Equity markets trade modestly lower after declines on Wall Street

General trend

- US equities declined amid stronger US data [technicals and corporate earnings also noted (Micron)]

- More US data due later today [includes Core PCE, Durable Goods, Personal Spending, Consumer Confidence, New Home Sales]

- Markets pared losses [news? Short covering?]

- SGD rose on hotter CPI data

Headlines/economic data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened -0.2%.

- (AU) Australia Nov Private Sector Credit M/M: 0.5% v 0.6% prior; Y/Y: 8.9% v 9.5% prior.

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened -1.1%.

- (JP) Said that Japan PM Kishida is considering a cabinet reshuffle in early 2023 - Press.

- (JP) Japan Nov national CPI Y/Y: 3.8% V 3.9%E; CPI ex-fresh food (CORE) Y/Y: 3.7% V 3.7%E (fastest pace since Feb 1982).

- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Oct Minutes (two decisions ago): One member said that there was no need to immediately change monetary policy.

- (JP) Japan Govt Official: Next spike in food prices likely to come in Feb 2023; Measures on electricity and gas bills likely to show impact starting in Feb.

- (JP) Japan Expected to use 'several hundreds of billions' in Construction bonds for warships - Press.

- (JP) Said that Japan PM Kishida could Replace Reconstruction Min Akiba as soon as Dec 26th.

- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Matsuno: Need wage gains that aren't less than inflation.

- (JP) Said that Japan PM Kishida could Replace Reconstruction Min Akiba as soon as Dec 26th.

Korea

- Kospi opened -1.3%.

- (KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min: Will focus on stabilizing prices and creating jobs; Working on stabilizing markets and property prices.

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened -1.5%; Shanghai Composite opened -0.5%.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Sells CNY2.0B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY4B prior; Sells CNY203B in 14-day reverse repos v CNY153B prior; Net inject CNY164B v net inject CNY155B prior.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.9810 v 6.9713 prior.

- (CN) China Foreign Ministry: To impose sanctions against Miles Yu and Todd Stein.

- (CN) China Ministry of Finance (MOF) Sells 3-month, 6-month bills and 2-year bonds.

North America

- (US) Noted that US airlines have cancelled >4.3K flights, with >2.0K on Dec 23rd.

- (US) Colorado Interstate Gas Co: Declares force majeure at CIG Wamsutter Compressor Station; to cut capacity to 125K from 265K.

- MSFT Said to have responded to FTC suit on Activision-Blizzard Acquisition, files formal challenge to the FTC's lawsuit - Press.

Europe

- (RU) Russia Dep PM Novak: May decrease oil production by up to 7% [500-700K bpd] in early 2023 as a response to EU price caps; Gas Production in 2022 expected at 671BCM, -18% to -20% - Press.

Levels as of 00:20 ET

- Nikkei 225, -1%, ASX 200 -0.6% , Hang Seng -0.8%; Shanghai Composite -0.3% ; Kospi -1.7%.

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

- EUR 1.0612-1.0586 ; JPY 132.81-132.15 ; AUD 0.6693-0.6660 ;NZD 0.6282-0.6233.

- Gold +0.5% at $1,803/oz; Crude Oil +1% at $78.30/brl; Copper +0.3% at $3.7752/lb.