Equity markets trade mixed, USD/JPY rises amid US data and focus on the BOJ Gov position

General trend

- Chinese markets again lag [geopolitics in focus?].

- Japanese equities outperform [Yen declines].

- Banks decline in Japan after report on BOJ Gov position.

- US equity FUTS remain lower.

- Monday M&A theme in focus.

- Japanese cos. due to report earnings include Astellas, Sumitomo Corp, Orix, JFE, Yamato.

- RBA rate decision is due on Tues [Feb 7th]; Aussie bond yields rise, REITs decline.

- How ‘dovish’ is Amamiya?

Headlines/economic data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opens flat at 7,556.

- (AU) Australia Q4 Retail Sales (ex-inflation) Q/Q: -0.2% v -0.5%e.

-*(AU) Australia Jan melbourne institute inflation M/M: 0.9% V 0.2% prior; Y/Y: 6.4% V 5.9% prior [multi-year high].

- Newcrest Mining [NCM.AU]: Confirms received a conditional and non-binding indicative all-stock proposal from Newmont Corporation (Newmont) to acquire 100% of the issued shares of Newcrest.

- (AU) Australia Trade Min: To travel to Beijing (China) to meet counterpart in the near future; discussion covered a range of trade and investment issues [follows virtual meeting with China official].

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opens -1.4% at 21,349.

- Shanghai Composite opens -0.6% at 3,244.

- (CN) Follow Up: China Vice Foreign Minister: China civilian unmanned airship entered the US airspace by 'accident'.

- (CN) US Defense Dept: Chinese spy balloon was shot down six nautical miles off of the US coast by an F-22.

- (US) Sec of State Blinken confirms postponing trip to China; Spy balloon is a violation of US sovereignty [from Feb 3rd].

- (US) US said to be considering new sanctions on Chinese surveillance companies, including Tiandy Technologies Co. and Zhejiang Uniview Technologies Co. over sales to Iran's security forces - US financial press.

- (CN) China Cabinet: China's economic operations are recovering; Will consolidate and expand economic recovery momentum.

- (CN) Reportedly China considering ending limit on municipal land sales to raise tax revenue - press.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Sells CNY150B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY23B prior; Net drain CNY373B.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.7737 v 6.7382 prior.

Japan

- *(JP) Japan deputy chief cabinet sec: Refutes Nikkei report.

- (JP) Japan Fin Min Suzuki: Have not heard anything about nomination of Amamiya as BOJ Gov, have been 'out of the loop' on BOJ nomination [comments on press report].

- Nikkei reported Japan government has sounded out Amamiya for the BOJ Gov role [from Feb 5th].

- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Kuroda: Reiterates BOJ will seek to achieve 2% inflation in stable and sustainable manner, while keeping an eye on side-effects.

Korea

- Kospi opens -0.8%.

- (KR) South Korea Finance Ministry sells 30-year bonds:Avg Yield: 3.285% v 3.675% prior.

North America

-*(US) Jan change in Nonfarm Payrolls: +517K V +188KE (above any analysts' estimate and highest job creation since July 2022).

-*(US) Jan average hourly earnings M/M: 0.3% V 0.3%E; Y/Y: 4.4% V 4.3%E.

-*(US) Jan unemployment rate: 3.4% V 3.6%E (lowest since Feb 2020).

- *(US) Jan ISM services index: 55.2 V 50.5E (largest monthly increase since June 2020 and above all analysts' estimates).

- (US) Fed's Daly (non-voter): Today's jobs number was a "wow" number but trend not surprising; Still see Dec SEP projections as a good guide post of where rates need to go - Fox Business [from Feb 3rd].

- Life Storage [LSI]: Public Storage Proposes to Acquire Life Storage in All-Stock Transaction.

- Apple [AAPL]: Reportedly internally discussed adding a higher-end 'Ultra' iPhone to its smartphone lineup, potentially in 2024 - press.

Europe

-Telecom Italia: Reportedly thousands of customers across Italy complained of internet outages; Telecom Italian cites international interconnection problem – press.

- (TR) Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes central Turkey; cites GFZ.

Levels as of 00:20 ET

- Nikkei 225, +0.6%, ASX 200 -0.3% , Hang Seng -2.5%; Shanghai Composite -1% ; Kospi -1.2%.

- Equity S&P500 Futures: -0.5%; Nasdaq100 -0.6%, Dax -0.1%; FTSE100 -0.3%.

- EUR 1.0798-1.0781; JPY 132.48-131.18 ; AUD 0.6947-0.6894 ;NZD 0.6334-0.6306.

- Gold +0.8% at $1,889/oz; Crude Oil +0.2% at $73.52/brl; Copper +0.7% at $4.0600/lb.

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