Aug 01 ,2023
Synopsis:
Asian equities mixed Tuesday. Hang Seng retreated from an early advance, mainland mostly lower too. Meanwhile Kospi, Nikkei and ASX advanced following overnight Wall Street gains. Taiwan also higher. Southeast Asia mostly lower. India trading flat. S&P 500 futures lower. Europe opened lower. 10Y Treasury yields up by 1-2 bp. JGBs were little changed through the long end of the curve. Aussie bonds rallying following RBA hold. US dollar gaining against most major currencies, strongest against AUD. Crude peeling lower after capping off best monthly performance since Jan-22. Copper lower as prices hovering around highest level since April. Precious metals lower too.
Greater China stocks inched mostly lower, ending rallies in prior two sessions after Caixin manufacturing PMI unexpectedly fell into contraction in July, driven by notable falls in new orders, output and export orders. Chinese authorities vowed more credit support to private companies in latest effort to shore up confidence after a slew of policy announcements aimed at boosting consumption. State Council urged cities to roll out property policies as data showed home sales fell sharply in July amid persistent woes.
In Australia, RBA left cash rate unchanged vs slim majority of economists who expected a 25 bp rate hike. Cited economic uncertainties and need to assess lagged effect of past rate hikes. RBA reiterated some further tightening may be required while also emphasizing uncertainties surrounding the economic outlook; housing indicators weakened with property price growth slowing while finance and building approvals shrank. Asia factory activity shrank in July, with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam all seeing manufacturing activities contract. Japan unemployment rate edged lower. South Korean exports fell for a tenth consecutive month in July, at sharpest pace since May-2020, driven by another big drop in chip shipments. Recovery in Macau's casinos strengthened in July as tourists returned during the summer vacation period.
Toyota (7203.HK) nearly doubled operating profit in quarter through June and said competition in China had become "extremely severe". Panasonic (6752.JP) will liquidate its subsidiary that produces LCD panels and pivots toward manufacturing EV batteries. Country Garden (2007.HK) scrapped a primary share placement of HK$2.34B on "unspecified internal consideration", its share and bond prices both slid. HSBC (5.HK) announced share buybacks up to $2B and raised near-term return on tangible equity goal; CEO Quinn said debate over a potential split of its Asian businesses pushed by Ping An Insurance (2318.HK) was over. Hon Hai Precision (2317.TT)'s EV platform unit Mobility in Harmony (MIH) is targeting India or Thailand for production of a small battery-powered car under development.
Digest:
RBA leaves cash rate unchanged, markets dial back odds of further tightening:
RBA left cash rate unchanged at 4.10%, compared to slim majority of economists who predicted a 25 bp rate hike. Said decision is to provide time to assess impact of past rate hikes and uncertainties surrounding economic outlook. Reiterated some further may be required, depending on evolving assessment of risks. Language tweaked from July when RBA said tightening would depend on evolution of economy and inflation. Updated forecast is for inflation to decline to 3.25% by end-2024 and return to within 2-3% target by late 2025. While current inflation is still too high RBA said recent data is consistent with inflation returning to target over forecast horizon. RBA revised up jobless rate forecast, predicting unemployment rate of ~4.5% by late 2024 (level that is consistent with RBA's estimate of full employment). Markets now pricing in less than 25% chance of a September rate hike while odds of further tightening fell to ~60% following the decision.
China Caixin manufacturing PMI slips back into contraction:
Caixin manufacturing PMI was 49.2 in July, versus consensus 50.1 and 50.5 in prior month, back into contractionary territory after expansion in May and June, dragged by notable falls in new export orders (lowest since September) amid muted foreign demand. Manufacturers cut production for first time since January. Total new orders and output were lowest since December and January. Employment in manufacturing fell for fifth straight month due to reduced sales and cost-cutting efforts. Purchasing activity fell slightly for first time in 2023 while inventories of finished goods rose for first time since October as output has exceeded sales. Input costs continued to fall meanwhile output charges fell too amid competitive pricing strategies. Manufacturers remained optimistic though level came in below historical average. Followed yesterday's official manufacturing PMI reading at 49.3 which showed manufacturing activity remained in contraction for fourth straight month but came better than expected.
China property woes persist:
China's embattled property sector is dealing with persistent difficulties. Data from China Real Estate Information Corp. (CRIC) shows value of new home sales by top 100 property developers fell 33.1% y/y to CNY350.4B ($49B) for second month in a row. Sales dropped 33.5% m/m. Bloomberg noted slump in transactions a blow to developers who need cash to alleviate ongoing crisis, which might lead more to default in near future. Country Garden (2007.HK) canceled a HK$2.34B stock offering on "unspecified internal consideration" after it warned about H1 net loss (Bloomberg). Another survey by China Index Academy shows average new home prices in 100 Chinese cities fell for a third straight month in July, dropping 0.01% m/m and 0.17% y/y. Second-hand home prices fell 0.39% m/m and 2.04% y/y. Only 35 cities saw a m/m gain in new home prices. China Index Academy noted future policy optimization expected mainly in tier-one and core tier-two cities.
