Asia-Pacific Markets, Federal Reserve, Raising Interest Rates, Reserve Bank of Australia

Asian tech stocks fell sharply on Wednesday after comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Hang Seng Tech fell 3.7% in the afternoon session, with JD.com down 4.7% and Alibaba trading down 3.56%.

In South Korea, SK Innovation and SK Hynix were also down 3% and 2.47%, respectively, with Samsung Electronics also trading down 0.82%.

Taiwan-listed Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) and MediaTek shares also declined in Taipei.

– Jihe Lee

Stocks have broadly rebounded from their 2022 lows this year, but veteran investor Nancy Tingler believes there are “still a lot of places” to find quality stocks with growing dividends and reliable dividend growth.

She says that investors should be careful about where they invest their money – a view echoed by many market professionals.

Professional subscribers can read more here.

– Xavier Ong

Citi analysts wrote in a daily note that Thailand may hold back interest rate increases in May.

He added that there is a possibility of a “split vote” among MPC members on March 29, and a “possible pause in a rate hike in May.”

Thailand The headline inflation rate for February increased by 3.79%. On an annual basis, official data showed, it was less than a 4.18% increase according to analysts polled by Reuters.

Citi expects to continue raising interest rates by 25 basis points at its next meeting.

– Lee Ying Chan

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell more than 2% in the first hour of trading, led by cyclical consumer, healthcare, basic materials and technology stocks.

Real estate stocks also saw sharp losses, including Longfor Group Holdings, which fell 4.59%, and Country Garden, which fell 4.56%.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi fell more than 4% and NetEase fell more than 3%.

– Jihe Lee

Oil prices traded slightly higher after the OPEC Secretary General confirmed that Russian oil production remains strong, with new export partners in the middle.

“Russian production has been resilient, and has managed to find new homes,” he said. Haitham Al-Ghais, Secretary General of OPEC, said, “It is not only China and India, I think it is Turkey as well.” said during the CERAWEEK conference Held by S&P Global.

Brent crude futures rose in the latest trading, by 0.23%, to $83.48 a barrel, while US Brent crude futures rose by 0.06%, to $77.63 a barrel.

– Lee Ying Chan

US-listed shares of Singapore-based tech giant Sea jumped 21.78% after it reported its first-ever quarterly earnings. Latest earnings report Tuesday.

“Recent cost-cutting measures such as a salary freeze and headcount have given Sea shares some much-needed reprieve,” said Jonathan Wu, senior research analyst at Philip Securities.

The sea witnessed billions of dollars in losses in previous years.

The company generated positive net income of $422.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 from cost improvements, up from negative $616.3 million in the same period last year.

“The positive surprise in Q4 2022 earnings will provide continued upward momentum for the sea — especially with the path to profitability clearing up slightly,” Wu said.

China’s economy has seen weaker imports despite its rapid reopening, said Wang Tao, head of China Economic Research at UBS, in a note.

It said in a note: “Despite rapid reopenings (sequentially) in the past two months, year-on-year domestic demand growth may have been relatively weak.

It added that the volume of imports of copper ore and iron ore both improved from December due to a pickup in construction activities.

“Our examinations of the channels indicate that the resumption of work in the construction sector was slow in the first two weeks after the Chinese yuan holiday, but accelerated in the third and fourth weeks,” she said, noting that the growth of crude oil imports also declined along with that of IT components and automobiles. products.

On Tuesday, China saw exports drop 6.8% in February in US dollar terms, and imports fell 10.2%.

– Jihe Lee

A source familiar with the matter said the US plans to eliminate Covid testing requirements for travelers arriving from China NBC News.

The requirements, which applied regardless of nationality and vaccination status, began on January 5.

“Since the policy was implemented, we have evidence that cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining [People Republic of China] “We’ve gathered better information about the surge,” the person told NBC, adding that the US will continue to monitor cases in China and around the world.

NBC reported that the Flyer-Based Genome Surveillance Program will remain in place, and will continue to monitor flights from China and regional transportation hubs.

– NBC News, Lee Ying Chan

Government data showed on Wednesday that Japan’s seasonally adjusted current account balance rose to 216.3 billion yen ($1.57 billion) in January.

The surplus in the balance saw a sharp decline from the December balance of 1.18 trillion yen and the November balance of 1.92 trillion yen.

The Japanese yen fell slightly on Wednesday morning to 137.46 against the US dollar

– Jihe Lee

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said in a speech on Wednesday that the central bank is close to reaching a point to stop further interest rate increases.

“With monetary policy now in constraining territory, we are closer to the point where it would be appropriate to halt interest rate increases to allow more time to assess the state of the economy,” he said, according to a transcript.

“At what point it would be appropriate to stop will be determined by the data and our assessment of the outlook,” Lowe said.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief economist Belinda Allen said in a note that the letter did not reflect Tuesday’s statement, which carried a less hawkish tone.

Allen added that the CBA expects the central bank to rise again before stalling to 3.85%. – Or hold rates at the next monetary policy meeting in April.

– Jihe Lee

The gap between the two-year Treasury yield and the 10-year Treasury note widened to 100 basis points during Tuesday’s trading. This difference has not stabilized at levels of this magnitude since September 22, 1981.

The two-year yield jumped to its highest since 2007 after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank may need to pick up the pace of interest rate hikes again.

The inversion of the yield curve is a half-century phenomenon that has accurately signaled future recessions.

– Yun Lee

There were two major quotes in Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony regarding markets.

“The latest economic data came out stronger than expected, indicating that the final level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously expected,” Powell said in prepared remarks.

This means that the Fed may continue to rise for longer than the market expected. Many wanted the Fed to stop hiking soon.

“If the totality of the data suggests that a faster tightening is warranted, then we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes,” Powell said.

The recent Fed increase was only a quarter point as it slowed the pace. Powell is hinting here that the Fed may need to step up, which is a huge fear of the markets.

– John Milloy

The US-listed ETF only invests in companies that are led by women, with the belief that the “female factor” outperforms.

The ETF was created after the fund manager, who has a background in investment banking and private equity, noticed that institutional barriers to female candidates for senior positions meant that those who were successful had to perform at a higher level, which led to an overall improvement. performance.

The index-based ETF has outperformed its benchmark by more than 20% over the past five years.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Ganesh Rao

Meta plans another round of layoffs that could affect thousands of workers as soon as this week, according to Bloomberg News a report Posted Monday evening.

The job cuts come after the company laid off 13% of its workforce in November as part of a major cost-cutting plan. CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously told investors that 2023 would be the company’s “year of efficiency.”

Meta shares rose 1.5% during pre-market trading Tuesday after the news.

– Hakyung Kim