Japanese automakers rise following earnings

Asia Market Update: Asia trades generally higher after mixed US session; Japanese automakers rise following earnings; Lunar New Year holiday in focus.

General Trend

- Asian equities opened mostly higher despite mixed NY trading session; Markets have remained generally in the green and closer to session highs; Hang Seng has outperformed [TECH and Finance indices rise]; Nikkei 2225 lagged [Fast Retailing declines]

- Consumer Staples continued to gain in Shanghai, while financial-related cos. again lagged

- Consumer Staples also outperformed in Australia

- Earnings reactions: [Japan]: Toyota, Nissan and Honda rise; [Australia] CBA and Cimic declined, IAG rose

- Japan companies due to report earnings include Toyota Motor, TEPCO, Renesas, Japan Display, Inpex, Tokio Marine, Sapporo Holdings, Pigeon Corp

- Today is the last trading session for Shanghai ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday (Spring Festival)

- Copper rises over 1% in Asia

- Companies expected to report during the NY morning include Bunge, CME, GM, Interpublic, Coca-Cola, Penske Auto, Teva, Under Armour

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened +0.1%

- CBA.AU Reports H1 (A$) Cash profit 3.89B v 3.7Be; Net interest income 9.4B v 9.4B y/y

- CIM.AU Reports FY20 (A$) 601M v 800M y/y; underlying EBITDA 1.9B v 2.1B y/y; Rev 12.6B v 14.7B y/y

- (AU) Australia Feb Westpac Consumer Confidence: 109.1 v 107.0 prior; M/M: 1.9% v -4.5% prior

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened -0.3%

- (JP) BoJ's Nakamura: Japan economy trend is improving, must be prepared to respond effectively and timely to changes in economy, prices and financial developments; ETF purchases remain necessary tool

- (JP) Japan Parliament approves nomination of economic professor Asahi Noguchi to Bank of Japan (BOJ)

- 9984.JP To invest $900M in gene sequencing company Pacific Biosciences via convertible bonds; official announcement expected tomorrow - press

- 7203.JP Reports 9M Net ¥1.47T v ¥1.71T y/y; Op ¥1.51T v ¥2.04T y/y; Rev ¥19.53T v ¥22.97T y/y; Raises FY20/21 guidance

Korea

- Kospi opened +0.1%

- (KR) South Korea Jan Unemployment Rate: 5.4% v 4.5%e (highest level since 1999); Jobs -982K v -628K prior (11th consecutive decline in jobs)

- (KR) South Korea may release 100M barrels of oil reserves and non ferrous metal reserves if needed, due to commodity prices; will closely monitor commodity prices

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened +1.1%; Shanghai Composite opened +0.3%

- (CN) CHINA JAN CPI M/M: 1.0% V 1.0%E; Y/Y: -0.3% V 0.0%E; PPI Y/Y: +0.3% v 0.3%e (1st increase in 1-year); Pork prices Y/Y: 5.6% v 6.5% prior (2nd consecutive increase)

- (CN) China Jan Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Y/Y: 4.6% v 6.2% prior

- (CN) China Vice Premier Liu He: Economy is recovering well, financial system and the market mechanism are resilien - Xinhua citing comments from meeting with IMF's Chair Georgieva

- (CN) China Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) to promote consumption of new energy vehicles (EV) through policies of allocating of number plate in restricted area and subsidy to first time buyer

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4391 v 6.4533 prior

- (CN) China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) met with major car chip producers yesterday, telling them to address the current shortage issue in China

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY20B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY50B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net drain CNY80B v Net drain CNY30B prior

- (CN) Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA): China PBOC to issue CNY10B in 3 month bills and CNY15B in 1-year bills on Feb 19th

Yesterday after the close

- (CN) CHINA JAN NEW YUAN LOANS (CNY): 3.580T V 3.500TE (record high)

- (CN) CHINA JAN M2 MONEY SUPPLY Y/Y: 9.4% V 10.0%E

- (CN) CHINA JAN AGGREGATE FINANCING (CNY): 5.170T V 4.600TE

Other

- DBS.SG Reports Q4 (S$) Net 1.0B v 1.5B y/y; Rev 3.3B v 3.5B y/y

North America

- (US) Senate confirms that Trump impeachment trial is constitutional by 56-44 vote

- TSLA Said that shareholder, Baillie Gifford, wants to talk on Bitcoin limits for Tesla – Press

- PFE UK Data suggests that 1 Pfizer dose of coronavirus vaccine gives ~2/3rds protection - Press

- (US) Port of Los Angeles has 20 vessels anchored nearby waiting to dock and discharge cargo; Port of Long Beach has additional 30 – press

- PACB Softbank to invest $900M in gene sequencing company Pacific Biosciences via convertible bonds; official announcement expected tomorrow - press

Europe

- (UK) UK Chief Negotiator Frost: EU is still adjusting to the UK as an independent actor; we've had some small border issues like shellfish

Levels as of 12:15ET

- Hang Seng +1.4%; Shanghai Composite +1.0%; Kospi +0.5%; Nikkei225 -0.0%; ASX 200 +0.5%

- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.4%; Nasdaq100 +0.4%, Dax +0.3%; FTSE100 +0.5%

- EUR 1.2130-1.2108; JPY 104.72-104.51; AUD 0.7743-0.7725; NZD 0.7246-0.7222

- Commodity Futures: Gold +0.4% at $1,844/oz; Crude Oil -0.2% at $58.25/brl; Copper +1.2% at $3.76/lb