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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei (1.68%), Hang Seng (0.49%), Shanghai Composite +0.58% as of 04:10 ET

Aug 03 ,2023

  • Synopsis:

    • Asian equities mixed Thursday. Nikkei and Hang Seng extended losses. ASX and Kospi lower too. Mainland China stocks closed higher. Taiwan closed due to typhoon. Southeast Asia mixed. India trading lower. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures both lower. Europe opened down. Treasuries extended selloff, pushing 10Y yields highest this year, dollar strengthened, while yen steadied after hit one-month low against dollar. Crude and copper lower, precious metals down too.

    • Asian markets largely extend risk-off following Wall Street losses as fallout continues from Fitch's downgrading of US credit rating. Treasury yields pushed to new 2023 highs on Treasury ramps up auction sizes and labor market strength. JGB 10Y yields highest since early 2014 following BOJ YCC tweak on Friday while BOJ announced an unscheduled round of bond buying, second intervention this week.

    • China Caixin services PMI unexpectedly quickened in July as firms reported improvement in new business and operating conditions. Input price inflation softened to lowest since February. Analysts see possibilities for PBOC to lower RRR as early as August to address liquidity gap. Japan services expanded at a slower pace last month as growth in business activity fell to lowest since January and cost burdens rose for first time since April. Australian trade surplus widened further in June on stronger iron ore shipments.

    • Toyota (7203.HK) unveiled hybrid version of Land Cruiser and plans to bring the new vehicle to US in 2024. Cathay Pacific (293.HK) nears lease deal of 18 Airbus A321neos. Evergrande Property Services (6666.HK) resumed trading after a 16-month halt as it released financial results; shares plunged by 46.5%. Korean small caps related to superconductor themes including Ducksung (004830.KS) and Sunam (294630.KS) surged for a third-straight day despite exchange cautioned investors. Similar rally in China fizzled Thursday. DBS Group (D05.SP) sees higher margins in H2 after Q2 earnings beat; CEO Gupta sees more inflows to Singapore amid geopolitical tensions surrounding China and its faltering growth.

  • Digest:

    • China Caixin services PMI better-than-expected:

      • Caixin services PMI was 54.1 in July, versus consensus 52.4 and 53.9 in prior month. Data in expansion for seventh straight month but fell short of 55.5 average of prior six months. New business saw marked uprise which led firms to expand payrolls for sixth straight month. Both input and selling price inflation softened. Meanwhile growth in external demand slowed significantly. Companies also less optimistic towards next 12-month with overall confidence dropping to lowest level since November. Caixin reading differed from official NBS nonmanufacturing PMI which softened to 51.5 in July from 53.2 and marked weakest since January. Caixin Composite PMI fell to 51.9 from 52.5, also softest since January, dragged by weaker-than-expected manufacturing PMI reading. Caixin economist noted China's growth remained sluggish facing considerable downward pressure with uneven recovery of services and manufacturing industries. Adding expansionary fiscal policy targeting demand should be prioritized.

    • Foreign investors remain cautious on Chinese equities:

      • Foreign investors largely shunning China equities even as markets rallied following last week's Politburo meeting and subsequent pledges of policy support (Bloomberg). According to Morgan Stanley, US and European long-only investors were net sellers of Chinese and Hong Kong stocks in July. Citi noted FTSE China A50 only one of 10 major benchmarks it tracks that had short position on it last month. Strategists also remain bearish on Chinese stocks with Morgan Stanley lowering its rating to equal weight and urging investors to book profits (Bloomberg). Underpinning the bearishness are lingering doubts around ability of policymakers to revive growth given policy support measures announced so far have consistently underwhelmed expectations. Investors also attuned to structural challenges from local government debt, property market slump, high youth unemployment, household caution and geopolitical tensions.

    • PBOC seen cutting RRR in August to address liquidity gap:

      • Bloomberg cited various analysts views noting PBOC may cut commercial lenders' RRR as soon as this month to boost lending and revive recovery. Noted CNY400B of MLF loans set to mature on 15-August (highest since January) and a total of CNY2.65T will come due in rest of 2023 versus CNY1.75T in first seven months. This coincides with MoF's push for local governments to speed up bond sales by September to fund infrastructure spending. ShanghaiSecuritiesNews noted likely acceleration of local government bond sales in August will further drain and disrupt liquidity. Citic Securities chief economist Ming Ming said large liquidity gap in August leads to possibility of an RRR cut this month. HSBC and Minsheng Securities analysts hold similar views. PBOC's H2 work conference on Tuesday emphasized "keeping liquidity reasonably sufficient". In addition August fiscal expenditure estimated at CNY40-50B, seen boosting some liquidity.

