Newsquawk

Euro Market Open: Mixed APAC trade with numerous earnings due

26 Jan 2023, 06:48 by Newsquawk Desk

APAC stocks traded somewhat mixed amid key holiday closures and after the flat handover from Wall St.
European equity futures are indicative of a higher open with the Euro Stoxx 50 +0.7% after the cash market closed down 0.1% yesterday.
DXY remains on a 101 handle, EUR/USD sits just north of 1.09, Cable lingers around 1.24 and CAD remains on the backfoot.
Crude futures were kept rangebound whilst Bund futures traded sideways following yesterday's fluctuations.
Looking ahead, highlights include US Durable Goods, GDP Advance/PCE Prices Advance (Q4), IJC, New Home Sales, Japanese CPI, SARB Policy Announcement, Earnings from Diageo, STMicroelectronics, Nokia, SAP, LVMH, Comcast, Intel, Visa & Southwest, Supply from Italy & US, Holiday in China (Lunar New Year)

US stocks were little changed after earlier losses pared gradually through the session. The weakness initially stemmed from the tech sector after Microsoft's lacklustre cloud unit guidance which also initially weighed on Amazon, although equities gradually clawed back losses and were aided by the BoC rate decision.
SPX -0.02% at 4,016, NDX -0.27% at 11,815, DJI +0.03% at 33,744, RUT +0.25% at 1,890.
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NOTABLE HEADLINES

US and Dutch officials will meet on Friday to discuss export controls on chip manufacturing tools, according to sources cited by Reuters.

APAC stocks traded somewhat mixed amid key holiday closures and after the flat handover from Wall St where the major indices recouped most of their initial losses after the BoC’s dovish hike.
Nikkei 225 was subdued amid a firmer currency and upside in yields, while the government also lowered its overall economic assessment for the first time in 11 months.
KOSPI gained despite the weaker-than-expected GDP data although the finance minister flagged the likelihood of a return to growth for the current quarter.
Hang Seng outperformed as participants in Hong Kong returned from the Lunar New Year holiday and were greeted by strength in tech, property and autos, although trade across the rest of the region remained relatively quiet owing to the closures in Australia, China, Taiwan, India and Vietnam.
US equity futures took a breather (ES +0.2%) after spending most of the prior day in recovery mode.
European equity futures are indicative of a higher open with the Euro Stoxx 50 +0.7% after the cash market closed down 0.1% yesterday.

DXY was steady ahead of incoming US data including GDP and Core PCE, with price action stuck below 102.00 after the Bank of Canada explicitly signalled a pause in the tightening cycle which spurred hopes for others, such as the Fed, to follow suit.
EUR/USD traded flat but held on to recent gains at the 1.0900 handle after ECB officials continued to echo the need to hike rates further.
GBP/USD remained near yesterday's best levels but struggled to sustain the 1.2400 status.
USD/JPY continued to trickle lower amid narrowing US-Japan yield differentials.
Antipodeans notched mild gains although price action was contained amid the lack of excitement across the FX space and with Australian participants away on holiday.
CBRT announced support for the conversion of firms' foreign exchange obtained from abroad into Turkish liras to support 'liraization' in commercial activities, with firms to be provided with FX conversion support corresponding to 2% of the amount converted.

10yr UST futures edged slightly higher after the recent mild bull-steepening which coincided with a dovish BoC rate hike and a strong 5yr US auction.
Bund futures traded sideways after having calmed down from yesterday’s fluctuations with further hawkish ECB commentary keeping a lid on prices
10yr JGB futures were marginally higher with price action contained by a mixed 40yr auction and after the BoJ’s Summary of Opinions provided little in the way of fresh insight.

Crude futures were kept rangebound after mixed inventory data and with little in the way of catalysts to spur the benchmarks, while the attention turns to looming US data.
Libya's NOC is to sign offshore gas exploration and production deals with Italy's Eni (ENI IM) on Saturday, according to NOC chief Bengdara in local press.
Spot gold was uneventful but held on to gains near the USD 1,950/oz level.
Copper futures lacked direction amid the mixed risk tone and the absence of key markets.
Chile's copper production is likely to peak at 7.135mln tons in 2030, which is lower and later than previously expected, while Chile’s copper production was likely around 5.3mln tons in 2022 which will rise to about 5.6mln tons this year and about 5.9mln tons in 2024, according to a Cochilco report cited by Reuters.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

White House said China has not been fully transparent regarding COVID numbers.
BoJ Summary of Opinions from the January meeting stated it is appropriate to maintain current monetary easing including YCC and that the BoJ must keep yields from rising across the curve while being mindful of the bond market function. Furthermore, they must spend more time to gauge the impact of the December decision and must conduct a review of policy at some point although it is appropriate to maintain easy policy for now, while they still see some distance in achieving the price goal and noted it will take some time to achieve sustained wage growth.

DATA RECAP

US senior administration official said the US is to provide 31 Abrams tanks and eight M88 vehicles to Ukraine, while the delivery of the US tanks will take months, according to CNBC and Politico.
White House's Kirby said the US has seen no indication that Russian President Putin has plans on striking NATO territory and said the US has to be prepared to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.

UK 2022 car production fell 9.8% Y/Y to 775k units, while car and light van production for 2023 is expected to increase 15% Y/Y to 984k units, according to SMMT.