Equities Nudge Higher, Plenty Of Micro News To Note

Equity markets were generally unchanged to a touch higher during the first Asia-Pac session of the week, building on a positive Friday on Wall St. U.S. House Speaker Pelosi's guarded optimism re: the prospect of a U.S. fiscal pact was touted by some, although her words may just be an effort to give the Democrats some accusatory power if such a deal fails to come to fruition.

• Names in China and Hong Kong grabbed the headlines. SMIC struggled after the FT reported that "the US government has sanctioned China's biggest chipmaker…the US Department of Commerce told companies that exports to SMIC posed an "unacceptable risk" of being diverted to "military end use"… Companies now require licences to export such products to SMIC." Banking giant HSBC is on course to lodge its largest round of daily gains over a decade after news that Ping An Insurance boosted stake in the bank. Elsewhere, an after-hours Friday statement from Chinese developer Evergrande provided the name with some respite, as the company looked to play down worries surrounding its liquidity position. Also worth flagging that TikTok saw (temporary) respite re: the Trump administration's crackdown on the co., in the wake of a U.S. judge's ruling in favour of the company.
• Chinese industrial profit data also supported mainland sentiment.
• Nikkei 225 +0.7%, Hang Seng +0.7%, CSI 300 +0.1%, ASX 200 unch.
• S&P 500 futures +13, DJIA futures +131, NASDAQ 100 futures +47.