Economic Data
(JP) JAPAN DEC CURRENT ACCOUNT TOTAL: ¥303.5B V ¥340BE; ADJUSTED CURRENT ACCOUNT TOTAL: ¥752.3B V ¥625BE (3-month high); CURRENT ACCOUNT TOTAL Y/Y: -74,7% V -71.2%E; TRADE BALANCE: -¥145.8B V -¥135BE
(JP) JAPAN JAN BANK LENDING INCLUDING TRUSTS Y/Y: 0.6% V 0.6%E (27-month high); EX-TRUSTS Y/Y: 0.7% V 0.5% PRIOR
(UK) UK BRC SHOP PRICE INDEX Y/Y: 1.4% V 1.7% PRIOR (22-month low)
(KR) SOUTH KOREA JAN BANK LENDING TO HOUSEHOLDS (KRW): 452T V 455.0T PRIOR
(KR) SOUTH KOREA DEC MONEY SUPPLY L Y/Y: 9.4% V 8.9% PRIOR; M2 Y/Y: 4.4% V 4.4% PRIOR
(JP) JAPAN JAN BANKRUPTCIES Y/Y: -2.6% V -6.3% PRIOR
(JP) JAPAN JAN ECO WATCHERS CURRENT SURVEY: 44.1 V 47.4E (1st decline in 2-months); OUTLOOK SURVEY: 47.1 V 45.5E
(IN) India Jan Local Car Sales +7.2% y/y
Markets Snapshot (as of 05:30GMT)
Nikkei225 +0.8%
S&P/ASX +0.4%
Kospi +0.9%
Taiwan Taiex +2.1%
Singapore Straits Times +0.6%
Shanghai Composite +1.1%
Hang Seng +0.8%
S&P Futures +0.1 at 1,345
April gold +0.1% at $1,750/oz
March Crude +0.6% at $98.97
Overview/Top Headlines
Markets started off to the upside before gaining some momentum and making strong gains for the rest of the Asian trading session. Confidence has re-entered the market that the Greek debt situation will be resolved. PM Papademos met with Troika officials today to "put the finishing touches" on terms for the next bailout package and will meet with politicians today to talk about next round of austerity measures. EUR/USD traded in a 40 pip range testing $1.3275. The outperformers of the session were the Taiex, with 163 point and the Hang Seng with over 200 points. Nikkei225 was boosted by Toyota Motors, who raised its profit forecast after the close yesterday. China energy names were boosted by China's move to raise fuel prices for the first time in 10-months. Shares of BHP fell, though moderated as the session went on, after reporting weaker than expected H1 results before the open. Trading on the ASX remained subdued. In Japan Current Account Surplus fell to a 15 year low in 2011, with a larger than expected trade deficit due to lower exports and higher energy costs. USD/JPY was in a 40 pip range, rising to ¥77.16 after the Nikkei close, EUR/JPY held a 90 pip range ¥102.40-101.67. AUD/USD continued to strengthen rising over $1.0830. The Greenback was lower against the KRW, S$, NT$ and PHP.
Speakers/Geopolitical/In the press
(IN) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Gov Gokarn: Open market operations are still on the table, no decision to stop them
(KR) According to Bank of Korea (BOK) data, bank loan ratio for smaller companies fell to record low 78.8% from 88.8% in early 2007 - Korean press
(CN) China top-4 banks had new yuan loans of CNY340B in January v CNY130B in Dec - China Securities Journal
(NZ) New Zealand raises minimum wage from NZ$13/hr to NZ$13.50/hr
Equities
BHP: Reports H1 Net $9.9B v $10Be; Rev $37.5B v $34.2B y/y
UMC: Reports Q4 Net NT$1.18B v NT$810Me, Rev NT$24.43B v NT$31.32B y/y
AUO: Reports Q4 Net loss NT$20.98B v loss NT$15.3Be; Rev NT$89.5B v NT$102.6B y/y
CHL, 941.HK: Hong Kong unit acquired 15-yr licensed use of 30MHz bandwidth radio frequency band from the Office of the Telecommunications Authority, enabling to offer LTE(4G) service - DigiTimes
Li & Fung, 494.HK: Cutting staff responsible for its European operation in Hong Kong due to the uncertain economic outlook in the EU - HK press
Renesas Electronics, 6723.JP: Discussing plans with Fujitsu and Panasonic to integrate their system chip manufacturing operations - Nikkei News
RIO: To invest an additional $3.4B into Pilbara expansion; Targeting Pilbara output of 283M tons/year by H2 2013
US Equities
WU: Reports Q4 $0.40 v $0.40e, R$1.43B v $1.4Be; Increases dividend 25% to $0.10 from $0.08; -6.6% after hours
RAH: Reports Q1 $1.33 v $1.38e, R$1.38B v $1.3Be; +0.4% after hours
PNRA: Reports Q4 $1.42 v $1.42e, R$495.8M v $499Me; CFO leaving company; Raises FY12 EPS guidance; -2.8% after hours
LNC: Reports Q4 $1.00 (adj) v $1.00e, R$2.71B v $2.8Be; -4.5% after hours
AVID: Reports Q4 $0.38 (adj) v $0.16e, R$185.3M v $177Me; +17.7% after hours
DIS: Reports Q1 $0.80 v $0.71e, R$10.8B v $11.2Be; -1.4% after hours