AUD Rises To 5-Week Highs Following Surprise RBA Hold

(AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) HOLDS CASH TARGET RATE AT 3.25%, NOT EXPECTED

(AU) AUSTRALIA Q3 HOUSE PRICE INDEX Q/Q: 0.3% V 1.0%E; Y/Y: 0.3% V 0.8%E

(NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q3 AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS Q/Q: 1.4% V 1.0%E; PRIVATE WAGES EX-OVERTIME Q/Q: 0.5% V 0.5%E; PRIVATE WAGES INCLUDING OVERTIME Q/Q: 0.5% V 0.5%E

(NZ) New Zealand Oct card spending vol +2.6% y/y, value +2.7% y/y

(JP) JAPAN SEPT PRELIMINARY COINCIDENT INDEX CI: 91.2 V 91.2E (sixth straight decline); LEADING INDEX CI:91.7 V 91.8E

(PH) PHILIPPINES OCT CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (CPI) M/M: -0.1% V +0.4%E; Y/Y: 3.1% V %3.5E; CORE CPI Y/Y: 3.6% V 3.7%E

(UK) UK OCT BRC SALES LFL Y/Y: -0.1% V +1.3%E

Markets Snapshot (as of 05:30GMT)
Nikkei225 -0.4%

S&P/ASX +0.2%

Kospi +0.6%

Shanghai Composite -1.5%

Hang Seng -0.5%

Dec S&P500 +0.1% at 1,412

Dec gold +0.1% at $1,685/oz

Dec Crude Oil -0.1% at $85.57/brl

Notes/Observations
Asian equity are trading mixed for the second consecutive session, as political uncertainty going into US elections on Tuesday and China leadership transition on Thursday continues to keep traders on the sidelines. Nowhere is sentiment more skittish than in Shanghai, where institutional and retail investors' profit-taking from week-long rally took the main index down by about 1.5%, led by weakness in the property sector. In contrast, Korea's Kospi has recovered from overnight losses, as buyers stepped into the beaten down shares of automakers

Reserve Bank of Australia surprised the markets with a hold, voting counter to over 70% of analysts calling for a second consecutive 25bp rate cut. Specifically, RBA pointed to higher than expected inflation data and more positive signs of global recovery. RBA also noted that growth in China stabilized, a more upbeat assessment compared to last month's cry of slower growth and downside risks on the mainland. AUD spiked up to 5-week highs above $1.0430 against the dollar and also a 2-month high against the euro. Otherwise, currency market major pairs traded in tight ranges.

Comments from a dovish FOMC voter out of San Francisco, Joh Williams, noted expectations for inflation to remain low with no indication that easy Fed policy is creating new asset bubbles. Williams did indicate that any policy exit would begin with a change in communication, followed by higher interest rates and lastly a sale from the Fed's balance sheet holdings. For now, Williams noted low rates are spurring car buying and reviving the housing market.

Fixed Income/Currencies/Commodities
AUD/USD: Extending gains above $1.0430; Up over 60pips following RBA decision and at 5-week highs

(AU) Australia Oct Port Hedland Iron ore exports m/m: 21.75M tons v 19.9M prior

(CN) China PBoC offers CNY166B in 7-day reverse repos, CNY111B in 28-day reverse repo; CNY277B is just short of the record CNY290B set on 25th Sept

SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings rise to 9,970 tons from 9,943 tons (highest since September 27th)

GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall by 3.9 tons to 1,332.4 tons (lowest since October 3rd)

(US) Sean Egan of Egan Jones: Debt to GDP is key measure in credit quality; US debt is rising and GDP is not

Speakers/Political/In the Papers
(JP) Japan Econ Min Maehara: To study whether economy is in recession

(CN) According to Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co, Shanghai new home sales last week rose 25.9% to 260.1K sqm - 18-week high; Avg price sold fell 7.1% to CNY21.4K/sqm - Shanghai Daily

(CN) China top 4 banks October new loans CNY220B v CNY166B m/m - Chinese press

(KR) South Korea Finance Ministry November economic report: Output, consumption, investment, and exports are improving - financial press

(EU) ECB's Constancio: Spain banks collateral issues is completely settled; Cannot pass on profits from bond holdings to Greek govt

(EU) German Fin Min Schaeuble: Suggests US should address fiscal cliff in a manner that does not harm global economy; EU banking supervision will not be enacted before 2014

(EU) EU's Rehn: Sees EU recovery starting in 2013 and becoming more robust in 2014; Eurozone delivering on promise to take all steps in dealing with crisis

(G20) Financial Stability Board (FSB) chief/Bank of Canada's Carney: Reiterates strength in CAD has created headwinds for Canada economic growth - G20 statement

(US) Fed's Williams (Voter, dovish): QE effective for improving financial conditions; Inflation has been low, likely to remain low

Asia Equities
Yamaha Motors 7272.JP: Reports 9-month Net ¥14.3B v ¥40.0B y/y, Op Profit ¥22.8B v ¥60.7B y/y, Rev ¥909.5B v ¥985.8B y/y

7269.JP: America Suzuki Motor to file for Chapter 11 - financial press

TM: Aqua hybrid has topped the Prius as Japan's top-selling vehicle in October - Nikkei News

TM: EVP Ozawa: Will not change annual domestic production target of 3m vehicles - Nikkei News (update)

DJS.AU: Reports customers using online store doubled since web, mobile launch in Oct - AFR

US Equities
Z: Reports Q3 $0.07 v $0.07e, R$31.9M v $31.6Me; -21.4% afterhours

ESRX: Reports Q3 $1.02 v $0.99e, R$27.0B v 27.5Be; -14.0% afterhours

WTW: Reports Q3 $1.20 v $1.07e, R$430.6M v $416Me; +7.8% afterhours