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Asia trades mixed after similar US session on Fri; China NDRC comments weigh on commodity sensitive assets General Trend: - Modest moves have been seen for the equity markets in Asia - Nikkei has moved higher after the lower open [automakers track gains in the US, Toyota trades at record high] - S&P ASX 200 Resources index drops on China NDRC comments, index declines for 4th consecutive session - NDRC also weighs on Materials indices in Shanghai and Hong Kong - Shanghai Consumer Staples index pares decline - Hang Seng TECH index drops over 2% [Tencent extends decline following recently reported Q1 results; Kuaishou Technology is expected to report later today].
Headlines/Economic Data
Australia/New Zealand
-ASX 200 opened flat -(AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Excess cash at exchange settlement (ES) accounts at A$222.6B v A$215.2B prior (Record high) -(AU) Various banks in Australia (including CBA, Westpac, Macquarie and NAB) have raised 3-5-year fixed home lending rates - Australian press -(NZ) NZIER Shadow board: Sees a stronger case for tightening by RBNZ; Board members consider current monetary policy setting still appropriate for May 26th (Wed) policy meeting -(NZ) New Zealand Q1 Retail Sales Ex-Inflation Q/Q: +2.5% v -1.8%e; Higher retail spending on electronic items and outdoor recreational goods this summer helped boost overall spending in the March 2021 quarter.
China/Hong Kong
-Shanghai Composite opened flat, Hang Seng -0.1% -(CN) China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC): holds talks with major commodity companies; vows to have 'zero tolerance' for any commodities futures violations -(CN) China Vice Premier Liu: China to crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading - (CN) Follow Up: Various cryptocurrency mining operators in China (including Huobi Mall and BTC.TOP) are suspending their operations - financial press -(HK) Hang Seng Indexes announced index review results: To add Xinyi Solar, BYD Co. and Country Garden Services [6098.HK] to Hang Seng Index, effective June 7th - (CN) China PBoC official: suggests CNY currency (Yuan) to appreciate as prices rise; Should improve the CPI calculation method - (CN) China PBOC Deputy Gov: Fluctuations in the Yuan in either direction will become the norm - (CN) China Sec Journal: Analysts see China keeping the FX rate system 'stable' (in line) - (CN) China President Xi: Stresses regulation of tutoring institutions - State TV comments -(CN) China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos v CNY10B in 7-day reverse repos prior; Net CNY0B v Net CNY0B prior -(CN) China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate: 6.4408 v 6.4300 prior.
Japan
-Nikkei 225 opened -0.4% - (JP) Tokyo to begin disclosing daily coronavirus cases at 03:45EST(market closes at 02:00EST) - (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Kato: Lifting or extension of state of emergency to be decided comprehensively.
Korea
-Kospi opened flat - (KR) South Korea Finance Ministry: Denies extra budget report - (KR) South Korea Govt said to be internally considering 2nd extra budget - Press - Hyundai Motor [005380.KR]: Halting Asan plant through May 27th due to chip shortages -(KR) South Korea President Moon and US President Biden Joint Statement: Calls for full implementation of UN Sanctions on North Korea - (KR) South Korea sells 5-year bonds: avg yield 1.640% v 1.570% prior -(KR) Bank of Korea sells KRW840B v KRW700B indicated in 1-year Monetary Stabilization Bonds (MSB): avg yield 0.620% v 0.650% prior.
Other Asia - (SG) Singapore Apr CPI M/M: -0.2% v -0.2%e; Y/Y: 2.1% v 2.0%e; CPI Core Y/Y: 0.6% v 0.9%e - (TW) Taiwan companies said to cut certain 5G component part orders due to lessened demand; growth in 5G smartphone component orders might drop by up to 30% vs Q1 - Taiwan press.
North America -(US) Fed's Daly (non-voter, dove): policy is in a really good place; see bright things happening across the economy, but we are still not out of the woods [comments from May 21st] -(US) China says US Intelligence report is an attempt to distract attention from the Coronavirus probe - Press - Reminder: The next North American SEMI Billings report is May 24, 2021 at 3:00pm Pacific (Monday).
Europe
-(EU) ECB De Guindos (Spain) said data is improving, but policy must remain very loose - financial press.
Levels as of 01:20 ET
- Nikkei 225, +0.2%, ASX 200 +0.2% , Hang Seng -0.3%; Shanghai Composite +0.2% ; Kospi -0.4%- Equity S&P500 Futures: +0.3%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 +0.2% - Forex EUR 1.2187-1.2172 ; JPY 108.99-108.81 ; AUD 0.7738-0.7713 ;NZD 0.7182-0.7160- Commodities - Gold +0.5% at $1,886/oz; Crude Oil +0.6% at $63.97/brl; Copper -1.1% at $4.4573/lb.
- Source TradeTheNews.com
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