Central Banks From Brazil To Korea Take Action

(AU) AUSTRALIA JUN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 5.2% V 5.2%E; EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: -27.0K V 0.0KE (6-month low); PARTICIPATION RATE: 65.2% V 65.5%E

(JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) LEAVES TARGET RATE UNCHANGED AT 0.0-0.1% (as expected); Increases asset purchases via T-bills by ¥5T to ¥45T; Lowers fixed-rate funds operation by ¥5T to ¥25T (Total program size unchanged at ¥70T)

(KR) BANK OF KOREA (BOK) CUTS 7-DAY REPO RATE 25 BPS TO 3.00%; NOT EXPECTED

(BR) BRAZIL CENTRAL BANK (COPOM) CUTS SELIC TARGET RATE BY 50BPS TO 8.00% (RECORD LOW); AS EXPECTED

(NZ) NEW ZEALAND JUL ANZ CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX: 110.5 V 105.8 PRIOR; M/M: +4.4% V -7.1% PRIOR

(AU) AUSTRALIA JUL CONSUMER INFLATION EXPECTATION: 3.3% V 2.3% PRIOR (3-month high)

(NZ) NEW ZEALAND JUN FOOD PRICES M/M: 1.4% V 0.3% PRIOR (11-month high)

(NZ) NEW ZEALAND JUN BUSINESS NZ PMI: 50.2 V 55.8 PRIOR

(IN) INDIA MAY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Y/Y: 2.4% V 1.8%E

(JP) Japan investors bought ¥353B in foreign bonds last week vs ¥1.34T bought in prior week; Foreign investors sold ¥3.6B in Japan stocks last week vs ¥50B sold prior

Markets Snapshot (as of 04:30GMT)
Nikkei225 -1.3%

S&P/ASX -0.8%

Kospi -1.2%

Taiwan's Taiex -1.5%

Singapore Straits Times -0.4%

Shanghai Composite -0.3%

Hang Seng -1.6%

Sept S&P -0.3%

Aug gold -0.3% at $1,571/oz

Aug Crude oil -0.4% at $85.48/brl

Overview/Top Headlines
Today's session was dominated by central bank rate decisions; starting with Brazil, who cut its SELIC target rate to a fresh historical low of 8.00% (2nd consecutive time it cut to fresh low), the central bank claimed it is not worried about inflation presently especially with the global economic activity at its current levels. Next on the stage was the Bank of Korea (BoK) who was expected to leave rates unchanged, however in a surprise move BoK cut its rate 25 bps to 3.00%. This was the first cut to rates since February 2009, this landmark decision was not unanimous.

USD/KRW rose 0.6% to a high of KRW1,149. Governor Kim emphasized that today's move was pre-emptive, as monetary policy should be. BoK reiterated policy will remain focused on stabilizing prices and economic growth. Korea 3-year bond futures rose quickly on the news. Bank of Japan came in last, releasing their announcement towards the end of their typical window, which raised some talk that they could be looking to make a move. The BoJ while not announcing new measures, it did adjust fund allocation used for easing.

Asset purchases via T-bills were increased by ¥5T to ¥45T, while fixed-rate funds operation were decreased by ¥5T to ¥25T (Total program size unchanged at ¥70T). 10-year JGB yields fell to 0.775% lowest level since June 2003. BoJ also cut is view on GDP, CPI and CGPI for FY12/13. GDP expectations were dropped 0.1% to 2.2%. BoJ noted that private consumption continues to increase. USD/JPY spiked higher by 60 pips to ¥79.95, within 30-minutes levels were back to pre-announcement levels before continuing to decline to nearly ¥79.40.

In Australia Treasurer Swan continued his visit to China, meeting with PBoC Governor Zhou as well as NDRC officials, he is seeking a currency deal with China, which is expected to cover about 10% of trade between the two nations. AUD/USD was weaker today falling 70 pips to $1.0180 after unemployment rose and the employment change fell 27,000 after an expected flat reading. May numbers were also revised lower after weaker June data. Australia PM Gillard defended the data saying, leaders of developed economies including the U.S., U.K. and Europe would "literally do anything to have the same economic story and statistics as Australia."

Speakers/Geopolitical/In The Press
Asia Development Bank (ADB) President Kuroda: Asian economies have been impacted by the EU crisis.

(AU) RBA Dep Gov Lowe: Would be hard to make a case the AUD is overvalued; uncertainty in the EU is not likely to be resolved anytime soon.

(CN) China Development Center economist Yu Bin said data scheduled for release on Friday (Q2 GDP) "is not very ugly," as Q2 growth was below 8% (7.7%e). - financial press

(JP) Japan Fin Min Azumi: Impact of BOJ easing to be felt gradually.

(CN) HSBC co-head of Asian economic research: Lowers 2012 China GDP target from 8.6% to 8.4%; sees significant fiscal stimulus in H2, one more 1-year lending rate cut, and 4 more RRR cuts - SCMP

Equities
MYR.AU: Preparing to cut as many as 100 jobs (below 1% of workforce) amid continued weakness in retail. - SMH

Kia Motors, 000270.KR: Exec: Exports in H2 may be pressured by European crisis; hopeful that EU stimulus packages will help to boost sales.

KT, 030200.KR: Aims to achieve KRW3.9T in global Rev by 2015. - Korean press

Baoshan Iron & Steel, 600019.CN: Cutting steel prices for August. - financial press

US Equities
MAR: Reports Q2 $0.42 v $0.42e, R$2.78B v $2.8Be; guides FY12 higher on gain related to sale of Courtyard joint venture; -2.3% after hours.

SVU: Reports Q1 $0.19 v $0.38e, R$10.6B v $10.8Be; undertakes actions to enhance shareholder value; suspends dividend, reviewing strategic alternatives; -26.3% after hours.

CVX: Interim Update for Q2: Guides Q2 EPS higher q/q (implies >$3.27 v $3.20e); sees downstream performance significantly higher; lower upstream sequential performance due to lower energy prices, and improved refining margins responsible for higher earnings; +0.4% after hours.

IHS: Reiterates FY12 EPS $3.88-4.01 v $3.87e, Raises FY12 Rev $1.548-1.598B v $1.55Be; Acquires Invention Machine for $40M; -0.2% after hours.