- Markets shrug China manufacturing PMI drop as officials cite seasonal Lunar New Year factors
- U.S. sequestration strikes midnight Economic Data
- (CN) CHINA FEB MANUFACTURING PMI: 50.1 V 50.5E (5-month low)
- (CN) CHINA FEB HSBC FINAL MANUFACTURING PMI: 50.4 V 50.6E (4-month low)
- (IN) INDIA FEB MARKIT MANUFACTURING PMI: 54.2 V 53.2 PRIOR
- (JP) JAPAN JAN LOANS & DISCOUNTS CORP M/M: 1.3% V 1.0% PRIOR
- (JP) JAPAN Q4 CAPITAL SPENDING: -8.7% V -7.2%E (first decline in 5 quarters); CAPITAL SPENDING EX-SOFTWARE: -7.2% V -6.5%E
- (JP) JAPAN FEB TOKYO CPI Y/Y: -0.9% V -0.6%E; TOKYO CPI EX-FRESH FOOD: -0.6% V -0.5%E
- (JP) JAPAN JAN NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: -0.3% V -0.2%E; NATIONAL CPI EX-FRESH FOOD: -0.2% V -0.2%E
- (JP) JAPAN JAN OVERALL HOUSEHOLD SPENDING Y/Y: 2.4% V 0.4%E (8-month high)
- (JP) JAPAN JAN JOBLESS RATE: 4.2% V 4.2%E; JOB-TO-APPLICANT RATIO: 0.85 V 0.83E
- (JP) JAPAN FEB VEHICLE SALES Y/Y: -12.2% V -12.9% PRIOR
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB RPDATA-RISMARK HOUSE PX Y/Y: 0.3% V 1.2% PRIOR
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB AIG PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDEX (PMI): 45.6 V 40.2 PRIOR (8-month high; contraction for 12th month)
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q4 TERMS OF TRADE INDEX Q/Q: -1.3% V +1.4%E (falls for 6th consecutive quarter)
- (KR) SOUTH KOREA FEB EXTERNAL TRADE BALANCE: $2.1B V $970ME
- (TW) TAIWAN FEB HSBC MANUFACTURING PMI: 50.2 V 51.5 PRIOR
- (ID) INDONESIA FEB INFLATION M/M 0.8% V 0.3%E; Y/Y: 5.3% V 4.8%E; CORE INFLATION: 4.3% V 4.4%E
- (ID) INDONESIA FEB HSBC MARKIT MANUFACTURING PMI: 50.5 V 49.7 PRIOR
- (ID) INDONESIA JAN TOTAL TRADE BALANCE: -$171M V -$147ME
- (TH) THAILAND FEB CONSUMER PRICE INDEX M/M: 0.2% V 0.2% PRIOR; Y/Y: 3.2% V 3.4% PRIOR; CORE CPI Y/Y: 1.6% V 1.7%E
- (VN) VIETNAM FEB HSBC MANUFACTURING PMI: 48.3 V 50.1 PRIOR
- Nikkei225 +0.6%
- S&P/ASX -0.3%
- Kospi closed
- Shanghai Composite -0.6%
- Hang Seng -0.3%
- Mar S&P500 flat at 1,511
- Apr gold flat at $1,578/oz
- Apr Crude Oil flat at $91.93/brl
- Senate votes down Republican plan and Democratic plan to replace sequester, as expected; Pres Obama expected to enact cuts on Friday set to phase in defense cuts, as countdown starts toward furloughs begins on public sector workers.
- China official manufacturing PMI at four-month lows and HSBC final at five-month lows as all components fall m/m; Market reaction mostly muted, as CFLP attributes decline to Lunar New Year and calls economy "stabilizing" while HSBC notes the decline should keep PBoC on hold.
- BoJ Gov nominee Kuroda steps down from ADB and preparing testimony for Monday; Nikkei press speculating Kuroda may push forward the start of unlimited easing to this year from 2014 or increase the pace to 3-5T yen a month from 2T planned initially.
- Japan inflation remains in the red in January despite the weaker yen; Govt officials calling for exporters to raise wages.
