Economic Data
(JP) JAPAN JULY MERCHANDISE TRADE BALANCE TOTAL: -¥517.4B V -¥270BE; ADJ TRADE BALANCE: -¥325B V -¥452BE (16th straight month of deficits)
(JP) JAPAN JULY SUPERMARKET SALES Y/Y: -4.9% V -3.9% PRIOR
(AU) AUSTRALIA JULY DEWR INTERNET SKILLED VACANCIES M/M: -3.1% V -2.5% PRIOR (4th consecutive month of decline; multi-month low)
(AU) AUSTRALIA JUN WESTPAC LEADING INDEX M/M: 0.5% V 0.8% PRIOR
(TW) TAIWAN JULY UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.3% V 4.3%E
Markets Snapshot (as of 04:30GMT)
Nikkei225 -0.3%
S&P/ASX -0.2%
Kospi -0.7%
Shanghai Composite -0.4%
Hang Seng -0.8%
Taiwan Taiex -0.4%
Straits Times Index -0.7%
Sept S&P500 -0.3% at 1,408
Dec gold -0.1% at $1,640/oz
Oct Crude oil +0.1% at $96.92/brl
Overview/Top Headlines
While markets are weaker across the board it is mostly attributed to profit taking. Markets also continue to wait for fresh developments from Europe as Greece's bailout is front and center currently. EUR/USD was little changed in the session, moving in a 20 pip range with a top of $1.2478. Japan July trade data weighed on the regional indices, as Japan continues to report deficits due to lagging exports. Exports to Europe fell over 25%, the largest decline since October 2009. USD/JPY remained in a small trading range of 20 pips ¥79.30-79.16. Nikkei fell as much as 0.8% and AUD/USD fell 0.5% to $1.0435. The ASX paired back most of its losses after the S&P said China can afford another round of stimulus, measures could be launched if unemployment rises sharply. China's PBoC again gauged demand for 7-day and 14-day reverse repos, though took no action after yesterday's record CNY220B injection. Chinese money market rates have declined on the session by over 30bps from yesterday.
Corn (-0.1%) and wheat (-0.4%), copper (-0.4%) and silver (-0.3%) all declined in the session.
Speakers/Geopolitical/In the press
(CN) Former PBoC advisor: Potential China GDP at approx 8% over the next 10 years
(US) Fed Evans (FOMC alternate, dove): Should provide more accommodation to support growth; Fed funds rate should stay around zero until unemployment is below 7% - financial press
(CN) China State Council names Li Dongrong as PBoC Vice Gov
(AU) Australia Greens would like an investigation into RBA banknote operations - financial press
(CN) Australian analyst looks at yesterday's PBoC CNY220B reverse repo injection as a sign that "all is not well" in China - Australian press
Equities
BHP: Reports FY12 Net $17.1B (adj) v $14.6Be; Rev $72.23B v $71.5Be; Will look at alternatives for Olympic Dam project
CHA: Reports H1 Net CNY8.81B v CNY8.7Be, EBITDA CNY48.8B, Rev CNY138B v CNY120B y/y
SBIN.IN: (IN) Around 1.0M bank employees in India start two day strike today which would impact some 70K bank branches - India press
China State Construction, 3311.HK: Reports H1 Net HK$887M v HK$653M y/y, Rev HK$10.5B v HK$7.1B y/y
Hon Hai, 2317.TW: Will further reduce overtime for Chinese workers to 9 hours or less a week; Cost to improve working conditions is still high, but efficiency to show next year
APA.AU: Reports FY12 Net A$131M v A$108.5M y/y, Rev A$1.06B v A$1.1B
WPL.AU: Reports H1 $812M ($865M underlying) v $828M y/y, Rev $2.66B v $2.25B y/y
SNE: May outsource manufacturing and assembly of LCD TVs to AU Optronics' BriView - Japan press
SUN.AU: Reports FY12 Net A$724M v A$777Me; Rev A$16.0 v A$19.0B y/y; Declares special dividend A$0.15
FBU.NZ: Reports FY12 Net NZ$185M v NZ$283M y/y; Rev NZ$8.87B v NZ$7.4B y/y
US Equities
LZB: Reports Q1 $0.08 v $0.08e, R$301.5M v $290Me; +6.7% afterhours
DELL: Reports Q2 $0.50 v $0.45e, R$14.48B v 14.6Be; -4.5% afterhours
INTU: Reports Q4 $0.03 (adj) v $0.06e, R$651M v $654Me; -2.7% afterhours