Week in Review
- Asian equities started the week lower as the Bank of Japan unexpectedly raised its yield ceiling on government bonds, but gained some ground later in the week as Hong Kong outperformed.
- Releases from China’s Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) have been trickling in all week, noting a strong pro-growth orientation for China’s government going into 2023 with support measures for consumption, real estate, and electric vehicles (EVs) in the pipeline.
- The reality of reopening continued to take hold in many Chinese cities as many self-isolate during the winter season as COVID cases surge. Meanwhile, tourism stocks, among other reopening plays, continued to rally.
- We have confirmed that China has imported vaccines from BioNTech, meant for the use of foreigners residing in China, and Pfizer’s Paxlovid COVID treatment.
Friday’s Key News
Asian equities were down with an emphasis on growth stocks except for Malaysia and Thailand, following the US equity market’s steep decline yesterday. Volumes were light in Asia, unlike in the US yesterday. CNY was flat overnight, which we watch as a risk barometer.
Early afternoon, German pharma company BioNTech announced that the version of its mRNA vaccine produced by Fosun Pharma (ticker 600196 HK), which gained +3.84% overnight, has been approved in Hong Kong for use by those above the age of 12. Meanwhile, 11,000 doses of their mRNA vaccine arrived in Beijing for German citizens living in China. Remember that reforms in China are incremental, following the “test and expand” mantra. We know that this vaccine will likely be expanded to Mainland Chinese citizens, though it is hard to say exactly when. This development begs the question: where is Pfizer?
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