- Australian press comments on recent quarterly CAPEX data giving the RBA little reason to ease further at next week's meeting; Swaps pricing in less than 20% chance of 25bp cut.
- (JP) Japan Econ Min Amari: "Abenomics" leading some firms to announce pay increases - financial press
- (JP) Nikkei News comments on expectations for Kuroda to implement more "bold easing" as the next gov of BOJ
- (CN) China Feb home prices m/m: Shanghai +1.33%, Beijing +0.86%, Overall +0.83% v 1.0% prior - China press
- (CN) China may announces new Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) rules this month - financial press
- (CN) China may appoint Sovereign Wealth Fund (CIC) chairman Lou Jiwei as the next Finance Minister - SCMP
- (CN) China top four banks' new yuan loans in Feb 1-25th at CNY205B - Chinese press
- (AU) According to one survey, economists are unanimous in expectation for RBA to remain on hold at 3.00% at its meeting next week - Australian press
- (SG) Singapore Fin Min Shanmugaratnam: Home prices have risen too fast must further stabilize; SGD fairy steady vs fx basket - financial press interview
- (U.S.) U.S. Fed's Evans (FOMC voter, dovish): Budget sequester will take even bigger hit on outlook; Sees 2013 GDP at 2.5-3.0% and 2014 GDP at 3.5-4.0%
- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$600M in 4.75% in 2016 Bonds; avg yield 2.1307%; bid-to-cover: 4.39x
- JGB: (JP) Japan 10yr Note yield falls to fresh 10-year low 0.64%
- (U.S.) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Assets Week ending Feb 27th: $3.072T v $3.076T prior; M1: -$22.9B v -$11.1B prior; M2: -$23.7B v +$14.3B prior
- SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings rise to 10,638 tons from 10,617 tons prior (highest since 10,690 on Jan 23rd)
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall by 3.9 tons to 1,254.5 ton (lowest since 1,251.9 on Aug 2nd; 8th consecutive session of decline)
- RIO: Mongolia and Rio will to continue to fund Oyu Tolgoi $6.2B project; on track for first production in June - financial press
- HIT: Exec: Earnings to improve in FY13/14; Recovery to start in H2 - Nikkei News interview
- JAL 9201.JP: To reduce some US-bound flights for up to two months due to 787 grounding; effective 31st Mar - Kyodo News
- Citic Pacific 267.HK: CEO Chang: Australia Iron Ore project construction will continue 2 years, will not produce profit short-term, long-term outlook strong - HK press
- Yamaha Motor 7272.JP: Exec: Ryoichi Sumioka: Plans to build motorcycle production facility in Karachi; will produce 400K units annually - Japanese press
- OVTI: Reports Q3 $0.56 v $0.41e, R$423.5M v $411Me; -9.8% afterhours
- GPS: Reports Q4 $0.73 v $0.70e, R$4.73B v $4.65Be; Raises quarterly by 20% to $0.15 from $0.125; +2.8% afterhours
- GRPN: Replaces Founder and CEO Andrew Mason with Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis in the Office of the Chief Executive on an interim basis; +4.2% afterhours
- CRM: Reports Q4 $0.51 v $0.40e, R$835M v $831Me; +4.8% afterhours
- DECK: Reports Q4 $2.77 v $2.59e, R$617M v $632Me; +7.4% afterhours
(as of 05:00 GMT)
Asian currencies gained strength during the morning trading session, after being range bound during U.S. hours. NZDUSD saw some early session weakness ahead of the quarterly decline in New Zealand terms of trade index, falling as low as 0.8240 before bouncing above 0.8270. AUDUSD remained buoyed above 1.02 support despite negative ASX performance throughout the morning. Aussie briefly sold off about 15pips below $1.0210 after the disappointing China official manufacturing PMI but regained strength on a press report building expectations of RBA remaining on hold next week. China's CFLP also diminished the importance of the report, noting the drop-off was seasonal because of the off-month Lunar New Year timing. USDJPY was slightly higher early on after a Nikkei report forecasted more aggressive easing under BOJ Gov nominee Kuroda, but largely tracked within a 25pip range contained by 92.70 for remainder of the session.
Fixed Income/Commodities
3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or
remove ads
.