By Trade The News

Markets Snapshot (as of 05:30GMT)
- Nikkei225 -0.5%
- S&P/ASX -0.4%
- Kospi -0.9%
- Taiwan Taiex +0.3%
- Singapore Straits Times +0.8%
- Shanghai Composite +0.4%
- Hang Seng -0.1%
- S&P Futures -0.1% at 1,322
- April gold +0.1% at $1,760/oz
- March Crude +0.2% at $96.56

Overview/Top Headlines
- Markets were weaker for most of the day ahead of key US non-farm payroll numbers, continued lethargic debt swap talks in Greece. Singapore was the exception, it stayed in positive territory for the majority of the session, however as the European open got closer trading turned around in Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Japan earnings season treks on with most companies showing disappointing results putting an overall damper on the market.

Major names Honda and Softbank both fell over 1% in the day after weaker earnings and outlook. Weak earnings from the world’s largest shipbuilders, Samsung Heavy and Hyundai Heavy both dragged the Kospi down with Hyundai Heavy losing over 5%. Japan Fin Min Azumi again reiterated he will take firm action on currencies when needed; recent levels do not reflect fundamentals. Japan Econ Min Furukawa called on the BOJ to consider measures to address strength of JPY; Money market liquidity is sharply lower, USD/JPY tested ¥76.14. On the whole currencies were tightly traded with little change.

Speakers/Geopolitical/In the press
- (IN) India Central Bank Deputy Gov Gokarn: High liquidity deficit continues to motivate open market operations; Rate cut is the next logical action but will depend on other macros economic signals – India Media
- (CN) China Vice Premier Li: China will expand its domestic demand while opening the economy
- (US) Fed’s Fisher: Fed may have greater latitude to pursue accommodation if inflation runs below 2%; Fed should not attach dates to policy but focus on economy
- (CN) China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC): To limit the number of mortgage loans available to buyers from overseas – financial press
- (JP) IMF’s Dep Dir Shinohara: Japan’s fiscal consolidation must be a priority

Equities
- PC: Reports 9-month Net loss ¥333.8B v ¥114.7B y/y, Pretax loss ¥350.5B v ¥227.3B y/y, Rev ¥5.97T v ¥6.65T y/y
- LYC.AU: Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) in Malaysia has only issued a temporary license so they can verify safety claims made by the company – Malaysia press
- TM: Aims to sell 9.58M vehicles worldwide in 2012, up 21% from 2011
- Tepco, 9501.JP: Japan Trade Min Edano: Any future rate hikes will be taken into account when assessing the long term restructuring plans of Tepco – Nikkei
- WBC.AU: CEO Kelly: Additional job cuts possible this year – SMH
- Wynn Macau, 1128.HK: Reports Q4 Net $239.9M v $208.8M y/y, Rev $995.5M v $912.2M y/y

US Equities
- GNW: Reports Q4 $0.17 (op net) v $0.19e, R$2.60B v $2.6Be; +6.1% afterhours
- TTWO: Reports Q3 $0.27 v $0.23e, R$236.3 v $249Me; +1.8% afterhours
- NVLS: Reports Q4 $0.56 v $0.47e, R$282.7M v $278Me; +0.3% afterhours
- GILD: Reports Q4 $0.97 v $1.05e, R$2.20B v $2.2Be; +4.7% afterhours
- FISV: Reports Q4 $1.27 v $1.27e, R$1.16B v $1.1Be; flat afterhours
- WYNN: Reports Q4 $1.55 v $1.29e, R$1.34B v $1.4Be; -3.3% afterhours

FX/Fixed Income/Commodities
- (KR) South Korea may cuts its imports of Iran crude oil by up to 40K/day – Korean press
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings rise by 6.0 tons to 1,277.1 tons (3rd consecutive days of increase, highest since 1,280 on Dec 15th)

Economic Data
- (CN) CHINA JAN NON-MANUFACTURING PMI: 52.9 V 56.0 PRIOR
- (CN) CHINA DEC INDUSTRIAL PROFITS YTD Y/Y: 25.4% V 24.4% PRIOR
- (CN) CHINA JAN HSBC SERVICES PMI: 52.5 V 52.5 PRIOR
- (HK) HONG KONG JAN PMI: 51.9 V 49.7 PRIOR
- (LK) SRI LANKA CENTRAL BANK RAISES REPURCHASE RATE 50BPS T0 7.50%, NOT EXPECTED
- (AU) AUSTRALIA JAN NEW AUTO SALES M/M: -6.9% V -5.9% PRIOR – VFACTS
- (UK) UK JAN LLOYDS BUSINESS BAROMETER: -11 V -23 PRIOR
- (AU) Australia Jan AiG Performance of Service Index: 51.9 v 49.0 prior (5-month high)
- (RU) RUSSIA JAN SERVICES PMI: 56.5 V 53.8 PRIOR
- (IN) INDIA JAN MARKIT SERVICES PMI: 58.0 V 54.2 PRIOR
- (EU) EUROPE JAN MONSTER EMPLOYMENT INDEX M/M: 127 V 136 PRIOR (116 y/y)
- (US) US JAN MONSTER EMPLOYMENT INDEX M/M: 133 V 140 PRIOR
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND DEC NET MIGRATION: -520 V -50 PRIOR

This article originally appeared on www.stockmarketsreview.com, and is reproduced here as part of our collaboration with StockMarketsReview.com