APac Equities Bid, E-Minis Little Changed To A Touch Softer Ahead Of Bank Earnings

The positive lead from Wall St. and the continuation of the recent USD softening generally supported Asia-Pac equities into the weekend, with the major benchmarks running 0.3-1.2% firmer.

• The Nikkei 225 outperformed, aided by quarterly earnings from Fast Retailing, which were accompanied by an upgrade in the company’s full-year operating profit guidance.
• There hasn’t been much in the way of meaningful news flow catalysts since the NY-Asia handover, but we note that northbound net flows seen in the HK-China Stock Connect schemes are running at the highest level since March 17. This comes after Chinese President Xi called on foreign investors to deepen their presence in Chinese markets as the country improves its business operating environment (on Thursday).
• E-minis were incrementally lower vs. settlement, holding to a tight range, with focus on large cap financial earnings later today (J.P.Morgan, Wells Fargo, Citi & BlackRock), which come in the wake of the well documented banking tumult seen in March. There wasn’t much impact from Boeing warning that it will likely have to reduce deliveries of its 737 Max plane owing to part issues, although the company noted that the problems caused are not an “immediate safety of flight issue and the in-service fleet can continue operating safely.”