Welcome to Nikkei Asian Preview.
The week will open with the World Health Assembly, thedecision-making
body of the World Health Organization, where countries are slatedto vote
on the highly-charged issue of whether to include Taiwan as an observer
-- a move strongly opposed by Beijing. The vote should produce
some
interesting mood music for major political events later in
the week: the
National People's Congress in Beijing and President
Tsai Ing-wen's
inauguration for a second term in Taipei.
Economic data will come from Japan with quarterly GDP on Monday
and Hong
Kong with monthly unemployment on Tuesday.
Annual results are expected
from two Japanese companies in
the news -- SoftBank Group and Avigan
maker Fujifilm Holdings.
Keep up with our reporting by following us on Twitter @NAR.
MONDAY
WHO decision-making body meets
The World Health Assembly gathers on Monday to discuss
the coronavirus,
but all eyes will be on the Taiwan vote. Although
as a
referendum on China's influence as a crisis that originated
expressed support for Taiwan's
inclusion in the WHA. Taiwan
has
earned plaudits for its response and containment of the
coronavirus.
The maybes: Any country that counts China as its largest trading
partner
is in the crosshairs. Even a few votes more than the expected
minimum of
22 states in Taiwan's favor would send a message to
Beijing.
Huawei marks a year on U.S. blacklist
Huawei Technologies' annual three-day global analysts'
summit
will be
streamed from the Shenzhen headquarters starting on
Monday.
The summit,
where the Chinese tech giant typically shows off its
latest innovations,
coincides with the first anniversary of its
addition
to the U.S. Entity
List, restricting its access to American
technologies.
U.S. President
Donald Trump last week extended the ban on
purchases of Chinese-made
telecoms equipment by
American carriers.
Red flag for SoftBank results
SoftBank Group has already
fiscal year
ended March, its largest ever loss, as the
coronavirus pandemic hit its
investment portfolio hard.
With the virus's end still out of sight,
analysts will be watching
whether Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's billionaire
founder and chairman, will maintain his
aggressive investment strategy.
Signals from Thailand's economic planners
Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Council
is scheduled
to announce gross domestic product for the quarter
ending March.
Southeast Asia's second largest economy has likely
shrunk year-on-year
over the three months, due to the coronavirus.
The Bank of Thailand expects that the economy will further contract
in
the second quarter. In a policy meeting scheduled for Wednesday,
the
central bank may move to support the economy by easing its
monetary
policy for the third time since the beginning of the year.
Bellwether trade data from Singapore
April trade statistics from Singapore will be an indicator of how the
the region.
For Singapore's small and open economy, disruptions in its top
five
trading partners -- China, Malaysia, the U.S., the Europea
Union and
Taiwan -- could deal a critical blow.
Will Alibaba appear on the Hang Seng Index?
Hang Seng Indexes will decide whether to include
Alibaba Group, Meituan
Dianping and Xiaomi in Hong Kong's
main share indexes. The decision will
follow debate over
whether the benchmark Hang Seng Index and Hang Seng
China
Enterprises Index should allow companies with different share
classes and secondary-listed companies. If approved, the move
would
follow HKEX's decision in 2018 to loosen its requirements,
paving the way
for Alibaba to list in Hong Kong in late 2019.
TUESDAY
Quarterly results from Baidu
Nasdaq-listed Baidu will release January-March quarterly
earnings on
Tuesday. The Chinese search engine giant's efforts
to strengthen its
mobile search engine and AI technologies
are expected to have catalyzed
top-line growth. Baidu's
revenues were up 6% year-on-year to 28.9 billion
yuan
($4.15 billion) in the previous quarter, but the coronavirus
drag on
China's economy has weighed on advertising.
WEDNESDAY
Results from Lenovo and Xiaomi
Supply disruptions in the March quarter have affected
Lenovo Group, the
world's largest notebook computer maker,
as much as competitors HP, Dell,
Acer and Asustek Computer.
But the global spike in telework, gaming and
entertainment has
driven laptop demand to a record high this quarter,
which may
buoy Lenovo's first quarter results on Wednesday.
Less rosy results will come on the same day from Xiaomi.
The world's No.
4 smartphone company has been hit hard
by lockdown measures in Southeast
Asia and India, where
Xiaomi's manufacturing partners have been ordered
to suspend production.
Taiwan's presidential inauguration
For her second and final inauguration, Taiwanese
President Tsai Ing-wen
will have a simple ceremony
due to the coronavirus. Although Taiwan is
expected
to lose in its push for observer status in the
World Health
Assembly due to Beijing's pressure,
Tsai's handling of the pandemic has
helped
her popularity -- not only domestically but also internationally.
Look for cross-strait relations to remain frosty under a second Tsai
administration.
FRIDAY
China's two sessions convene
After two months of virus-induced delay, China will convene
its largest
annual political gatherings. The "two sessions"
will kick off
on Thursday with the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference,
followed by the
National People's Congress the next day.
What's on the agenda? The government will lay out policy
directions and
the economic outlook, as the country grapples
with challenges wrought by
the coronavirus. The NPC will
also deliberate the national budget and
legislative bills, both
newly proposed and those ripe for revision,
including laws on
biosecurity and animal epidemic prevention.
Who will be there? Some 5,000 lawmakers, businesspeople
and government
officials from across the country will descend
on Beijing for the two
sessions, which will last for about a
week -- shorter than last year's
13-day event.
Quarterly results from China's e-commerce giants
New York-listed Alibaba Group Holding will report
January-March earnings
on Friday. The Chinese conglomerate,
whose business spans from e-commerce
to finance and technology,
has observed mixed results from the
coronavirus.
On one hand, demand for Alibaba's online retail,
teleconference and cloud
computing services has
skyrocketed amid lockdown measures. On the other
hand,
Alibaba's ability to capture that demand may have been
curtailed by
delivery workers and engineers stranded
at home for weeks.
Pinduoduo, which trails Alibaba and JD.com, will also report
earnings on
Friday. The Nasdaq-listed company's revenue growth
has missed Wall Street
estimates for two quarters in a row.
Hong Kong trade shows resume
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is scheduled to
host its first
event, a wedding fair, since the onset of the coronavirus
crisis in late
January. The city, however, reported a handful of
new COVID-19 cases
after three weeks of no infections, following
the relaxation of social
distancing measures. A spokesman for
HKCEC said the event could be
rescheduled "depending on
government regulations."
Year-end results from Avigan maker Fujifilm
Mainly known as a camera and medical equipment maker,
Fujifilm Holdings'
reputation as a pharmaceutical company has
risen with the potential of
its antiviral drug Avigan as a
coronavirus treatment. Investors will be
watching for
updates on the drug's production and a financial windfall
as
the Japanese government boosts its stockpile of Avigan and
fulfills
supply requests from other countries.
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