Feb 23 ,2025
Synopsis:
Asian markets set for negative start to Monday trade. Futures signaling opening declines in Hong Kong. ASX lower in initial trade. Nikkei futures down sharply (Japan closed Monday for public holiday). US contracts gaining after Friday's risk-off session driven by growth concerns following soft flash PMIs and consumer sentiment. Australian yield curve bull flattening following Friday's Treasury rally. Kiwi firming following NZ retail sales, dollar steady elsewhere. Crude nursing heavy losses. Gold unchanged. Bitcoin recovering following Friday's sell-off.
China tech rally continues with Hang Seng tech index up 23% month-to-date. Nasdaq Golden Dragon index up 2% on Friday with Alibaba (9988.HK) ADRs rallying another 6%. Key events last week were positive takeaways from Alibaba's better-than-expected Q3 results (cloud services revenue in particular) and Xi's meeting with tech entrepreneurs, fueling optimism around sector's growth potential as cloud services providers integrate DeepSeek's low-cost AI model and government adopts more supportive posture.
Trump signed memorandum Friday directing CFIUS to restrict Chinese investment in strategic US areas, while tightening curbs on US investment in sensitive China technology. Come as Trump has softened his China rhetoric lately and praised Xi, while signaling openness to a wide-ranging trade deal. However, signs of tensions remain China Vice Premier He Lifeng voiced concerns over US tariffs in his Friday call with Treasury Secretary Bessent, who also urged more Chinese efforts on fentanyl and rebalancing its economy.
Another fairly eventful week ahead. BOK (Tues) expected to reduce interest rates by 25 bp. Australia CPI (Wed) forecast to show further fall in inflation as economists eye May RBA rate cut. Tokyo core inflation (Fri) forecast to show slight moderation but remaining above 2%. China PMIs (Sat) expected to show recovery in factory activity. US PCE index (Fri) comes after component-level data suggested core inflation cooled. Elsewhere, markets remain attuned to further Trump tariff announcements, ASX earning season enters final week and Ukraine peace efforts continue.
Pre-open Company News:
600863.CH -- Inner Mongolia Mengdian Huaneng Thermal Power to raise funds at CNY3.32/share from up to 35 specified investors for asset acquisition
1958.HK -- BAIC Motor announces that Chen Wei tendered his resignation as the Chairman of the board
C6L.SP -- Singapore Airlines upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan
AOT.TB -- Airports of Thailand Public Co. downgraded to hold from buy at HSBC
601360.CH -- 360 Security Technology upgraded to hold from reduce at HSBC
3816.MK -- MISC Bhd upgraded to outperform from hold at CLSA
CVC.NA -- KKR acquires controlling stake in Indian healthcare provider Healthcare Global Enterprises for $400M
CC3.SP -- StarHub downgraded to hold from add at CGS International
2128.HK -- China Lesso Group Holdings initiated outperform at Haitong
8046.TT -- Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board upgraded to buy from hold at Masterlink Securities
601100.CH -- Jiangsu Hengli Hydraulic downgraded to sell from neutral at Goldman Sachs
9698.HK -- GDS Holdings downgraded to hold from buy at Jefferies
5347.TT -- Vanguard International Semiconductor upgraded to neutral from reduce at Nomura
Goldman Sachs downgrades 1336.HK, 1339.HK
On Deck:
Hong Kong:
Earnings:
CLP Holdings (2.HK)
Australia:
Earnings:
Nickel Industries (NIC.AU), Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings (NEC.AU), Amplitude Energy (AEL.AU), AUB Group (AUB.AU), AVJennings (AVJ.AU), Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure (DBI.AU), Earlypay (EPY.AU), G8 Education (GEM.AU), GTN (GTN.AU), Helia Group (HLI.AU), Johns Lyng Group (JLG.AU), Lifestyle Communities (LIC.AU), Mader Group (MAD.AU), Praemium (PPS.AU), Qualitas (QAL.AU), Resimac Group (RMC.AU), Sims (SGM.AU), Solvar (SVR.AU), Zip Co (ZIP.AU)
New Zealand:
Earnings:
Mercury NZ (MCY.NZ), Comvita (CVT.NZ), Property for Industry (PFI.NZ), Tourism Holdings (THL.NZ)
Singapore:
Earnings:
EC World Real Estate Investment Trust (BWCU.SP)
Philippines:
Earnings:
Manila Electric (MER.PM)
Market Data:
Gold (Apr 25): ($0.90) or (0.03%) to $2952.30
WTI Crude (Apr 25): +$0.05 or +0.07% to $70.45
$-¥: (0.07) or (0.05%) to 149.2140
$-KRW: (1.00) or (0.07%) to 1435.8400
A$-$: +0.00 or +0.21% to 0.6371
$-INR: (0.01) or (0.01%) to 86.6491
$-CNY: (0.00) or (0.01%) to 7.2500
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