Pre-holiday mode – BoJ and RBA minutes due on Tues

General trend

- Honda and Nissan M&A talks remain in focus, additional details have been released in the press.

- Asian equity markets tracked gains on Wall St. [reminder Dec 20th: (US) House passed 3 month govt funding bill that includes disaster relief and agricultural aid (as expected); The bill passed the Senate late Friday night in an 85-11 vote and was signed by Pres Biden on Saturday to avoid a govt shutdown].

- Quiet FX session seen after recent verbal intervention out of Japan [Reminder Dec 20th: Japan Fin Min Kato said: Recently seeing one-sided and sharp FX moves; concerned about recent FX moves].

- Lethargic session also seen for Japanese gov’t bonds.

- BOJ Gov Ueda expected to speak on Dec 25th [Wed].

- China bond yields extend drop [Reminder Dec 20th: China 1-year bond yield moved below 1.00% level (lowest since May 2009)].

- Various markets have early closes on Tues.

Headlines/economic data

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opens +0.1% at 8,070.

- ASX ‘narrowly’ avoided the need to delay or cancel trading on Mon [Dec 23rd] after engineers worked to resolve ‘serious issues’ with its critical settlement processing system; the faults were discovered on Fri – AFR.

- Australia: Confirms Live Rock Lobster exports to China 'set to restart' [from Dec 20th].

-EML Payments [EML.AU]: Elected to discontinue Mr Ron Hynes’s employment agreement as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer from 21 December 2024 having resolved that alternate leadership is required to execute the Company’s strategy; Affirms FY25 Underlying EBITDA guidance.

-Integrated Research [IRI.AU]: Guides H1 (A$) EBITDA -0.5M to +2.0M, Rev 25.0-29.0M; total contract value 23.0-27.0M; As stated at the Company’s AGM held on 25 November 2024, renewals are softer in FY25 versus FY24, and weighted to the second half.

-News Corp [NWS.AU]: To sell Foxtel to Dazn at enterprise value of A$3.4B.

China/Hong Kong

-Hang Seng opens +0.6% at 19.843.

-Shanghai Composite opens flat at 3,368.

-China 10-year bond yield at 1.6650%, -3bps [record low].

-China PBOC Open Market Operation (OMO): Injects CNY109.6B in 7-day reverse repos; Net drains CNY643.4B v drains CNY103.5B prior.

-China PBOC sets Yuan reference rate 7.1870 v 7.1901 prior.

-China reportedly tightens qualification and supervision for key executives in brokerages and funds - press.

-Guangzhou Auto [2238.HK]: Guides 2024 auto sales at 2.0M units, -20% y/y; guides 2025 auto sales +15% y/y - update.

- US Commerce Dept reportedly plans to blacklist Sophgo, company that ordered TSMC chip found in Huawei processor - press.

- US Commerce Sec Raimondo said the US will not be able to 'meaningfully and sustainably' block the progress of China in the area of chips - WSJ.

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opens +0.9% at 39,040.

-Nissan [7201.JP]: Presidents of Nissan and Honda visit Japan Industry Min to report about integration talks - Japanese press.

-Nissan: Honda and Nissan are mulling manufacturing cars in each other's factories as part of effort to deepen ties - Japanese press [**Reminder Dec 17th: Honda and Nissan said to commence merger talks - Nikkei].

-Nissan: Former Chairman Carlos Ghosn to hold online press conference on Dec 23rd - press.

-China might remove ban on imports of seafood from Japan in H1 2025 at the earliest – Nikkei.

- Japan Cabinet Office (Govt) Dec Monthly Report: Maintains overall assessment that domestic economy is recovering at moderate pace but appears to be pausing in parts.

- Google: Japan FTC expected to note the co. violated the antimonopoly act in relation to smartphone contracts; Google said to have received a cease and desist order - Nikkei.

Korea

-Kospi opens +0.8%.

-South Korea Dec 1-20th Exports Y/Y: 6.8% v 5.8% prior; Imports: 7.5% v -1.0% prior.

-South Korea FIn Min: Ready to make 'ample' responses to stabilize financial markets if needed.

-South Korea government to inject additional ‘value-up-funds’ worth KRW300B [2nd phase of value-up funds] into the equity market; cites South Korea Fin Min Choi – Yonhap.

