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Asian Headlines Asian markets kicked off the week in disappointing fashion with losses continuing today. Japan led to the downside on broad sector losses with Communications and Consumer Discretionary names especially hit hard.  Hong Kong and the mainland only fared a bit better with Korea and Australia also seeing sizable losses. In China the aforementioned 100bps RRR cut that was announced a little over a week ago took effect today but did not seem to make much of a difference.  The PBoC skipped open market ops today adding they will not roll over maturing MLF loans today as well.  And further looking into China the Shanghai Securities News said the government of Shenzhen would provide tens of billions of yuan to support listed companies with liquidity. Japan reported Industrial Production for August that showed tepid growth and was well light prior readings.  Of interest the BoJ’s Kuroda said the signal from the central bank flagging a change from a policy of easy money will be a change in rates.  Also, PM Abe said sales taxes will increase next October as planned. Softbank -7.3% was the culprit in the communications space with its heavyweight standing a strong drag on the Japanese…

Markets Overview The selling certainly did not stop with North America as weakness in equities only accelerated overnight.  Asian markets suffered multiple percentage point declines.  Losses of over 4% were common with Energy and Industrials joining Tech names as serious underperformers.  In Hong Kong, losses of 7% were commonplace in the Tech space with defensive names even seeing sizable losses. The tech-heavy Taiwan TWSE was also in focus with sharp losses there, as well.  Utilities were the best performing sector but were still lower on the day by 2.5%.  Within basic resources, gold names were a bright spot outperforming in a flight to safety. The Yen continued to strengthen as it looks to move through the 112 level vs the Dollar.  To the flip, side the Yuan is again weaker, threatening to move through mid-August levels on its way to 7 Renminbi to the Dollar. Europe opened down c. 1.8% hitting lows about 4 hours into the session of c. 2%.  At one point, less than 40 names in the Euro Stoxx 600 were to the upside.  However, the markets managed to pare some of the losses helped in part by the U.S. CPI data which came in a touch…

Asian Markets The Nikkei reopened today down ~1% and held steady there the balance of the session.   IT names saw sizable losses, inline with other regions in the world as Materials and Communications also slipped.   The Hang Seng ended the day down small after yesterday ending under the mid-September pullback that prompted the talking heads to report the index was off over 20% from highs.  Energy was the leader to the upside with RE also holding in well. Following yesterday’s sizable losses in China, it was a welcome sight to see some green on both the Shanghai and Shenzhen even as gains were kept in check.  South Korea was shut for Hangul Day while India held above yesterday’s lows. With the ¥ strengthening for the 4th consecutive day and  following 3 day weekend, Japan was set to play “catch down” with IMF headlines no help.  They lowered both FY18 and ’19 GDP forecasts citing escalating trade conflicts and tighter financial conditions. Emerging markets as whole saw sharp cuts to growth with Argentina, Brazil, Iran, and Turkey accounting for much of weakness. With China looking to clean up the environment, liquid natural gas has been focused on to reduce coal use. …

Asian Headlines Another lower close in the region overnight with India again leading to the downside.   Australia managed a small gain and has largely escaped the selling this week with the ASX200 down only .36% the last five days.  Hong Kong was down small on the day with the beaten-up Health Care sector rebounding today while IT saw losses over 2%. As mentioned the Sensex 30 again was lower with index down over 11% since the first of September. The Rupee weakened again 5:00 EST after the RBI left their repurchase rate at 6.5% surprising the market which expected a hike to 6.75%.  The central bank maintained their FY 18/19 GDP growth view but amended their stance from neutral to a calibrated tightening. On benign food prices 2H CPI views were cut fairly sharply allowing for the lack of rate change. Japan reported labor cash earnings up .9% in August on YoY basis but that revealed a slowing vs the previous reading and was light estimates.  To the upside Household Spending leapt 2.8% YoY in August, well ahead of the tepid estimate and prior reading. Interestingly, the BoJ quarterly public opinion of household sentiment noted the public sees inflation running…

Asian indices closed mixed with the Nikkei down post PMI Services hitting a 2 year low though staying in expansionary range. The recent earthquake was cited.  The ¥ weakened again but that was little help to exporters will all but Health Care and Utilities lower on the day with Energy and Financial names underperforming.   Down Under, Building Approvals missed big with apartment approvals off big. In Europe indices finished modestly higher with Switzerland and Italy the better performers.  Germany was shut for Unity Day.  Italy has evidently pared its deficit target for 2020 down to 2.1% with the next year expected at 1.8%.  On that Italian bonds were bid up with the 10 year yield down to 3.306%.  PMI Services were better there as well.  We should get more clarity tomorrow with the budget plan to be submitted to parliament Thursday with one official noting any reduction in deficit targets will be tied to GDP growth. Apart from Italy, Service PMI readings missed in Spain, the UK, and Germany while France was ahead of estimates.  In the equity markets all but the Retail sector finished up with gains of over a percent in Telcos and Media. Providing strength in the…

