Asian Market Update: March 23, 2012

North America Semi Equipment Industry Feb Sales book to bill ratio: 1.01 v 0.95 Prior

(SG) SINGAPORE FEB CPI M/M: -0.3% V +0.1%E; Y/Y: 4.6% V 4.9%E

(CN) CHINA FEB CONFERENCE BOARD LEADING ECONOMIC INDEX M/M: 0.8% V 1.5% PRIOR

(UK) UK FEB NATIONWIDE CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: 44 V 47E

(JP) Japan investors sold ¥722B in foreign bonds last week v ¥367B bought in prior week

Markets Snapshot (as of 04:30GMT)

Nikkei225 -1.1%

S&P/ASX -0.1%

Kospi unchanged

Taiwan Taiex -0.1%

Singapore Straits Times +0.4%

Shanghai Composite -0.7%

Hang Seng -1.0%

S&P Futures +0.2% at 1,391

April gold +0.1% at $1,644/oz

May Crude +0.1% at $105.46

Overview/Top Headlines

Markets continued their decline in today's session after China's 3rd largest bank, Agricultural Bank of China, reported a decline in net profit overnight which refueled fears of a slowdown in additional to yesterday's flash manufacturing PMI reading below 50. Copper gained 0.7% to $3.79, silver was up 0.5% to $31.49 while zinc gained over 1%. With a slow return of risk appetite and a reduction in demand for safe haven buying, USD/JPY reproached the ¥83 level. Bank of Japan (BoJ) Gov Shirakawa said that it will take time for impact of monetary easing to appear; Easing alone will not end deflation. Not appropriate to raise Japan's short term rates through US Fed style operations. Japan Fin Min Azumi confirmed yesterday's press speculation that Japan will draft a stop gap budget to fund spending through Apr 4th due to conflicts in Diet over passing FY12/13 budget. EUR/USD was mostly unchanged at $1.3190. ECB President Draghi said he remains opposed to Eurobonds as they run counter to taxpayers' interests, its still too early to consider Eurobonds. Heading into the weekend we will see an election in Germany. Fed's Bullard sees 2012 GDP at 3%. He also noted that if inflation takes off, it will be difficult to contain and that gas will need to hit $5/gallon before we have to worry about inflation in the US. Over night Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released their half year monetary and financial stability report. The report indicated that tight monetary conditions in China will directly impact onshore loan demand being at least partly diverted to Hong Kong. Hong Kong will hold its elections for the next Chief Executive over the weekend.

Speakers/Geopolitical/In the press

(JP) Japan DPJ Fujii: Monetary policy is not a driver of economic growth; Not in favor of changing BoJ law

(PH) Philippines Central Bank Gov Tetangco: Inflation likely to be within target; Inflation is the main concern when deciding policy

(KR) South Korea state-run think tank Korea Development Institute (KDI): Urges BOK to raise interest rates to regain market trust that it will ensure price stability - Korean press

(CN) China NDRC sees 2012 trade +12-16% y/y to a surplus of $150B

(NZ) New Zealand Labour Dept sees a slow and steady job growth; Expects unemployment to trend down to about 5.4% by Mar 2014 - NZ Press

Equities

SAB.UK: Coca-Cola Amatil to acquire 89.6% stake in Foster's Fiji unit for A$58M and a 10.4% stake in Group Pacific

China Construction Bank, 939.HK: Reports FY11 Net HK$1.5B v HK$1.4Be, Rev HK$16.40B v HK$11.98B y/y

Agricultural Bank of China, 288.HK: No plans to raise funds this year since capital adequacy ratio in 2011 improved to 11.94% - China Daily

2317.TW: Foxconn Reports FY11 Net $72.8M v $28Me; Rev $6.4B v $6.6B y/y

QRN.AU: Guides FY12 Underlying Net A$540-580M from A$578M - Australian press

TCL.AU: Australia's Future Fund acquired 6.7% stake for A$193M, becoming its largest shareholder

US Equities

MU: Reports Q2 -$0.23 v -$0.19e, R$2.07B v $2.0Be; -3.2% after hours

EBAY: PRIMEDIA (private) to Acquire Rent.com unit; No terms disclosed; -0.5% after hours

NKE: Reports Q3 $1.20 v $1.17e, R$5.85B v $5.8Be; +1.2% after hours

ACN: Reports Q2 $0.97 v $0.86e, R$6.80B (before reimbursements) v $6.6Be; +1.8%