Greater China stocks post best month in July since January on Beijing's policy support pledges:
Chinese stocks recorded best month in July since January amid multiple support measures from Beijing to boost economy. For July, Hang Seng rose 6.1% with tech index surged 16.3% (best since November), CSI300 jumped 4.5%. Trading volumes in Hong Kong at HKD182.6B on 31-Jul (highest since 30-Jan), while volumes on mainland at CNY1.1T same day (first time over CNY1T since 3-Jul), with foreign funds having net buys in A-shares for fifth straight day at CNY9.3B. Bloomberg noted rallies came as rising expectations that authorities will follow through on promises made at Politburo meeting on 24-Jul despite a history of lack of policy execution. Recall authorities vowed to boost consumption in autos, protect private businesses and make it easier for businesses to access funding recently (Bloomberg) Some market watchers also believed consensus view on China may be "too negative" and policy course correction more likely to improve confidence than any traditional stimulus (SCMP).
Japan unemployment rate edges lower, but job offers growth sluggish:
Unemployment rate was 2.5% in June, matching expectations, following 2.6% in the previous month. Solid sequential 190K rebound in total employment moderately outpaced 140K increase in labor force, driving total unemployed lower for the third straight month. In year-ago terms, regular jobs grew for the third straight month as part-time/casual work rose for the first time in three month. Accommodation & dining jobs grew for the 12th straight month, consistent with ongoing Covid reopening dynamics. Combines with recent gains in manufacturing and construction. But retail/commerce and leisure industries were little changed. Job offers to applicants ratio unexpectedly edged lower to 1.30 from 1.31 vs consensus 1.32. Job offers were marginally lower sequentially, extending declines to a fourth straight month. Compounded by mild growth in applications. Offers in construction and manufacturing fell y/y for the fourth straight month, while several other sectors turned negative with accommodation & dining remaining one of the few bright spots.
Notable Gainers:
+14.4% 6586.JP (Makita): reports Q1 revenue ¥184.46B vs FactSet ¥179.38B, operating income ¥16.31B vs FactSet ¥8.08B
+4.4% 6981.JP (Murata Manufacturing): reports Q1 revenue ¥367.70B vs StreetAccount ¥365.31B, operating profit ¥50.10B vs year-ago ¥90.8B
+3.5% 4507.JP (Shionogi & Co.): reports Q1 revenue ¥109.31B vs FactSet ¥95.53B, operating income ¥55.70B vs FactSet ¥40.78B; to buy back 12.5M shares for up to ¥75B
+2.5% 7203.JP (Toyota Motor): reports Q1 operating income ¥1.121T vs StreetAccount ¥937.04B, revenue ¥10.547T vs StreetAccount ¥9.878T
+1.7% 5.HK (HSBC Holdings): reports Q2 EPS $0.34 vs consensus $0.30, revenue $16.71B vs consensus $15.99B; intends to initiate a further share buy-back of up to $2B
+1.2% 1024.HK (Kuaishou Technology): guides H1 net income attributable no less than CNY560M vs year-ago (CNY9.43B)
Notable Decliners:
-19.7% 3868.HK (Xinyi Energy Holdings): reports H1 net income attributable HK$566.9M, (9%) vs year-ago HK$623.1M
-10.3% 4506.JP (Sumitomo Pharma): reports Q1 revenue ¥75.69B vs FactSet ¥91.67B, core operating profit (¥33.51B) vs year-ago ¥13.39B
-7% 2007.HK (Country Garden Holdings): confirms no definitive agreement has been entered into with respect to proposed placing of new shares
-6.4% 6503.JP (Mitsubishi Electric): reports Q1 operating income ¥61.01B vs FactSet ¥69.22B
-1.5% 2914.JP (Japan Tobacco): reports Q2 results; CFO Nobuya Kato to step down, effective 30-Sep
Data:
Economic:
China
July Caixin Manufacturing PMI 49.2 versus consensus 50.2 and 50.5 in prior month
Japan
June Unemployment Rate 2.6% versus consensus 2.6% and 2.6% in prior month
July Final Manufacturing PMI 49.6 versus consensus 49.7 and 49.4 in prior month
S. Korea
July Trade Balance +$1.6B versus consensus +$0.6B and +$1.1B in prior month
Exports (16.5%) y/y vs consensus (15.0%) and (6.0%) in prior month
Imports (25.4%) y/y vs consensus (25.0%) and (11.7%) in prior month
Australia
June Building Approvals M/M (7.7%) versus +20.5% in prior month
June Housing Finance M/M (1%) versus +5.4% in prior month
New Zealand
June Building Permits m/m +3.5% versus (2.3%) in prior month
Markets:
Nikkei: 304.36 or +0.92% to 33476.58
Hang Seng: (67.82) or (0.34%) to 20011.12
Shanghai Composite: (0.09) or (0.00%) to 3290.95
Shenzhen Composite: (7.75) or (0.37%) to 2061.76
ASX200: 40.30 or +0.54% to 7450.70
KOSPI: 34.49 or +1.31% to 2667.07
SENSEX: 41.29 or +0.06% to 66568.96
Currencies:
$-¥: +0.38 or +0.27% to 142.6530
$-KRW: +8.43 or +0.66% to 1286.3000
A$-$: (0.01) or (1.17%) to 0.6644
$-INR: +0.00 or +0.00% to 82.2730
$-CNY: +0.02 or +0.30% to 7.1650
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