Asia-Pac Equities Mixed, With Plenty Of Headline Worry Apparent

A negative lead from Wall St., worries surrounding Chinese economic growth (with the latest Caixin m’fing PMI print missing exp., providing the sharpest rate of contraction observed since Feb ’20, which represented the onset of the wider COVID breakout), questions re: the potential delisting of Chinese equities in the U.S. and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine provided pressure for regional equity benchmarks during the early part of the first Asia-Pac session of the new quarter.

• A more downbeat BoJ Tankan survey (although the headline metrics were largely in line to a touch better than expected), including softer than expected capex intentions, provided further headwinds.
• Elsewhere, dozens of Hong Kong equities were halted after missing a deadline re: filing annual reports.
• Still, mainland Chinese equities bounced from early lows, with most pointing to hope re: increased policymaker support for the economy, with the CSI 300 adding ~1% during the Chinese morning session.
• The Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng also recovered from worst levels, aided by the bounce in Chinese equities. Continued BoJ easing and a weaker JPY added some f support for Japanese equities, but the Nikkei 225 is still ~0.5% lower on the day, given the early headwinds. While U.S. e-mini futures added 0.3% to settlement levels, after a sharp month-/quarter-end related sell off late in the NY day.