-Samsung Electronics [005930.KR]: US Commerce Dept finalizes up to $4.75B chips subsidy for Samsung, less than the original $6.4B award announced in April; Also finalizes $1.6B award for Texas Instruments - press.

Other Asia

- Singapore Nov CPI M/M: 0.0% v -0.3% prior: Y/Y: 1.6% v 1.8%e; Core CPI Y/Y: 1.9% v 2.1%e [multi-year low].

-Taiwan Nov Export Orders Y/Y: 3.3% v 6.6%e; sees Dec orders between +13-17.5% y/y; Export Orders from China Y/Y: -3.4% v -0.1% prior; Export Orders from US Y/Y: +11.7% v +12.6% prior; Export Orders from Japan Y/Y: +17.8% v +5.3% prior.

-Taiwan opposition forced through ‘key’ bills including new rules on judges; notes protests from certain lawmakers; there are concerns that a political 'crisis' could drag on into 2025 – Press.

- Singapore Post [SPOST.SG]: Fired CEO over handling of whistleblower report, CFO was also terminated, effectively immediately; 2 senior managers were additionally dismissed.

North America

- (US) Trump threatens to ‘return the Panama Canal to the US’ unless Panama cuts fees; cites posts on Truth Social; Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said the canal and surrounding area belongs to Panama – Press.

-(US) Trump: Bo Hines to be the Executive Dir of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets (The ‘Crypto Council’); Names Sriram Krishnan as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Stephen Feinberg selected as Deputy Defense Secretary.; Nominates Stephen Miran [former US Treasury official] to lead the Council of Economic Advisers.

-Trump said it might be worth 'keeping' TikTok in the US for a 'while longer' [inline] - Press.

-(US) House passes 3 month govt funding bill that includes disaster relief and agricultural aid (as expected) [from Dec 20th].

- (US) Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Barr has reportedly sought legal advise on concerns that Trump will try and remove him - press.

-(US) Nov PCE deflator M/M: 0.1% V 0.2%E; Y/Y: 2.4% V 2.5%E (highest annual pace since July).

-(US) Nov Personal income: 0.3% V 0.4%E; personal spending: 0.4% V 0.5%E.

-Arm Holdings [ARM]: US jury finds that Qualcomm [QCOM] did not breach Nuvia license agreement with Arm after QCOM acquired Nuvia - press [from Dec 20th].

-Nvidia [NVDA]: Plans to build a new headquarters in Taiwan; cites a Taiwan gov't official - Taiwan press; The company is said to be prioritizing Taipei as the location for its regional headquarters.

-Stellantis [STLA]: Announces warn notice extension for Toledo south plant; no employees will be placed on indefinite layoff on Jan 5th, 2025 [reverses Ohio layoffs after CEO departure].

- Granite Ridge Resources [GRNT]: Northern Oil and Gas responds to article in regard to potential business combination: Not currently engaged in formal negotiations to acquire Granite Ridge.

- (MX) Pres Biden considers easing tariffs for solar modules from Mexico; Mexico's leading supplier, Maxeon, would be the biggest beneficiary - press.

Europe

- ECB Lagarde: Still believe that we should be 'vigilant' about services [inflation]; getting very close to that stage when we can declare that we have sustainably brought inflation to the medium-term 2.0% - FT.

-Volkswagen [VOW3.DE]: Agreement with IG Metall allows for >€15B in medium-term savings; No significant impact on 2024 guidance expected [from Dec 20th].

- Ireland Dec Consumer Confidence: 73.9 v 74.1 prior.

- UK Dec Lloyds Business Barometer: 39 v 41 prior.

Levels as of 00:20 ET

- Nikkei 225, +1.3%, ASX 200 +1.7% , Hang Seng +0.6%; Shanghai Composite +0.1% ; Kospi +1.7%.

- Equity S&P500 Futures: +0.4%; Nasdaq100 +0.6%, Dax flat; FTSE100 +0.4%.

- EUR 1.0446-1.0426 ; JPY 156.69-156.33 ; AUD 0.6261-0.6244 ;NZD 0.5662-0.5641.

- Gold -0.1% at $2,641/oz; Crude Oil +0.6% at $69.85/brl; Copper +0.7% at $4.1238/lb.