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Asian stock market, economy and companies update (January 14, 2013)

Contributed by Trade The News

***Markets Snapshot (as of 05:00 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 closed
- S&P/ASX +0.2%
- Kospi +0.2%
- Shanghai Composite +2.6%
- Hang Seng +0.6%
- Mar S&P500 +0.2% at 1,470
- Feb gold +0.3% at $1,666/oz
- Feb Crude Oil +0.6% at $94.15/brl

***Notes/Observations***
- Asian equity markets are in the green, boosted by outsized gains on the mainland where local regulators opened the door to expanded foreign investment. Speaking at a Hong Kong conference, China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Guo Shuqing said China could substantially increase the quota for foreign investors to invest in domestic stocks to support Chinese equity markets, with the scope to increase the RQFII (Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor) by as much as 10x the current levels. Guo also noted CSRS will continue to take steps to make Chinese equity markets "more mature" and to smooth out the volatility of recent years. Shanghai Composite was up well over 2%, approaching 2,300 level - its highest since mid-June.

- Tokyo equity trading was closed to holiday, but that did not keep investors from sending JPY to new multi-month lows across the board. Over the weekend, Japanese press indicated PM Abe had reached an agreement with the BOJ to set a formal 2% "inflation target" to be unveiled in a joint statement with the govt at its upcoming Jan 22nd decision. Report indicating the agreement would be non-binding with no hard deadlines set for achieving that result, but also suggested the administration would push for a medium-term in reaching its inflation goal. USD/JPY rose as high as ¥89.67 and EUR/JPY briefly tested above ¥120 handle.

***Currencies/Fixed Income/Commodities***
- EUR/USD: Rises above $1.34 handle; 10-month highs
- AUD/USD: Falls over 10 pips below $1.0530 on disappointing ANZ job ads and home loans data
- USD/JPY: Rises over 40 pips from Friday close above ¥89.60 following reports of a govt-BOJ agreement on 2% inflation target; Fresh 30-month highs
- EUR/JPY: Rises above ¥120 handle; 19-month highs
- (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.2695 v 6.5161 prior close (highest CNY setting since May 2012)
- USD/IDR: (ID) Indonesia Fin Min: Sees Rupiah avg 9,300-9,700/USD in 2013

***Speakers/Political/In the Papers***
- (CN) China 2012 GDP may rise about 7.8% and 2013 GDP above 8% - Chinese press citing economists
- (CN) Residents of Beijing advised to stay indoors on Saturday for second consecutive day due to high pollution levels - Chinese press
- (CN) Goldman Sachs, UBS, and ANZ analysts have expressed skepticism over reliability of economic data from China after reported Dec exports increase of 14.1% - financial press
- (JP) Japan Econ Min Amari expressed concern on employment target in agreement with BoJ - Nikkei News
- (JP) Japan ruling parties said to be in final talks to raise the maximum state income tax rate to 45% from 40% in January 2015 - Nikkei News
- (JP) Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER) president Iwata: Economy bottomed in November; GDP expected to start rising in Jan-Mar quarter - Nikkei News
- (AU) Australia Treasurer Swan: Optimistic that 2013 will be a better year for global economy; China's trade data suggesting that recovery will improve this year - financial press
- (NZ) New Zealand Dec quarter inflation expected to rise marginally - New Zealand Herald
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov Kim: To take smoothing operations, and other measures to ensure fx market stability - financial press
- (GR) Greece PM Samaras: No longer in danger of a euro exit but need to stay on course with fiscal reforms - Greek press

***Equities***
- Fuji Heavy 7270.JP: Subaru planning to release its first hybrid vehicle as early as this summer - Nikkei News
- TM: Follow-up: Toyota union group not to demand hike in payscale for the fourth straight year - Mainichi News
- 005930.KR: Analysts speculating lawsuits from Apple and seasonal factors could end a streak of record quarterly profits in Q1 - Korean press
- 2317.TW: Over 1K workers waged a strike a in Fengcheng, Jiangxi province facility demanding better working conditions - financial press
- GM: Reports Dec China vehicle sales +23.2% y/y to 242.5k units
- WBSN: Reports prelim Q4 $0.27-0.28 v $0.33e (prior guidance $0.32-0.35); R$91.5-92.0M v $91Me; Names John McCormack as CEO

***Economic Data***
- (AU) AUSTRALIA DEC TD SECURITIES INFLATION M/M: +0.4% V -0.1% PRIOR; Y/Y: 2.4% V 2.5% PRIOR
- (AU) AUSTRALIA DEC ANZ JOB ADS M/M: -3.8% V -2.8% PRIOR (9th consecutive decline)
- (AU) AUSTRALIA NOV HOME LOANS M/M: -0.5% V +0.5%E (first decline in four months); INVESTMENT LENDING: -3.3% V +5.4% PRIOR; OWNER-OCCUPIED HOME LOAN VALUE: 0.6% V 0.1% PRIOR
- (AU) AUSTRALIA NOV RBA CREDIT CARD BALANCES: A$49.5B V A$49.0B PRIOR; RBA CREDIT CARD PURCHASES: A$21.8B V A$22.5B PRIOR
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND DEC NZ CARD SPENDING RETAIL M/M: 0.3% V 0.4% PRIOR; TOTAL M/M: 0.4% V 0.7% PRIOR