Economic Data
(CN) CHINA JAN NEW HOME PRICES M/M: Rose in 53 of 70 cities vs 54 prior; Y/Y: prices rose in 53 of 70 cities vs 40 prior
(SG) SINGAPORE Q4 FINAL GDP Q/Q: 3.3% V 2.0%E; Y/Y: 1.5% V 1.2%E
(NZ) NEW ZEALAND JAN CREDIT CARD SPENDING M/M: -2.5% V +1.0% PRIOR; Y/Y: 0.4% V 4.5% PRIOR (3-month low)
(US) NORTH AMERICA JAN SEMI BOOK/BILL RATIO: 1.14 V 0.92 PRIOR (first print above parity in 10 months)
Markets Snapshot (as of 04:30 GMT)
Nikkei225 +0.1%
S&P/ASX +0.9%
Kospi +0.1%
Shanghai Composite flat
Hang Seng -0.3%
Mar S&P500 +0.3% at 1,505
Apr gold +0.3% at $1,582/oz
Apr Crude Oil +0.5% at $93.28/brl
Notes/Observations
China January new home prices were up in 53 out of 70 major cities on m/m and y/y basis, less than 54 m/m but more than 40 y/y; Across all 70 cities, prices rose 0.8%, which was the first increase since Feb 2012.
More notably, China National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated property prices are expected to remain stable, downplaying worries over a bubble by noting that property rates in Tier 2-4 cities are still falling; Apparent lack of panic from NBS is translating into short-covering among the sellers of the past 2 days; USD and JPY are both down at the expense of high-beta FX, metals, and regional indices.
AUD stood out as an outperformer, gaining 80 pips vs USD, 70 pips vs CAD, and 50 pips vs NZD at its best levels of the day. Commentary from RBA Gov Stevens at his testimony before the House of Representatives drove AUD gains, reflecting on a bottom in China, gradual recovery in US, overall diminished risks to global growth. Stevens also noted there is plenty of interest rate stimulus still in the pipeline and hinted policy setting has reached equilibrium. Fixed-income markets repriced possibility of an RBA easing next month from high 20's to low 20-pct following the comments, supporting AUD despite Stevens' continued distaste for "slightly overvalued" currency levels.
Singapore reported much better than expected Q4 final GDP, maintained 2013 forecast.
Speakers/Political/In the Papers
(JP) Japan Fin Min Aso: PM Abe has the final say in the selection of the next BoJ governor; Has not discussed buying Korea govt bonds
(JP) Japan PM Abe may announce talks regarding entry in Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) following return from US trip on Sunday
(AU) RBA Gov Stevens: Slowdown in China economy has come to an end; US seeing continued gradual recovery - testimony before the House of Representatives
(AU) RBA Dep Gov Lowe: AUD relatively high due to Australia economy doing better
(CY) Cyprus presidential front-runner Anastasiades: Will agree to bailout terms that do not provoke social protests
Currencies
Asian currencies started the session on the back foot after suffering broad losses during U.S session, however AUD regained strength after comments by Gov Stevens where he said rates are low and need time to do their work. AUDUSD rose 60pips following Gov Stevens comments, regaining the 1.03 handle en route to 1.0320 late-session high. Japan Fin Min Aso made comments about the BoJ saying the BoJ has maintained the yen level well and stressed the importance of keeping the rate stable but would not comment on specific levels. USDJPY rose to a high of 93.40 after falling to a low of 92.75 during U.S. Session. USDSGD rose sharply through 1.24 during U.S. session to a high of 1.2427 before slowly retracing to 1.24 levels. USDSGD fell over 10 pips on the back of better than expected Q4 GDP data, and eventually reached a session low of 1.2377.
Fixed Income/Commodities
(US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Assets Week ending Feb 20th: $3.076T v $3.056T prior; M1: -$11.1B v +$11.1B prior; M2: +$14.3B v +$7.8B prior
(AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$600M in 2018 Bonds; avg yield: 3.0482%; bid-to-cover: 4.76x
SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings rise to 10,602 tons from 10,539 tons prior (highest since 10,690 on Jan 23rd)
GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall by 8.9 tons to 1,290.3 tons (lowest since 1289.4 on Sept 12th)
Equities
Hyundai 005380.KR: (KR) According to FNGuide, local analysts see Hyundai Motor reporting Q1 earnings at KRW2.02T v KRW2.16T forecast made in Jan - Korean press
KEPCO 015760.KR: Said to be facing the worst debt problems among all public organizations due to govt policies - Korean press
LG Electronics 66570.KR: To release flagship Optimus G smartphone in Europe this month - Korean press
BBG.AU: Reports H1 Net Loss A$536.6M v Net Profit A$16.1M y/y, Rev A$702M v A$849.8M y/y; -5.5%
STO.AU: Reports FY12 Net A$519M -31% y/y, Rev A$3.22B +18% y/y; +1.3%
JWN: Reports Q4 $1.40 v $1.34e, R$3.70B v $3.69Be; -2.3% afterhours
INTU: Reports Q2 $0.33 v $0.34e, R$968M v $996Me; +0.1% afterhours
MRVL: Reports Q4 $0.19 v $0.13e, R$775M v $724Me; +5.5% afterhours
HPQ: Reports Q1 $0.82 v $0.71e, R$28.4B v $27.9Be; +6.1% afterhours
WBMD: Reports Q4 $0.08 v -$0.04e, R$132.7M v $124Me; +14.0% afterhours