The Nikkei 225 & ASX 200 bounced on..........>

STOCKS: The Nikkei 225 & ASX 200 bounced on Wednesday, benefitting from the

positive lead that Wall St. provided (reasons for yesterday's bounce in risk

sentiment have been outlined elsewhere), while the Hang Seng struggled as

traders reacted to Coronavirus developments after the elongated weekend,

although the index has recovered from worst levels.

- Worth recapping Apple's quarterly earnings results, released after market

yesterday. Revenue, EPS and iPhone sales topped exp., with the firm's cash pile

also growing. Q2 revenue guidance also topped exp. Elsewhere, iPad and service

sales revealed marginal misses vs. exp. These results and the after market

uptick in Apple shares supported U.S. equity index futures in Asia. Also worth

flagging that Apple has restricted employee travel in China to critical only,

shutting one mainland store due to the coronavirus, while cutting back on

Chinese retail store hours.

- Nikkei 225 +0.6%, CSI 300 -2.4%, ASX 200 +0.6%.

- S&P 500 futures +11, DJIA futures +86, NASDAQ 100 futures +39.