Equity markets trade mixed, Evergrande declines following extended trading halt

General trend

- AUD extends gain; NZD also continued to rise; Commodity currencies later reversed gains.

- RBA Gov Lowe is due to speak tomorrow amid focus on YCC (Oct 22nd at 7 pm GMT).

- Modest equity moves have been seen thus far.

- Hang Seng has traded cautiously amid trading resumption by Evergrande; China Huarong Asset Mgmt is due to hold AGM today.

- Shanghai Composite ended morning trading modestly higher [Property and Banks indices outperform]; Ping An Bank rises after earnings report.

- Nikkei has remained lower [Airlines and Electric Appliances firms decline].

- S&P ASX 200 has moved higher after opening flat [Financials and Resources indices rise].

- Companies due to report during the NY morning include American Airlines, AutoNation, Blackstone, Crocs, Quest Diagnostics, Dow, Freeport McMoran, Interpublic, Southwest Airlines, Nucor, Pool Corp, AT&T, Valero.

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened +0.2%.

- BSL.AU Raises H1 guidance (A$) underlying EBIT 2.1-2.3B (1.8-2.0B).

- ILU.AU Reports Q3 Production 200.1Kt v 175.3Kt q/q, Mineral Sands Rev A$392.0M v 210.2M y/y.

- CIM.AU Reports 9M (A$) Net 303.1M v 306.6M y/y; EBITDA 676M v 664M y/y; Rev 10.9B v 10.0B y/y.

- STO.AU Reports Q3 Production 21.9 MMBOE v 25.1 y/y; Rev $1.14B v $797M y/y.

- (NZ) New Zealand reaches 15 year free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK, FTA will remove all tariffs on exports to the UK over time.

- (AU) Australia Q3 NAB Business Confidence: -1 v +18 prior.

- (AU) Australia Total Weekly Payroll Jobs change from Sept 11-25th: +0.2% v -0.7% prior.

- (NZ) New Zealand sells total NZ$500M v NZ$500M indicated in 2024, 2032, and 2041 nominal bonds.

- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) releases 2021 annual report: Underlying earnings A$4.2B v A$1.40B y/y; To pay dividend of A$2.67B v A$2.57B y/y to the Australia government.

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened -0.4%.

- (JP) Early polling ahead of Oct 31st election shows PM Kishida should retain majority - Nikkei and Kyodo polls.

- (JP) Japan Industry Ministry: LNG inventory held by major utilities as of Oct 15th 2.3Mt, +0.7Mt y/y.

- (JP) Japan Deputy Chief Cabinet Sec Isozaki: Rise in energy prices can lead to decline in corporate profits.

Korea

- Kospi opened 0.0%.

- (KR) South Korea Sept PPI M/M: 0.2% v 0.5% prior; Y/Y: 7.5% v 7.4% prior.

- (KR) South Korea Oct 1-20 Exports y/y: 36.1% v 22.9% prior; Imports y/y: 48.0% v 38.8% prior.

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened 0.0%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.1%.

- Shares of Evergrande resume trading today.

- 3333.HK Said to have secured an extension on its Jumbo Fortune bond - press.

- (CN) China PBOC: To continue to monitor financial risks in key sectors; seeks to provide more financial support in green and innovative sectors.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.3890 v 6.4069 prior (strongest since June 11th).

- (CN) China Sept Swift Global Payments (CNY): 2.19% v 2.15% prior.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY100B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY100B prior; Net inject CNY90B v Net inject CNY90B prior.

- 941.HK Reports 9M (CNY) Net 87.2B v 81.6B y/y, EBITDA 237.5B v 216.9B y/y, Rev 648.6B v 574.4B y/y (yesterday after the close).

North America

- (US) Pres Biden advisers reportedly discussed new minimum tax on corporations and tax on stock buybacks – WaPo.

- TSLA Reports Q3 $1.86 v $1.35e, Rev $13.8B v $13.2Be; Continues to ramp up Gigafactory Shanghai; Still expect final permit approval for Gigafactory Berlin by end-2021.

- (US) White house: There are a 'menu' of option to finance infrastructure spending bill.

- (US) Fed's Daly (non-voter, dove): Pandemic to push long term treasury market reform to ensure there’s sufficient liquidity in a future crisis and that people are aware of it - Asian banking event.

- (US) Port of Los Angeles processed 903.9K containers in Sept, record high in 114 year history - press.

- IBM Reports Q3 $2.52 v $2.49e, Rev $17.6B v $17.8Be; Guides FY22-24: Will exit 2021 in position to deliver: mid-single-digit revenue growth and $35B FCF.

Europe

- (UK) According to a recent poll more than 80% of private companies are planning to increase pay, with avg raise of 2.5% in year ended Aug 2022 - FT.

- (UK) UK in talks to sell missiles to Ukraine for the first time - UK press.

Levels as of 01:15ET

- Hang Seng -0.8%; Shanghai Composite +0.3%; Kospi -0.1%; Nikkei225 -1.6%; ASX 200 +0.0%.

- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.2%; Nasdaq100 -0.3%, Dax -0.2%; FTSE100 -0.4%.

- EUR 1.1667-1.1647; JPY 114.42-113.96; AUD 0.7547-0.7502; NZD 0.7219-0.7186.

- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.1% at $1,785/oz; Crude Oil +0.1% at $88.47/brl; Copper +0.2% at $4.74/lb.