y/y; EBITDAX $2.7B v $1.2B y/y; Rev $3.77B v $2.04B y/y; Affirms FY outlook.

- (AU) Australia Q2 wage price index Q/Q: 0.7% V 0.8%E; Y/Y: 2.6% V 2.7%E (fastest rise since 2014); Private sector wages y/y: 2.7% (highest since Sept 2013) v +2.4% prior.

- (AU) Australia July Westpac Leading Index M/M: -0.2% v -0.2% prior.

- (AU) Australia and New Zealand both note no issues exporting meat to China, after multiple press reports to the contrary.

- (AU) Australia's largest pension fund, AustralianSuper CEO: Want to quadruple in size to A$1.0T within a decade by expand outside the country - press.

- (AU) Australia sells A$800M v A$800M indicated in 1.25% May 2032 bonds; Avg Yield: 3.2691%; bid-to-cover 2.65x.

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened +0.3%.

- (CN) China and Japan plan to hold high-level diplomatic talks - Japanese press.

- 7203.JP Confirms Sichuan Govt has ordered factory stoppage due to power shortage from Aug 15-20th.

- (JP) Japan July Trade Balance: -¥1.44T v -¥1.36Te; Adj Trade Balance: -¥2.13T v -¥1.91Te; Exports to China y/y: 12.8% v +8.3% prior.

- (JP) Japan Jun core machine orders M/M: 0.9% V +1.0%E; Y/Y: 6.5% V 7.7%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].

Korea

- Kospi opened +0.1%.

- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Sells KRW1.1T in 3-year Monetary Stabilization Bonds (MSB): avg yield 3.180% v 3.640% in June.

- (KR) South Korea President Yoon: South Korea cannot provide North Korea with security guarantees, do not want the status quo changed "unreasonably or by force" - press conference marking his 100 days in office.

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened +0.8%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%.

- (CN) China Premier Li requested local officials from six key provinces (that account for ~40% of the country's economy) to boost pro-growth measures after weaker July data - press.

- (CN) China state owned China Bond Insurance has been told to provide guarantees for onshore bond issuance by developers such as Longfor Group and CIFI – press.

- (CN) China sovereign bonds saw its first positive inflows in 6 months in July – press.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.7863 v 6.7730 prior (weakest CNY fix since mid May).

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

- (CN) China will discourage abortions and take steps to make fertility treatment more accessible as part of efforts to boost low birth rates - press.

- 388.HK Reports H1 (HK$) Net 4.8B v 6.6B y/y, EBITDA 6.4B v 8.6B y/y; Rev 8.9B v 10.9B y/y.

Other

- (PH) Philippines Central Bank (BSP) Medalla: CPI likely to miss target in 2022; Do not want large FX moves to impact inflation.

- (SG) Singapore July non-oil domestic exports M/M: +1.4% V -3.1%E; Y/Y: 7.0% V 6.4%E.

North America

- (US) Weekly API Crude Oil Inventories: -0.4M v +2.2M prior.

- MANU Elon Musk: "I'm buying Manchester United UR Welcome" - tweet.

- GS Thought to be in talks with Apple on playing a role in possible expansion of Apple Pay Later - FT.

Europe

- (IR) EU officials reportedly view Iran reply to draft nuclear agreement as 'constructive' - press.

Levels as of 01:15ET

- Hang Seng +1.2%; Shanghai Composite +0.4%; Kospi -0.7%; Nikkei225 +1.1%; ASX 200 +0.2%.

- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq100 -0.0%, Dax +0.4%; FTSE100 +0.3%.

- EUR 1.0185-1.0166; JPY 134.43-133.91; AUD 0.7028-0.6988; NZD 0.6383-0.6326.

- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.2% at $1,793/oz; Crude Oil +1.1% at $87.47/brl; Copper +0.2% at $3.63/lb.