Asian equity markets see out the week in the green with outperformance in Chinese bourses after large cap earnings.

Japanese CPI prints in-line with analyst estimates.

Looking ahead, highlights include comments from Fed Chair Yellen and ECB President Draghi.

JACKSON HOLE SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE

15:00 BST/10:00 ET – Federal Reserve Chair Yellen makes opening remarks

20:00 BST/15:00 ET – ECB President Mario Draghi Makes The Luncheon Address

ASIA

Asia stocks sspanugged off the negative lead from Wall St. and traded mostly higher, while full focus remained on the key central bank speakers at Jackson Hole. ASX 200 (Unch.) underperformed amid weakness in financials and property names, while Nikkei 225 (+0.6%) coat-tailed on the recent USD/JPY advance. KOSPI (+0.1%) was cautious as South Korea awaited the fate of Samsung Electronics’ Vice Chairman Jay Y Lee, with his bribery trial verdict due today in which prosecutors are pursuing a 12-year jail sentence for the de facto boss of the index’s largest weighted company. Elsewhere, Shanghai Comp. (+1.2%) and Hang Seng (+0.7%) gained despite the PBoC refraining from operations for a 2nd consecutive day and draining a net CNY 330bln for the week, with outperformance observed in Li & Fung, PetroChina and CNOOC after strong earnings results. Finally, 10yr JGBs ignored the positive risk sentiment and reduced buying operation by the BoJ, with prices mildly supported amid the backdrop of falling yields.

PBoC skipped open market operations, for a net weekly drain of CNY 330bln vs. last week's CNY 110bln net injection. (Newswires)

PBoC set CNY mid-point at 6.6579 (Prev. 6.6525)

Japanese National CPI (Jul) Y/Y 0.4% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. 0.4%). (Newswires)

Japanese National CPI Ex. Fresh Food (Jul) Y/Y 0.5% vs. Exp. 0.5% (Prev. 0.4%)

EUROPE/UK

German Finance Minister Schaeuble said that the ECB should tighten policy `sooner rather than later' and also commented that European debt mutualisation would wreck Europe quickly. (Newswires)

FX

FX markets traded quietly overnight and in a narrow range as focus remained on the Jackson Hole symposium where comments from Fed Chair Yellen and ECB President Draghi are highly awaited. Nonetheless, USD/JPY and JPY-crosses briefly extended on gains after tripping tspanough stops at yesterday’s highs, although have since pulled back amid a lack of drivers to sustain upward momentum and with inline Japanese CPI figures adding to the humdrum tone.

COMMODITIES

Oil prices rebounded from yesterday’s losses as participants second-guessed the impact of the approaching Hurricane Harvey, which is expected to be the strongest in 12 years and is on course to hit the centre of the US oil industry, causing several refineries to shut in response. Elsewhere, the metals complex was less eventful with gold flat and copper holding onto gains ahead of the key speeches at Jackson Hole and amid positive risk sentiment.

GEOPOLITICAL

Russia flew strategic bombers towards the Korean peninsula amid criticism of joint military drills by US and South Korea, while it also seeks to avoid escalation of tensions between US and North Korea by showing impartiality according to reports. (FT)

US

US Treasuries edged lower as traders waited on central bank speeches from Jackson Hole for fresh indications on monetary policy (namely from FOMC chair Yellen and ECB President Draghi), while the US T-bill complex was pressured by concerns surrounding the US debt ceiling and a potential government shutdown. Although the short end experienced some respite late on as the White House noted that it is committed to raising the debt ceiling. US Sep’17 10y T-note futures settled at 126.22, down 7+ ticks.

US House Speaker Paul Ryan expressed confidence in passing tax reform this year as well as raising the debt ceiling, while this was later mirrored by the White House which said that it is committed to making sure that debt ceiling is raised and is said to be willing to compromise on tax deductions. (Newswires)