Equities Lower As Asia Enjoys LNY

It's a slow day for equities, especially with most of Asia observing Lunar New Year. US Equity Futures remain largely unchanged as the market anticipates the US CPI release on Wednesday.

• In Australia, equities are trending lower today, currently down by 0.20%. Health stocks, particularly CSL due to disappointing Phase 3 AEGIS-II trial results, causing their equity of 5.10%. Miners are also contributing to the downturn, with the ASX Metals and Mining Index 0.66% lower at 5880. A crucial level to watch is 5800, and a break below could signal further weakness, possibly moving towards the year lows of 5600. WBC Consumer Confidence and NAB Business Confidence/Conditions are on the agenda for tomorrow, with Employment data due on Thursday.
• New Zealand equities have dipped after remarks from the RBNZ Governor and Deputy Governor, emphasizing persistently high inflation and the system's capacity to handle elevated interest rates. The NZX50 is down 0.72%. Looking ahead, 2yr Inflation expectations are due tomorrow, followed by House Sales and Food prices on Wednesday.
• Indonesia equities are trending higher today, up by 0.40%, driven by financials, especially Bank Mandiri, higher by 2.20% continuing it's strong performance following a positive earnings outlook announcement last week. Note that Indonesia's Presidential elections are held on Wednesday, which will be a public holiday.
• Philippines equities show a slight decline today off 0.20%, lacking significant earnings or market headlines. Investors might be looking to secure profits after the PSEi hit 1-year highs on Thursday. The PSEi has witnessed 130m of inflows this year, with 42m of that coming in the past week.