Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)
- Nikkei225 -2.8%, S&P/ASX -2.8%, Kospi closed, Shanghai Composite -1.9%, Hang Seng -3.6%, Dec S&P500 -0.1% at 1,871
Commodities/Fixed Income
- Dec gold flat at $1,132/oz, Nov crude oil +0.1% at $44.46/brl, Dec copper -0.6% at $2.23/lb
- SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings fall to 9,871 tonnes from 9,898 tonnes; 4-month low
- (TH) Thailand Central Bank sells 3-month bills at 1.507% and 6-month Bills at 1.514%
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥2.31T in 2-yr JGBs; Avg yield: 0.010% v 0.008% prior; bid to cover: 3.71x v 4.39x prior; Weakest demand since June
- USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.3660 v 6.3729 prior setting (strongest Yuan setting since Sept 18th)
- (CN) PBoC to inject CNY40B in 14-day reverse repos (27th consecutive injection); Offer yield at 2.70%, unchanged from prior
Market Focal Points/FX
- Asian equity markets are tracking another heavy dose of selling in US hours, where the overnight pressure from disappointing China industrial profits data was compounded by credit panic driven decline in commodity trading giant Glencore and worries of Clinton price reform in the biotech space. After a 30% drop in Glencore, commodity names such as BHP and Rio Tinto were sharply lower in Australia, sending S&P/ASX along with Australia 3-year bond yields to 3-week lows. Hang Seng led the decliners with an outsized catch-up move following yesterday's holiday. Shanghai Composite also fell just shy of yesterday's 2-week lows below 3,050.
- After yesterday's decline in China industrial profits, researcher with CASS said profitability will turn even more negative in H2 on expected uptick in fixed costs and negative sentiment from stock market volatility. Separately, CASS reiterated China Q3 GDP estimate at 6.9%, while NBS chief Wang remarked China will remain global growth driver. Premier Li was also cited calling external volatility to China's economic fluctuations as excessive, adding China economy is still within a reasonable range.
- Economic calendar remained light ahead of the much more busy sessions for the rest of the week. Australia's house prices rose for the 4th straight month by a wider margin, though CoreLogic noted the price increase was mostly skewed toward Melbourne. Weekly consumer sentiment index fell after last week's bounce on Australian political transition. Tomorrow will bring the release of Japan retail sales and Australia building approvals.
- Outside of Asia, Fed speak continued late in Monday's US session. Evans remarked the Fed should do some three 25bp moves by the end of next year, and moderate voter Williams reiterated liftoff would still be appropriate this year. Williams did acknowledge that inflation is still below preferred levels, though unemployment would fall below 5% later this year and remain there through 2016. Risk-off flows saw predictable reactions in FX space. AUD/USD and USD/JPY were both down about 50pips from the highs around 0.6940 and 119.40 respectively, while EUR/USD crept up about 30pips to test 1.1270.
Equities
US equities / ADRs:
- RJET: Deutsche Bank Raised RJET to Buy from Hold, price target: $8; +6.6% afterhours
- ZIOP, XON: To develop graft-vs-host disease drugs; ZIOP +1.5%, XON +1.9% afterhours
- AGN: Guides H2 $6.25-6.65 (no comparable ests), Rev above $8B (no comparable ests); cites adjustments due to divestiture to Teva; +1.0% afterhours
- SNX: Reports Q3 $1.47 v $1.44e, R$3.33B v $3.36Be; -1.1% afterhours
- ESPR: Provides further updates on ETC-1002 global Phase 3 strategy following receipt of End-of-Phase 2 meeting minutes; -10.7% afterhours
- ZSAN: Resumes development of weekly ZP-PTH treatment for severe osteoporosis; -52.5% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer discretionary: Nitori Holdings 9843.JP -5.9% (H1 result); FamilyMart Co 8028.JP -1.5% (H1 result speculation)
- Financials: CITIC Securities 6030.HK -6.4% (Cinda Sinorock cuts stake)
- Industrials: RUSAL 486.HK -2.5% (postpones interim dividend consideration); Suzuki Motor 7269.JP -2.1% (Aug Japan auto data)
- Technology: TDK Corp 6762.JP -3.2% (cooperation with Imation); Alpine Electronics 6816.JP -6.2% (cuts guidance)
- Materials: Beijing SJ Environmental Protection and New Material Co 300072.CN +0.9% (Q1-Q3 guidance); Glencore 805.HK -27.4%, BHP Biliton BHP.AU -6.0%, Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AU -4.9% (momentum); Kobe Steel 5406.JP -11.1% (cuts guidance)
- Energy: PetroChina 601857.CN -1.9%, Sinopec 600028.CN -1.9% (crude oil declines)
- Healthcare: Eisai Co 4523.JP -5.2% (FDA news)
- Telecom: TPG Telecom TPM.AU -3.5% (speculation to sell asset)
Economic Data
- (AU) AUSTRALIA AUG CORELOGIC RPDATA HOUSE PRICES Y/Y: 0.8% V 0.4% PRIOR; 4th straight increase
- (AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index: 110.6 v 114.5 prior
- (KR) South Korea AUG Department Store Sales y/y: -6.5% v +0.7% prior; Discount store sales y/y: -7.6% v -1.8% prior
Contributed by Trade The News