Asian Markets A fairly brutal trading day as Hong Kong reopened from yesterday’s holiday and the Mainland Chinese markets remained closed.  India was also closed.  Hong Kong sentiment was already going to be dampened due to the weekends worrisome Chinese manufacturing and Macau gaming revenue data. (Here’s yesterday’s recap if you need the figures again.)  However, the real cause for investor anxiety is trade.  White House Economic Advisor Kudlow declared a trade agreement with China was not “imminent” and President Trump has not been pleased with progress.  There is also thought with successes in multiple trade negotiations, Pres. Trump will be encouraged to maintain a tough stance with China.  Adding to Sino-U.S. tension was a report a Chinese and U.S. naval vessel had a near collision in a disputed area of the South China Sea.  If that isn’t enough for you, investors were also worried about Italy which we will address below. The day’s one bright spot was Japan which managed to make some small headway.   Energy provided a large boost and autos also helped with the uptick.  Several manufacturers were seen as a beneficiary of the trade progress in N. America.  However, across the region the markets saw different…

Asian Markets A mix for the region with both Hong Kong and the mainland Chinese markets closed.  Hong Kong reopens tomorrow but China will remain closed the rest of the week.  Japan advanced while Australia continues to see weakness among financials following a critical regulatory report.  Indonesia saw modest selling pressure following Friday’s tragic earthquake and tsunami.  Most sectors ended the day down small.  Consumer discretionary shares were off shy of 0.5% while IT gains a touch more than that mark. Other Important Headlines Despite the holiday, China published important macroeconomic data.  The official Chinese September manufacturing PMI missed consensus and hit a 7 month low.  The Caixin Chinese manufacturing PMI also fell short of estimates, declining to the critical 50 level.  The result is a 16 month low. The Japanese Tankan Survey results were generally light of expectations. September Macau Gambling Revenue rose 2.8% y/y to Patacas 22b.  The market was expecting +6.5% y/y. In Japan, Typhoon Trami made landfall in Japan forcing East Japan Railway -2.1% to shutdown several lines while airlines canceled flights. A third party investigator discovered additional instances of false data at Subaru -2.1%. Mitsubishi Corp. +1.5%, Petrochina +1.8% and RD Shell +0.5% are part of…

Asian Headlines Asian markets wrapped up the week with most indices closing higher, led by Japan and mainland China.  For the week the Nikkei closed up 1.88% with HK up 1.13%.  Shanghai and the Shenzhen were up 3.37% and 1.52% respectively while the Kospi gained 1.48%.  Australia saw small gains with India down on the week.   Note that next week China will be shut all week in celebration of their second Golden Week of the year, namely the National Day Golden Week.  Hong Kong will be shut Monday only. On the day Telcos rallied in Japan with the sector up over 3% with gains broad across the board.   Telcos were joined by Energy names as winners in Hong Kong with Autos and Gaming names up on the mainland.  Financials and Utilities saw gains of over a percent in Australia. Japanese CPI ticked up slightly in September, registering up 1.3% which was ahead of the prior reading of 1.2% and the estimate of 1.1%.  Industrial Production MoM turned positive again but both the MoM and YoY readings were light estimates. Retail sales beat both estimates and prior readings as well.  Note that the BoJ lowered planned bond purchases for next month…

Asian Headlines Asia took the cue from the US and closed lower on the session with Japan and China’s Shenzhen leading lower.  Apart from consumer discretionary names all sectors were weaker on the Nikkei with losses of over 2% in IT and Energy names. IT too was a laggard in China with slowing growth in Industrial Profits predicating weakness in the region. YoY profit growth grew 9.2% in August, well below the prior reading of 16.2% making it the slowest pace since March.  Also on the economic front Hong Kong reported after the close strong growth in both imports and exports with their trade deficit widening in August.  To note, HSBC upped their HK prime rate 12.5bps overnight to 5 1/8% which was the first increase in 12 years. This was post HK increasing their base rate to 2.5% following the move in the States.  Other banks made similar moves as well.  On the tariff front China said they will lower the average tariff rate on over 1500 goods to 7.5% from 9.5%. In an encouraging move the FTSE Russell said they will assign secondary emerging market status to Chinese A share next summer with names to be added then. …

Asian Markets The Chinese mainland markets traded well thanks to announcements by MSCI.  The company declared it was contemplating an increase to its Chinese weighting and permitting ChiNext shares for the first time.  A heavy ex-dividend day caused Japan to be mixed.  More than 1,000 shares in the TOPIX traded without their respective dividends.  Currency and crude price concerns weighed upon India.  S. Korea was closed for Harvest Moon day. Most sectors gains with energy higher by c. 1.5% fueled by crude’s recent gains.  Consumer staples were higher by 1%.  Utilities and consumer staples were down small and real estate lagged. Other Important Headlines After the local close, Japan’s GPIF (the world’s largest pension fund) stated it will permit greater “deviation” of its JGB holdings.  In essence, this means it may allocate a greater portion of assets to equities and other riskier investments. Tencent +0.5% will allow Hong Kong shoppers to make mainland purchases with its Wechat Pay.  This makes it the first company to permit mobile wallet payments for such transactions. Suzuki Motors -3.9% tumbled intra-day after announcing it found further falsified testing data. Nufarm-halted- because the company announced an A$300m entitlement offer while seeing FY underlying profits 2.1% below…