• Asian stock market, economy and companies update (September 17, 2015)

    Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)
    - Nikkei225+0.8%, S&P/ASX +1.3%, Kospi +0.2%, Shanghai Composite +0.3%, Hang Seng +0.8%, Dec S&P500 -0.2% at 1,984

    Commodities/Fixed Income
    - Dec gold +0.1% at $1,120/oz, Oct crude oil flat at $47.17/brl, Dec copper flat% at $2.45/lb
    - (CN) NDRC to raise gasoline and diesel price by CNY90/ton, effective from Sept 17th
    - (CN) PBoC to inject CNY40B (1-month low) in 7-day reverse repos (24th consecutive injection); Drains net CNY140B this week v injected 80B prior week
    - (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥400B in 5-10yr JGBs, ¥240B in 10-25yr JGBs, and ¥140B in JGBs with maturity over 25-yr
    - (JP) Japan investors bought net ¥514B in foreign bonds v bought ¥1.1T in prior week; Foreign investors sold net ¥1.42T (record outflow) in Japan stocks v sold ¥986B in prior week

    Market Focal Points/FX
    - Asian equity markets are broadly higher, tracking US indices that staged another impressive rally on the eve of tomorrow's pivotal FOMC decision. Soft CPI contributed in bolstering the dovish camp, but the jury is very much out on the outcome. Some surveys see a near-even split among economists, while fixed income markets are pricing in a roughly 30% chance of a liftoff. Precious metals consolidated US session gains, and trading in USD majors was also rangebound in the wake of some dollar selling after the CPI release. NZD/USD was most volatile in the morning session, falling 40pips below 0.6340 after a miss in New Zealand GDP.

    - China govt crackdown on securities industry continued with a high profile investigation of CSRC assistant chairman Zhang Yujun for "serious disciplinary violations." Neither office provided any further details on the nature of the inquiry. Also of note in China, after today's US TICS data showed China holding of Treasuries fall to $1.24T v $1.27T prior, an official with FX regulator SAFE said there was no basis to reports of large scale capital outflows, claiming banks are adding FX deposits each month. SAFE added that depreciation pressure in Yuan has eased.

    - New Zealand Q2 GDP data saw a bounce in Q/Q to 0.4% from Q1's 2-year low of 0.2%, but it still missed consensus and y/y level hit its own 2-year low. Private consumption component recovered to 0.9% v 0.2% prior, but Exports component was particularly telling with a decline of -1.1% v +1.6% prior. Japan economic data featured the release of August trade balance remaining in deficit that was roughly in line with expectations. Here, components were again compelling, as China exports contracted by 4.6% after a 4.2% rise in Q1. US exports growth slowed to +11.1% v +18.8% prior, while shipments to Europe were near flat. After overnight S&P downgrade out of Japan, a Nikkei report surmised that only 1 out of 41 economists surveyed by Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER) see the BOJ being able to achieve its 2% inflation target by the intended timeframe of H1 of 2016. Report also cited BNP economists predicting a downgrade in BOJ projections when the next set is released in late October.

    - Copper prices spiked up about 1% after an 8.3 earthquake reported offshore Chile - said to be the largest earthquake in the region in over 100 years. A number of firms with exposure to Chile indicated their production was not impacted, and prices returned to unchanged levels around $2.45/lb.

    Equities
    US equities / ADRs:
    - AERI: Reports positive phase 3 efficacy results for Rhopressa eye treatment; +77.4% afterhours
    - CVC: Altice said to be in advanced talks to acquire company for $34.90/shr or $17.7B incl debt; Deal may be announced as soon as Thursday - financial press; +16.1% afterhours
    - LAKE: Reports Q2 $0.28 v $0.28e, R$29.5M v $26.0Me; +13.6% afterhours
    - MLHR: Reports Q1 $0.56 v $0.47e, R$565.4M v $555Me; +7.6% afterhours
    - APD: Announces intent to spin-off Materials Technologies Business; +3.1% afterhours
    - NOC: Announces New $4B Share Repurchase Authorization (12.5% of market cap); +0.8% afterhours
    - ORCL: Reports Q1 $0.53 v $0.52e, R$8.45B v $8.51Be; -1.2% afterhours
    - BTU: Announces 1-For-15 Reverse Stock Split Following Shareholder Approval effective after close on Sept 30; -10.8% afterhours

    Notable movers by sector:
    - Consumer discretionary: Car Inc 699.HK -5.8% (share sale); Tsuruha Holdings 3391.JP -0.7% (Q1 result); Nomura Research Institute 4307.JP +0.1% (H1 speculation); Recall Holdings REC.AU +1.4% (acquisition)
    - Financials: China Vanke 000002.CN -1.2% (details on share buyback); Macquarie Group MQG.AU +0.3% (update on bid for Esanda)
    - Industrials: Cathay Pacific Airways 293.HK +1.7% (Aug result); Shanghai International Airport Co 600009.CN -1.1% (Aug result); Shimadzu Corp 7701.JP +0.9% (speculation on share buyback); Kia Motors 000270.KR -0.6% (union agrees in favor of strike)
    - Technology: Samsung Electronics 005930.KR % (job cut speculation)


    Economic Data
    - (JP) JAPAN AUG MERCHANDISE TRADE BALANCE: -¥570B V -¥540BE; ADJ TRADE BALANCE: -¥359B V -¥377BE
    - (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q2 GDP Q/Q: 0.4% V 0.6%E; Y/Y: 2.4% (2-year low) V 2.5%E

    Contributed by Trade The News
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