Powell to meet Biden

Asia Market Update: USD rises amid Fed speak, higher UST yields and German inflation data; Month-end also in focus; Powell to meet Biden.

General trend

- US markets return from holiday on Tues.

- (US) Fed's Waller (hawk, voter): Not taking 50bps hikes off the table until see inflation coming down closer to Fed's 2% target.

- Little initial impact seen from better Chinese PMI data.

- China Cabinet issues various policies to stabilize the economy.

- Beijing's largest district Chaoyang said to no longer require working from home - press.

- Australia’s current account surplus missed ests; AU Q1 GDP due on Wed.

- When might the RBNZ start to look at rate cuts?

- BOJ might update the dates for bond buying schedule.

- WTI Crude FUTs extend rise; Oil cos. also move higher; EU agrees to ban 90% of Russia oil imports by the end of 2022.

- Asian equity indices trade mixed.

- US equity FUTs opened higher, later pared gains.

- Australian equities lag [Financials decline].

- (US) Fed Chair Powell to meet with President Biden at 1:15 PM ET on May 31st (Tues).

Headlines/Economic data

Australia/New Zealand

- ASX 200 opened flat.

- (NZ) New Zealand RBNZ NZIER Shadow Board: RBNZ to raise OCR by 50bps in July.

- (AU) Australia Q1 Corp profit Q/Q: 10.2% V 5.0%E; INVENTORIES Q/Q: 3.2% V 0.7%E.

- (AU) Australia Apr building approvals M/M: -2.4% V 2.0%E.

- (AU) Australia Q1 Current Account (A$): 7.5B v 13.4Be.

- (AU) Australia Apr Private Sector Credit M/M: 0.8% v 0.4% prior; Y/Y: 8.6% v 8.0%e.

- (AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence: 90.7 v 90.8 prior.

- (NZ) New Zealand May ANZ Activity Outlook: -4.7 v 8.0 prior; Business Confidence: -55.6 v -42.0 prior.

Japan

- Nikkei 225 opened -0.2%.

- (JP) Japan Apr jobless rate : 2.5% V 2.6%E (lowest since Mar 2020).

- (JP) Japan Apr Retail Sales M/M: 0.8% V 0.9%E; Y/Y: 2.9% V 2.6%E.

- (JP) Japan Apr preliminary industrial production M/M: -1.3% V -0.2%E; Y/Y: -4.8% V -3.6%E.

- (JP) Japan MOF sells ¥3.0T v ¥3.0T indicated in 0.00% 2-year JGBs: Avg Yield: -0.0580% v -0.0540% prior; bid-to-cover: 5.43x v 4.34x prior.

- (JP) Japan Fin Min Suzuki: No change to the FY25 primary balance target (Comments amid speculation of removing target).

- (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) South Korea Apr Cyclical Leading Index Change: -0.3 v -0.2 prior (10th consecutive decline).

- (KR) South Korea Apr Retail Sales M/M: -0.2% v -0.7% prior; Y/Y: 0.5% v 2.1% prior.

China/Hong Kong

- Hang Seng opened -0.1%; Shanghai Composite opened flat.

- (CN) China May manufacturing PMI (GOVT OFFICIAL): 49.6 V 48.9E.

- (CN) China Cabinet issues various policies to stabilize the economy; to continue pushing actual loan rates to decline - financial press.

- (CN) Shanghai Official: Malls and stores can reopen with capacity at maximum of 75%; Museums and cinemas to remain closed on a temporary basis.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Sells CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B prior; Net CNY0B v Net CNY0B prior.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.6607 v 6.7048 prior.

- (HK) Speculated that Insurer FWD could postpone the IPO, after receiving approval for the $1.0B IPO on May 23rd - Press.

North America

- (US) Fed's Waller (hawk, voter): Fed should raise interest rates by 50bps each time at more than its next two meetings; Inflation remains alarmingly high.

- (MX) Pemex facilities in Oaxaca are on alert for Hurricane Agatha.

Europe

- (EU) EU Commission President Von der Leyen: Will quickly address remaining 10% of Russia Oil imports; Germany and Poland to stop receiving pipeline oil until the end of the year.

- (EU) EU Council President Michel: Confirms Russia Oil imports cut by ~90% by end of the year.

- (UK) May Lloyds Business Barometer: 38 v 33 prior.

Levels as of 01:20 ET

- Nikkei 225, -0.3%, ASX 200 -0.7% , Hang Seng +0.5%; Shanghai Composite +0.9% ; Kospi +0.5%.

- Equity S&P500 Futures: +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.5%, Dax -0.3%; FTSE100 flat.

- EUR 1.0779-1.0734 ; JPY 128.34-127.52 ; AUD 0.7204-0.7161 ;NZD 0.6565-0.6516.

- Gold -0.1% at $1,855/oz; Crude Oil +1.3% at $118.66/brl; Copper +0.5% at $4.3567/lb.