Asian Equities Head Lower As Higher Yields Weigh On Market Sentiment

Asian equities are lower on Thursday, following moves made overnight in the US after another weak bond auction saw US treasury yields move higher. Japanese equities are the worst performing early, a stronger USD pushed the yen to 157.71 late Wednesday, close to where it was suspect the BoJ intervened about a month ago, although we are slightly off those levels at the moment. Earlier, Australia Building Approvals missed estimates, while NZ just recently released their budget.

• Japanese equities have gapped lower this morning, there has been no major headlines out so far this morning while it is also a quiet day for economic data in the region. Moves are being driven by higher US yields. The Nikkei 225 has tapped the 100-day EMA at 37,679, and now trade just above at 37,775 to be down 2% for the day, while the Topix is performing slightly better although has broken below the 50-day EMA and currently trade down 1.1% for the day.
• Taiwan equities are lower today, while foreign investor selling hit a 1 month high on Tuesday. The largest contributor to Taiex moves, TSMC is down 1.20% while the Taiex is down 0.80% today, although still holds above all major moving averages. The 14-day RSI is out of overbought territory falling to 62 from 75, while the MACD indictor is showing decreasing green bars. Later today we have GDP for 1Q with consensus at 6.50%, down slightly from prior reading of 6.51%.
• South Korean equities are lower today, Samsung is the largest contributor to the fall today after strikes continue to drag on. The Kospi has found some support after earlier tapping the 100-day EMA, we at 2,652.87, we now trade down 0.60% at 2,660.25, while the small-cap Kosdaq is faring slightly better trading off just 0.20%.
• Australian equities are lower today although have been slowly grinding higher since the open. Earlier, Private Capital Expenditure for 1Q come in slightly above consensus at 1% vs 0.7%, while Building Approvals were below consensus at -0.3% vs 1.8% for April, and down from a revised 2.7% in March. Australian agriculture stocks are higher on the back of China lifting the ban on Australian beef, while BHP is the largest contributor to the fall today, with The ASX200 is down 0.41% and has just broken below the 100-day EMA.
• Elsewhere in SEA, New Zealand equities are down 0.85%, the NZ Budget has just been released however there has been little reaction by local markets, Indonesian equities are 0.90% lower, Singapore equities are 0.13% lower, Philippines equities are 0.10% lower while Malaysian equities are unchanged.