Mar 24 ,2025
Synopsis:
Asian equities mixed Monday. Greater China higher with Hang Seng outperforming, led by tech gains. Japan, Korea and Taiwan all lower. Australia little changed. India outperforming and erased YTD losses. Indonesia extended slump. US futures climbed on potential reciprocal tariffs might be more targeted. Treasury yields higher across tenors. Dollar stronger against yen, kiwi and won. Crude and gold both slightly higher. Bitcoin gaining.
Markets largely directionless in quiet trade. In macro developments, Japan flash manufacturing PMI shrunk at quickest pace in a year with output and new orders seeing sharper declines. Services sector fell into contraction for first time in five months, weighing on composite gauge as cost pressures increased. Meanwhile, BOJ Governor Ueda repeated policy adjustments will continue if inflation outlook likely to reach target. Singapore's core inflation declined for fifth straight month in February. Headline inflation also came lower-than-expected. India flash composite PMI dipped as robust manufacturing expansion failed to offset slowdown in services sector.
Bloomberg sources noted Trump's reciprocal tariff announcement on 2-Apr may be less severe than thought with certain countries exempted. Trump also set to forego same-day announcement on sectoral tariffs as he had once indicated. Still situation remains fluid and can change at the last minute. Tariff policy continues to fuel US macro uncertainty as Australia warned of "seismic impact" on global economy. On US-China, Trump-aligned Senator Daines told Chinese Premier Li that China must stop flow of fentanyl precursors into US before any trade negotiations. Meanwhile Li said at China Development Forum, reaffirming country's commitment to opening up and cooperation amid growing global uncertainty.
Nippon Steel's (5401.JP) president said negotiations with US government over planned acquisition of US Steel (X) are still ongoing. Tencent (700) upgraded AI reasoning model Hunyuan T1 amid competition with DeepSeek, Alibaba. Meanwhile Ant Group used China-made chips to develop techniques for training AI models that would cut costs by 20%. Kaisa Group (1638.HK) won HK court approval for its offshore restructuring.
Digest:
Ueda repeats rates hikes to continue, Finance Minister Kato says Japan yet to beat deflation:
Reuters cited BOJ Governor Ueda discussions in parliament, repeating core guidance that policy adjustments will continue if underlying inflation likely to reach target. This came in response to a question about the impact of JGB losses, to which, Ueda added that monetary policy will not be disturbed by BOJ finances. Article recalled that JGB holdings incurred valuation losses of JPY13.66T ($91.2B) in fiscal H1 while ETFs appreciated JPY33.07T, and Ueda said every 1,000-point decline in the Nikkei 225 would cause ETF losses of about JPY1.8T. In an FT interview, Finance Minister Kato said Japan has yet to beat deflation despite years of elevated CPI inflation and the largest wage hikes in three decades. Acknowledged positive trends though noted the government could only declare victory when it saw no prospect of a relapse. Assessment consistent with some economists' concerns that price increases still being driven mainly by 'bad' inflation (weak yen, commodity prices) over 'good' inflation (wage and consumption growth). Article recalled recent data showing real wage growth remains stagnant, consumer confidence soft and corporate cost passthrough has yet to maximize. Kato saw encouraging signs from wage hikes among large firms though the key challenge was to ensure a similar dynamic prevails among smaller firms.
China Development Forum promotes opening up amid growing external uncertainty:
China Premier Li Qiang in a keynote speech at the China Development Forum reaffirmed commitment to opening up and cooperation amid rising global uncertainty (Xinhua). Highlighted backdrop of increasing global economic fragmentation. Main goal appears to be restoration of global business confidence in China amid US tariff headwinds. Commerce ministry officials have already met with at least a dozen foreign business executives in recent weeks after FDI plummeted by the most since the 2008 global financial crisis (Reuters). Yet, there was nothing new on economic policy as Li repeated points from the government work report. Pledged efforts to strengthen policy support while stimulating market forces in order to achieve the economic growth target of about 5%. Reiterated commitment to implement more proactive and impactful macro policies, further strengthen counter-cyclical adjustments, and introduce new incremental policies when necessary. Markets focused on foreign CEO attendees and some expected to meet President Xi on Friday.
Trump's reciprocal tariffs expected to be more targeted than thought:
Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter who said President Trump's 2-Apr announcement on reciprocal tariffs expected to be more targeted than he has threatened. Trump set to exempt some countries from reciprocal tariffs, including those that don't have tariffs on American products and who have a trade surplus with US. Unclear which countries will see reciprocal tariffs, though officials note Trump has taken particular issue with EU, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India and China. Additionally, reciprocal tariffs may not be additive to existing tariffs (like on steel and aluminum), something alluded to by Treasury Secretary Bessant last week. Officials said 2-Apr announcement may also include some tariff rollbacks. Trump exempted by one-month tariffs on goods covered by USMCA, and officials said Trump could lift them entirely or replace with reciprocal tariffs. Sectoral tariffs Trump has previously threatened will not be announced on the same day, though officials said those plans remain unclear and Trump has not ruled out auto tariffs at a later date.
