Following weakness in the middle-east and as WTI prices slide back into the red (on the heels of record speculative shorts in crude oil), Asia-Pac stocks are opening to the downside (but only modestly). On the bright side, the ZARpocalypse has been delayed briefly as the Rand is rallying on the back of Zuma hiring a new finance minister. On the dark side, offshore Yuan continues to plummet, down 6 of the last 7 days (down 14 handles!) and the Yuan fixed weaker for the 6th day in a ro wto July 2011 lows. and signaling more turmoil ahead of The Fed's decision. AsiaPac credit markets are gapping notably wider, EM stocks down 9th day in a row to 2009 lows, and EM FX is plunging.
AsiaPac credit markets are gapping wider... Worst day in over 2 months..
- *JAPAN ITRAXX INDEX CLIMBS 5.25BPS TO 79BPS
- *AUSTRALIA ITRAXX INDEX RISES 7.9BPS TO 135BPS
- *ASIA ITRAXX INDEX RISES 6.5BPS TO 149.5BPS
Offshore Yuan was extending recent weakness into the Fix...
Earlier we asked...
Will the PBOC set the CNY at another 4 year low today
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 13, 2015
And the answer is - YES!
And for the 6th day in a row - and in growing size - PBOC fixed the Yuan weaker to its weakest sicne July 2011...
The Middle-East closed weak...
As Oil faded...
After Speculative crude shorts hit a new record high...
Japanese bond futures price just hit a record high...
And Nikkei plunged as China came to life...
The ZARpocalypse has been delayed a little...
As Zuma hired a new "cooperative" finance minister.. which rallied the South African Rand briefly... but even that is fading fast now...
Other currencies are turmoiling...
- *RUPIAH FALLS 0.9% VS USD, SET FOR BIGGEST DROP SINCE OCT. 29
MSCI AsiaPac (MXAPEXA) is drifting lower...
- *INDIA'S NIFTY FUTURES DROP 0.8% IN SINGAPORE
- *FTSE CHINA A50 DECEMBER FUTURES DECLINE 1.7% IN SINGAPORE
- *TAIWAN'S TAIEX INDEX FALLS 0.7% to 8,058.67 AT OPEN
- *SINGAPORE'S STRAITS TIMES INDEX FALLS 0.5% TO 2,819.78 AT OPEN
- *S.KOREA KOSPI INDEX FALLS 1.5%; SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS DROPS 2%
And EM is getting hammered...
- *MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX FALLS FOR 9TH DAY
- *MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX HEADS FOR LOWEST CLOSE SINCE 2009
Metals are all lower...
- *COPPER OPENS 0.5% LOWER AT $4,680.00 A TON IN LONDON
- *NICKEL OPENS 0.2% LOWER AT $8,680.00 A TON IN LONDON
- *ZINC OPENS 0.2% LOWER AT $1,549.00 A TON IN LONDON
There is some good news... China's Warren Buffett is back from the dead...
- *FOSUN CHAIRMAN GUO SAID TO ATTEND INTERNAL CONFERENCE
- *FOSUN’S 6.875% 2020 BONDS JUMP 4.8 CENTS TO 96.8 CENTS ON DLR
But...
- *FOSUN INTL FALLS 13.5% AFTER CHAIRMAN GUO ASSISTED PROBE
And that is not helping Chinese stocks... at 2-week lows...
For now US equity futures are flat
Charts: Bloomberg