RBA’s lowe and SOMP in focus for Friday

Asia Market Update: Modest equity gains generally seen; RBA’s Lowe and SOMP in focus for Fri.; BoE rate decision due later today.

General trend

- Equity markets are generally off of the session lows.

- Nikkei has moved modestly higher after the lower open; Companies due to report earnings include Nintendo, Sharp, Shiseido, NTT Data, Yamaha Motor, Suzuki Motor, SUMCO, Japan Display, Kobe Steel, Square Enix.

- Hang Seng has traded flat.

- Shanghai Composite also ended morning trading little changed; the Consumer Staples index rebounded.

- S&P ASX 200 has gained after opening flat [Financials rise; Energy and Resources indices decline].

- RBA Gov Lowe is due to speak on Fri. at the House of Rep. Standing Committee on Economics [11:30 PM GMT].

- RBA is also due to release a quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy (SOMP) on Fri. [1:30 AM GMT].

- Companies due to report during the NY morning include Atlas Air, Arrow Electronics, Bombardier, BCE Inc, Becton Dickinson, Berry Global, Cardinal Health, Cars.com, CIGNA, datadog, Fiverr International, Gildan Activewear, Hanesbrands, Huntington Ingalls, Himax Technologies, Iron Mountain, Kellogg, Moderna, NRG Energy, Penn National Gaming, Parker Hannifin, Party City, Papa Johns, Regeneron, Revlon, SeaWorld, Stratasys, Tenneco, Thomson Reuters, ViacomCBS, ViaSat, Wayfair, DENTSPLY, Zoetis.

Headlines/Economic Data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened 0.0%.

- (AU): Australia APRA: Releases response to submissions and final Prudential Standard APS 111 Capital Adequacy: Measurement of Capital: confirms revised APS 111 to come into effect on Jan 1 2022.

- (AU) Australia total weekly payroll jobs change for Jun 19 to July 3rd: -1.0% v +0.4% prior; Wages still not available* v -1.6% last given in June. *Wages estimates have been withdrawn to allow for more complete business reporting and analysis of higher than usual variation in wages over the end of the financial year period.

- NCK.AU Reports FY21 (A$) Net 84.2M v 42.1M y/y; Rev 373.0M v 262.5M y/y.

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opened -0.2%.

- (JP) Japan Investors Net Buying of Foreign Bonds: +¥225.6B v -¥1.08T prior; Foreign Net Buying of Japan Stocks:+ ¥3.2B v -¥58.5B prior.

- (JP) Japan Minister: Confirms Japan considering expanding coronavirus restrictions to 8 additional prefectures.

- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥200B v ¥200B indicated in 10-yr 0.005% inflation-indexed bonds; highest yield -0.174% v -0.185% prior; bid to cover 2.88x v 3.8x prior (lowest bid to cover since early 2017).

- 6758.JP Reports Q1 Net ¥211.8B v ¥193.6B y/y, Op ¥280.1B v ¥221.7B y/y, Rev ¥2.26T v ¥1.96T y/y; raises FY guidance (yesterday after the close).

- 7267.JP Reports Q1 Net ¥222.5B v -¥80.9B y/y, Op +¥243.2B v -¥113.7B Rev ¥3.58T v ¥2.12T y/y; To repurchase up to ¥70B in shares; Raises FY guidance (yesterday after the close).

Korea

-Kospi opened +0.1%.

- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Member Koh appointed head of FSC in South Korea – Yonhap.

China/Hong Kong

-Hang Seng opened %; Shanghai Composite opened %.

- (CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net drain CNY20B v Net CNY0B prior.

- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4691 v 6.4655 prior.

- (CN) US financial press explores the idea that China export growth will be limited due to logistics issues.

- (CN) China Sec Times: Unnecessary to maintain tax incentives for the gaming sector.

- (CN) China Hangzhou province is said to have increased control on property markets.

Other

- DBS.SG Reports Q2 (S$) Net 1.70B v 1.25B y/y; NII 2.09B v 2.3B y/y, Rev 3.59B v 3.73B y/y.

- (PH) Philippines July CPI Y/Y: 4.0% v 4.0%e (1st time in target range in 7 months).

- (TW) US State Dept approves sales of military equipment to Taiwan in proposed $750M deal.

North America

- (US) Fed's Daly (non-voter, dove): Rise in home prices is a demand-supply issue, will resolve as more supply comes onto the market; Expects temporary spike in inflation through next year.

- ALL Reports Q2 $3.79 v $2.99e, Rev $12.6B v $10.4B y/y.

- COST Reports July total SSS +13.8% (ex-gas).

- MGM Reports Q2 -$0.13 v -$0.36e, Rev $2.3B v $2.16Be.

- FSLY Reports Q2 -$0.15 v -$0.17e, Rev $85.0M v $86.8Me; Says Q2 outage will have an impact on Q3 and FY21 outlooks.

Europe

- (IE) Ireland July PMI Services: 66.6 v 63.1 prior (highest since Aug 2000, 5th consecutive expansion); PMI Composite: 65.0 v 63.4 prior (record high, 5th consecutive expansion).

- (FR) Paris-based, Melanion Capital, launched the first EU-regulated bitcoin tracker - FT.

- (IE) Ireland Fin Min Donohoe: See the likelihood of a global tax deal happening now, more than ever before – press.

- (FR) France to be removed from UK's Amber-plus travel restriction list for the fully vaccinated - UK press.

- (UK) Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak and PM Johnson calling on UK asset managers to shift more of their capital from short term equity to long term projects - UK press.

Levels as of 01:15ET

- Hang Seng -0.2%; Shanghai Composite +0.2%; Kospi +0.1%; Nikkei225 +0.4%; ASX 200 +0.2%.

- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.0%.

- EUR 1.1840-1.1832; JPY 109.71-109.46; AUD 0.7397-0.7376; NZD 0.7056-0.7039.

- Commodity Futures: Gold -0.1% at $1,813/oz; Crude Oil +0.4% at $68.41/brl; Copper +0.3% at $4.34/lb.