US and China officials continue efforts on addressing trade tensions:
GOP Senator Steve Daines was in Beijing for weekend talks with Premier Li Qiang, Vice Premier He Lifeng and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu. Daines told Bloomberg he made it clear issue of fentanyl needed to be resolved before any conversation about tariffs and non-tariff barriers can take place. Unclear what will mollify Trump though US officials have expressed desire for People's Daily to run front-page article condemning fentanyl and for Chinese authorities to issue death penalty for drug smugglers. Trump also revealed USTR Greer planning to speak with his Chinese counterpart this week (Reuters). Speaking at China Development Forum, Li said China prepared for unexpected shocks while expressing hope for cooperation between US and China (Bloomberg, FT). Other press articles cited China government advisers who said Beijing weighing voluntary export restraints (VER), which would involve reducing US-bound export volumes in sectors like EVs and batteries, in order to blunt US criticism over its unfair trade practices (link). Japan adopted similar strategy in 1980s, which China hopes to emulate in return for more investment opportunities in US - an idea Trump has previously signaled openness to.
Japan flash PMIs weaken, service sector falls into contraction amid cost pressures:
Flash manufacturing PMI was 48.3 in March, following 49.0 in the previous month, marking a one-year low and the ninth straight month in contraction. Output and new orders logged stronger declines despite an upswing in exports. Weaker demand led to cutbacks in purchasing activity and finished goods inventories. Key development was in the services PMI falling to 49.5 from a six-month high 53.7, posting the first contraction in five months, as new orders growth softened. Decline in services activity drove the composite PMI down to 48.5 from 52.0. Cost pressures increased with aggregate input prices showing stronger inflation, driven by services, while output price inflation moderated broadly. Report cited anecdotal responses that strong inflationary pressure dampened sales and made some customers hesitant to commit to new orders. This contributed to the weakest aggregate outlook reading since Aug-20, alongside labor shortages, aging population, subdued client spending and increased uncertainty over international trade. Main silver lining in stronger employment growth driven by manufacturers.
Notable Gainers:
+14.8% 4626.JP (Taiyo Holdings): guides FY net income attributable ¥10.60B vs prior guidance ¥14.90B and FactSet ¥14.75B
+13.5% 1070.HK (TCL Electronics Holdings): reports FY results with net income attributable ahead of FactSet estimates
+10.5% 8830.JP (Sumitomo Realty & Development): Elliott has reportedly accumulated significant stake
+10.4% 4716.JP (Oracle Corp Japan): reports 9M results with +9% revenue growth year-on-year; confirms FY guidance
+9.3% 3993.HK (CMOC Group): reports FY results with revenue ahead of FactSet estimates
+5% 2899.HK (Zijin Mining Group): reports FY earnings with CAS net income attributable ahead of guidance
+4.4% D01.SP (DFI Retail Group Holdings): to sell its Singapore food business to Macrovalue for initial SG$125M
+2.9% 2890.TT (SinoPac Financial Holdings Co.): declares FY cash dividend NT$0.91/share and stock dividend NT$0.34/share
Notable Decliners:
-10.9% 2013.HK (Weimob): reports FY results with adjusted net income (CNY532.8M) vs StreetAccount (CNY62.7M)
-9.7% 9896.HK (MINISO Group Holding): reports Q4 results with revenue below StreetAccount estimates
-5.1% 7550.JP (Zensho Holdings): company confirms rat found in miso soup at a Sukiya branch
-3.3% 9866.HK (NIO Inc): reports Q4 earnings with EPADS and revenue below StreetAccount estimates
-0.4% 032640.KS (LG Uplus): reportedly among candidates to acquire 56.9% stake in Revu Corp for KRW100.0B
Data:
Economic:
Japan
March flash manufacturing PMI 48.3 vs 49.0 in prior month
Services PMI 49.5 vs 53.7 in prior month
Composite PMI 48.5 vs 52.0 in prior month
Singapore
February CPI +0.9% y/y versus consensus +1.0% and 1.2% in prior month
CPI +0.8% m/m versus (0.7%) in prior month
Core CPI +0.6% y/y vs consensus +0.7% and +0.8% in prior month
India
March flash manufacturing PMI 57.6 vs final 56.3 in prior month
Services PMI 57.7 vs 59.0 in prior month
Composite PMI 58.6 vs 58.8 in prior month
Markets:
Nikkei: (68.57) or (0.18%) to 37608.49
Hang Seng: 215.84 or +0.91% to 23905.56
Shanghai Composite: 5.20 or +0.15% to 3370.03
Shenzhen Composite: (13.70) or (0.66%) to 2049.81
ASX200: 5.70 or +0.07% to 7936.90
KOSPI: (11.06) or (0.42%) to 2632.07
SENSEX: 1,020.63 or +1.33% to 77926.14
Currencies:
$-¥: +0.39 or +0.26% to 149.7050
$-KRW: +0.05 or +0.00% to 1465.8700
A$-$: +0.00 or +0.24% to 0.6289
$-INR: (0.36) or (0.42%) to 85.6256
$-CNY: +0.00 or +0.04% to 7.2523
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