Economic Data
(BR) BRAZIL CENTRAL BANK (COPOM) LEAVES SELIC TARGET RATE UNCHANGED AT 7.25%, AS EXPECTED
(AU) AUSTRALIA JAN TRADE BALANCE (A$): -1.06B V -500ME
(AU) AUSTRALIA FEB AIG PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTION INDEX: 45.6 V 36.2 PRIOR (highest since Jul of 2010)
(JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) LEAVES TARGET RATE RANGE UNCHANGED BETWEEN 0.0-0.1%, AS EXPECTED; Keeps asset purchase program at ¥101T (no new easing); Upgrades economic assessment for 3rd consecutive meeting
(JP) JAPAN FEB OFFICIAL RESERVE ASSETS: $1.259T V $1.267T PRIOR
(JP) JAPAN FEB TOKYO AVERAGE OFFICE VACANCIES M/M: 8.6% V 8.6% PRIOR
(JP) JAPAN JAN PRELIMINARY COINCIDENT INDEX CI: 92.0 V 92.8E; LEADING INDEX CI: 96.3 V 96.1E
(TH) THAILAND FEB CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX: 84.0 V 81.7 PRIOR
Markets Snapshot (as of 05:00 GMT)
Nikkei225 +0.6%
S&P/ASX -0.2%
Kospi -0.8%
Shanghai Composite flat
Hang Seng +0.1%
Mar S&P500 flat at 1,538
Apr gold flat at $1,583/oz
Apr Crude Oil -0.2% at $90.26/brl
Observations/Insights
USD extending US session gains in the wake of strong ADP jobs report; Treasury yields on the longer end of the curve at 1-week highs.
GBP/USD hits fresh multi-month lows below $1.50; EUR/USD stays below $1.30 throughout Asia session.
Brazil central bank on hold as expected; removes reference in statement to Stable rates for 'sufficiently prolonged period', hinting shift toward tightening bias as inflation remains elevated.
Australia Feb trade deficit twice as wide as expected; exports to China down 13% y/y; Iron Ore exports down 8.5% y/y
S&P revises Portural sovereign credit rating outlook to Stable from Negative; expect Troika adjusting fiscal consolidation; forecasts 2013 GDP to contract by 1.5% in real terms before returning to growth in 2014, 2015.
PBoC drains another CNY5B in liquidity for the week.
BOJ keeps asset purchase program at ¥101T; raises economic assessment for 3rd consecutive meeting: Economy stops weakening, exports appear to have stopped decreasing, resilience seen in non-manufacturing; Most notably, board member Shirai makes new proposal to begin its open-ended program immediately vs Jan 2014 and gets voted down 8-1, which clouds the outlook of extent to which the rest of the BOJ board will fall in line under Kuroda, who has called for expanding asset buying and pushing forward unlimited easing during recent hearings.
Speakers/Political/In the Papers
(NZ) RBNZ Gov Wheeler: Establishes committee to debate major policy affairs, broadening topics, increasing on the record speeches.
(UK) UK British Chambers of Commerce (BCC): Cuts 2013 GDP forecast to 0.6% from 1.0% prior in Dec; Sees BoE to expand QE by £50B in H1.
Fixed Income/Commodities
(CN) For the week, the PBoC is to drain a net of CNY5B from the financial system by selling 28-day repos at 2.75%
(CN) China Hebei province (top steel producer) said to be in plans to eliminate 60M tons of crude steel capacity - financial press.
GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings unchanged at 1,244.9 tons after 11 consecutive session of declines.
Currencies
Asian currencies retraced some of yesterday's gain,s as USD was bid well through U.S. session and the first part of trade in Asia. Criticism of yen devaluation by various China officials and the Chair of China's sovereign wealth fund CIC did nothing to damp the USD/JPY rise as it broke through the 94.00 handle, eventually reaching a 94.10 high. USD/JPY lows below 93.80 were seen just after the BoJ left their target rate unchanged between 0.0-0.1% as expected, and kept the asset purchase program unchanged with no new easing. JPY was strengthened when it was revealed Board member Shirai made a new proposal to the monetary policy program and was soundly voted down 8-1. AUD/JPY and EUR/JPY declined on the news to 96.07 and 121.84.
AUD/USD hovered near the 1.02 handle at the close of the U.S. session and opening of Asian trade, but rose to a 1.0255 high as USD pared some gains and the ASX index opened in positive territory. A wider than expected Australia trade deficit sent the pair lower slightly, down about 15 pips below 1.0220. the EUR/USD pair fell to a 1.2965 low and GBP/USD fell to a multi-month lows below 1.50 during the US session, amid overall USD strength in the wake of better than expected ADP jobs data. The EUR/USD pair found some footing rising 10 pips above $1.2990 after S&P revised Portugal's sovereign credit outlook to stable from negative.
Onshore Asia currencies were broadly weaker with USD/KRW creeping above the 1087 level, and USD/CNY setting the yuan mid-point 40pips weaker at 6.2785 compared to 6.2745 prior. The USD/SGD pair threatened multi-month highs reaching a 1.2496 high, but ran into heavy resistance at the 1.25 handle and declined to a 1.2477 Asian session low.
Equities
CLP Holdings 2.HK: Exxon plans to divest half of 60% stake in Castle Peak Power venture in a deal valued up to $2B - financial press,
BHP: Formally responds to allegations by China on iron ore price manipulations - financial press,
WPL.AU: CEO Coleman: Asia Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) demand high enough to support Australia investments; confident of Leviathan deal - Australia press,
TM: Plans to issue up to ¥450B in Bonds - financial press,
TM: Requests that parts suppliers lower their prices by 1% - Japan press,
PETM: Reports Q4 $1.24 v $1.21e, R$1.88B v $1.89Be; -6.8% afterhours,