In today’s briefing:
- Ohayo Japan | Eyes on Yen
- [Blue Lotus Daily]:1810HK/LI US/LKNCY US/AAPL/TSM/1810 HK
- [Blue Lotus Daily – TMT Update]:700 HK/3690 HK/TCOM US/BIDU US/MNSO US/PDD US/BABA US/NTES US
- Japan Consumers: Still Cautious Spending but Big Savings Will Unlock when Real Wages Rise
- Japan – Domestic Credit Growth Acceleration Higher Than Developed Asian Countries
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Ohayo Japan | Eyes on Yen
- U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite up for a third consecutive day. The Dow Jones saw its first decline in five sessions.
- The Japanese yen declined to its weakest levels against the dollar since 1990, raising concerns about intervention from Japanese authorities
- Asahi Kasei plans to invest around 200 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in a new plant in Canada to produce components for electric vehicle batteries
[Blue Lotus Daily]:1810HK/LI US/LKNCY US/AAPL/TSM/1810 HK
- 1810HK/LI:Tesla cuts prices of all series by 14,000yuan to compete with Xiaomi SU7 and LI L6,with the fomer facing long time of delivery and the latter had a mediocre start(//-)
- LI US: LI cuts price for all series, might be due to difficulty to achieve delivery targets (/)
- LKNCY US: New products fail to bring meaningful incremental DAU growth, bodes ill for 2Q24 sales(-)
[Blue Lotus Daily – TMT Update]:700 HK/3690 HK/TCOM US/BIDU US/MNSO US/PDD US/BABA US/NTES US
- 700 HK: Tencent’s “Dungeon & Fighter Mobile” is officially scheduled to be released on May 21st.(+)
- 3690 HK/TCOM US: Meituan and Ctrip revenue growth may lower than industry average, indicating intensified competition.(-/-)
- BIDU US: Baidu ADS sets revenue and profit indicators for Robotaxi(/)
Japan Consumers: Still Cautious Spending but Big Savings Will Unlock when Real Wages Rise
- This in-depth analysis of consumption data shows the level of caution among consumers caused by inflation and fears of more price rises to come.
- Food expenditure has risen to a record high due to higher prices and this has curtailed spending in other categories like fashion for most income classes.
- Savings rates are at record levels, however, boosting opportunities for the better brands and retailers. If wages rise in real-terms, then consumer confidence is likely to rebound.
Japan – Domestic Credit Growth Acceleration Higher Than Developed Asian Countries
- Japan’s domestic credit growth is now running at 4.2% YoY in the latest month in February 2024.
- The slope of Japan’s domestic credit growth is greater than all developed Asia Pacific peer countries.
- Weaker JPY can further raise interest in tourism, and USD translation of earnings for megabanks.