More Yen intervention chatter driving sentiment

Asian Market Update: More Yen intervention chatter driving sentiment; RBA Stevens sees Australia with an easing bias

Economic Data

- (AU) AUSTRALIA DEC CREDIT CARD BALANCES: A$52.1B v A$51.3B PRIOR; CREDIT CARD PURCHASES: A$27.6B v A$25.6B PRIOR

- (AU) AUSTRALIA DEC HOME LOANS M/M: 2.6% V 3.0%E; 6-month high

- (NZ) New Zealand Jan Food Prices M/M: +2.0% v -0.8% prior; First rise after 6 declines

- (KR) South Korea Jan prelim department store sale Y/Y: +9.6% v -5.7% prior; Discount store sales Y/Y: +13.4% v -5.1% prior

- (PE) PERU CENTRAL BANK RAISES REFERENCE RATE BY 25BPS TO 4.25%; AS EXPECTED

- (CL) CHILE CENTRAL BANK (BCCH) LEAVES OVERNIGHT RATE TARGET UNCHANGED A 3.50%; AS EXPECTED

Index Snapshot (as of 04:30 GMT)

- Nikkei225 -3.0%, S&P/ASX -1.1%, Kospi -1.6%, Shanghai Composite closed, Hang Seng -0.5%, Feb S&P500 +0.5% at 1,833

Commodities/Fixed Income

- Apr gold -1.1% at $1,234/oz, Mar crude oil +5.6% at $27.68/brl, Mar copper +0.8% at $2.02/lb

- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings rise 14.0 tonnes to 716.0 tonnes; biggest increase since Dec 18th; highest since May 2015

- USD/CNY: Offshore Yuan falls 0.2% through CNH6.54 level; Yuan down for the first time in 4 sessions

- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$600M in 5.25% 2019 Bonds; avg yield: 1.725%; bid-to-cover: 2.97x

- (JP) Japan investors bought net ¥1.45T in foreign bonds v sold net ¥78.8B in prior week; Foreign investors sold net ¥610B in Japan stocks v sold ¥365B in Japan stocks in prior week

Market Focal Points/FX

- Asian trading session has been as volatile as late afternoon in the US hours, where another day of extreme selling was thwarted by reports of UAE energy minister expressing the willingness for OPEC to capitulate on production cuts as all producers see prices "not appropriate". The sentiment was timely, with reports of US 2nd biggest refinery at Baytown, TX reportedly operating 75K bpd below nameplate capacity of 560.5K bpd. After a spate of US earnings that included notable beats by GRPN/ROVI and misses by P/NTVI/NUS, the beaten down financial sector also got a vote of confidence from CEO Dimon who plunged some $27M to buy 500K shares of JPM stock. JPM was up over 3% afterhours, oil traded as high as $27.75 in electronic session, while closely watched USD/JPY spiked up to ¥113 handle on speculation of more intervention.

- In the absence of mainland China markets, rhetoric from Japan has taken the driver seat in delivering twists and turns in the overall sentiment, particularly as it pertains to BOJ's latest negative rate decision. Earlier today (early US hours), USD/JPY spiked up from 111 to 113 on unconfirmed dealer rumors that BOJ is checking rates for intervention. Today Fin Min officials refused to comment on those reports but most defended Japan's fundamentals and reiterated the blame for volatility with external factors. Econ Min Ishihara said there was global aversion in FX market driving JPY strength but consumer sentiment is solid. Fin Min Aso said Japan fundamentals are very strong, though policy coordination could be considered at the upcoming G20 meeting. BOJ Gov Kuroda said risk-off flows were excessive as price trends are improving and QQE have had desired effects. PM Abe's economic advisors Hamada and Honda also spoke - Hamada said the markets are "panicky" and worries are overblown since Yen is still much weaker than at the start of Abenomics, and Honda floated the idea of emergency BOJ policy meeting if volatility continues. Session's most active trading moments came on the reports of Japan FX chief Asakawa and BOJ Gov Kuroda meeting with PM Abe, sending USD/JPY up over 50pips back to 113 before a quick reversal below 112.50. Most dovish comments came from LDP party official Yamamoto - one of the Abenomics architects - who said Japan needs to hold emergency economic summit and act in coordination with other central banks.

- Outside Japan, RBA Gov Stevens spoke extensively before the Parliament Standing Committee on Economics, reiterating some more easing could be justified by low inflation, mining investment is still dropping, adjustment in the economy toward non-mining should continue. AUD initially edged up on the comments but moved to the lows below 0.71 after Stevens explicitly stated RBA has a bias toward easing. Central bank's policy stance has generally been perceived as firmly neutral.

- Outside Asia, there may be some progress made on the war in Syria with reports of a Munich draft communique stating major powers agree to push for end to hostilities through truce in the coming days. Report added the relaunch of a peace process in Geneva could take place when conditions on the ground have improved.

Equities

US equities/ADRs:

- GRPN: Reports Q4 $0.04 v $0.00e, R$917.2M v $841Me; +18.3% afterhours

- ROVI: Reports Q4 $0.65 v $0.40e, R$149.5M v $138Me; +9.6% afterhours

- COLM: Reports Q4 $0.90 v $0.77e, R$699.4M v $679Me; +7.9% afterhours

- ELLI: Reports Q4 $0.44 v $0.21e, R$64.9M v $61.4Me; +7.1% afterhours

- NBIX: Reports Q4 -$0.34 v -$0.35e, Rev is nil; +5.3% afterhours

- JPM: CEO Dimon reportedly buys 500K shares of stock, worth about $26.5M - financial press; +3.4% afterhours

- AIG: Reports Q4 -$1.10 v -$0.93e; Board authorizes share repurchase of up to $5B (8% of market cap); +1.9% afterhours

- FEYE: Reports Q4 -$0.36 v -$0.37e, R$184.8M v $186Me; +0.2% afterhours

- CBS: Reports Q4 $0.92 adj v $0.91e, R$3.91B v $3.78Be; -1.3% afterhours

- P: Reports Q4 $0.04 adj v $0.07e, R$336M v $333Me; -5.7% afterhours

- ATVI: Reports Q4 $0.83 v $0.87e, R$2.12B v $2.20Be; Raises dividend 13% to $0.26 from $0.23; Authorizes repayment of $1.5B in debt; -14.0% afterhours

- SCSS: Reports Q4 -$0.42 (incl items) v -$0.05e, R$214.7M v $289Me (2 est); -17.4% afterhours

- NUS: Reports Q4 $0.62 v $0.72e, R$572M v $587Me; -20.6% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer discretionary: Sands China 1128.HK +3.1% (Q4 result); Unicharm 8113.JP +1.0% (FY15 result)

- Consumer staples: Orion Corp/Republic of South Korea 001800.KR -6.0% (FY15 result)

- Industrials: Worley Parsons WOR.AU -3.7% (no plan to hold equity raise); Alliance Aviation Services AQZ.AU +2.0% (contract)

- Technology: Sharp Corp 6753.JP -5.8% (jointly bid for Apple OLED orders)

- Materials: Elemental Minerals ELM.AU +2.7% (receives expression of interest); Newcrest Mining NCM.AU +0.9% (In contract with trapper worker)

- Energy: Origin Energy ORG.AU -1.4% (asset sales)