    • Yen weakness since YCC tweak remains a concern for markets:

      • Nikkei discussed market developments since the BOJ's YCC tweak last Friday, noting that JGB yields are rising (hitting a nine-year high 0.625% Wednesday), though yen has unexpectedly weakened on the remote prospects for an end to easing. Article noted thoughts that yen depreciation was a motivating factor behind the BOJ's latest move and yen has weakened around five big figures from last week's trough into the low 143 range. A narrowing in US-Japan yield differential was expected to support yen though ongoing weakness was partly attributed to BOJ's resistance to a rapid rise in rates. Recalled Monday's unscheduled JGB purchase operation worth JPY300B ($2.09B) targeting 5~10y as the 10y yield climbed by as much as 6.5 bp. Followed Governor Ueda's warning Friday the BOJ would take measures to curb speculative selling in the bond market. Also, BOJ reaffirmed its commitment to easing and Ueda said modifying YCC "is not a step toward normalization." Story cited thoughts that a slow rise in yields might keep the yen weak, which could trigger another surge in import prices.

    • Strong majority of Japanese firms intend to use generative AI to reduce labor hours:

      • A Nikkei survey of 94 major Japanese companies conducted in July found 83% aim to use generative AI to reduce labor hours amid structural demographic headwinds. This exceeded the 67% that plan to grow revenues through improved productivity as well as the 63% targeting more general cost reductions. Some 83% of firms plan to incorporate AI in all internal departments and only one respondent had no plans to use AI at all. Article highlighted firms are optimistic about the potential payoffs with a cumulative 58% projecting labor hour savings of at least 10%, while 2% expect a 40% reduction. Story was supplemented by anecdotes indicating some firms are aggressively adopting generative AI and making usage corporate policy. This technology also offers an opportunity for Japanese companies to catch up to the productivity of other economies -- Japan ranked 27th out of 38 in labor productivity among OECD countries in 2021.

    • Notable Gainers:

      • +10.9% 4739.JP (ITOCHU Techno-Solutions): 61.2% holder ITOCHU to commence ¥4,325/share tender offer for ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corp

      • +7.1% 2282.HK (MGM China Holdings): reports Q2 attributable profit HK$669.6M vs year-ago (HK$1.37B), total revenue HK$5.81B vs year-ago HK$1.12B

      • +5% 526521.IN (Sanghi Industries): Ambuja Cements to acquire 56.74% of Sanghi Industries from promotor group for up to INR114.22/share in cash

      • +4.1% 9107.JP (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha): reports Q1 operating income ¥19.64B, +4% vs year-ago ¥18.88B; raises FY operating income and revenue guidance

    • Notable Decliners:

      • -46.5% 6666.HK (Evergrande Property Services Group): fulfils resumption guidance; resumes trading

      • -14.6% 7951.JP (Yamaha): reports Q1 core operating profit ¥6.67B vs FactSet ¥11.63B, lowers FY core operating profit guidance

      • -10.2% 6762.JP (TDK): reports Q1 operating income ¥26.30B vs StreetAccount ¥27.03B; lowers FY revenue and operating income guidance

      • -6.7% 500295.IN (Vedanta): Vedanta promoter Twin Star Holdings reportedly looking to sell 4.3% stake at minimum INR258.50/share

      • -6.7% 5802.JP (Sumitomo Electric Industries): reports Q1 operating income ¥18.94B vs FactSet ¥23.92B; reiterates guidance

      • -3.7% 1876.HK (Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC): reports H1 revenue $3.67B vs StreetAccount $3.69B, normalized EBITDA $1.17B vs StreetAccount $1.22B

      • -1.3% 460.HK (Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group): guides H1 loss before tax cont ops to not exceed (CNY40M) vs year-ago PBT cont ops CNY56M

      • -0.3% 8306.JP (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial): US Bancorp to issue 24M shares of common stock to affiliate of MUFG for aggregate purchase price of $936M

  • Data:

    • Economic:

      • China

        • July Caixin Services PMI 54.1 versus consensus 52.6 and 53.9 in prior month

      • Japan

        • July final services PMI 53.8 vs preliminary 53.9 and 54.0 in prior month

          • Composite PMI 52.2 vs preliminary 52.1 and 52.1 in prior month

      • Australia

        • June Trade Balance +A$11.3B versus consensus +A$10.7B and +A$10.5B in prior month

          • Exports (1.7%) m/m vs +4.4% in May

          • Imports (3.9%) m/m vs +2.5% in May

        • June Retail Sales M/M (0.8%) versus (0.8%) in prior month

    • Markets:

      • Nikkei: (548.41) or (1.68%) to 32159.28

      • Hang Seng: (96.51) or (0.49%) to 19420.87

      • Shanghai Composite: 18.77 or +0.58% to 3280.46

      • Shenzhen Composite: 5.58 or +0.27% to 2061.64

      • ASX200: (42.90) or (0.58%) to 7311.70

      • KOSPI: (11.08) or (0.42%) to 2605.39

      • SENSEX: (669.34) or (1.02%) to 65113.44

    • Currencies:

      • $-¥: (0.26) or (0.18%) to 143.0670

      • $-KRW: +1.63 or +0.13% to 1301.4200

      • A$-$: (0.00) or (0.24%) to 0.6526

      • $-INR: +0.05 or +0.05% to 82.7700

      • $-CNY: (0.00) or (0.03%) to 7.1892

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