The Bank of Japan will review the side effects of monetary easing, local newspapers report
The Bank of Japan will examine the side effects of monetary easing at its policy meeting next week, local newspaper Yomiuri reported.
“This is because the market interest rate remains distorted even after the policy review at the end of last year,” Yomiuri wrote.
Last month, the central bank widened its yield curve tolerance for 10-year JGBs to 0.5% either side of its 0% target, up from the previous range of 0.25% .
The Japanese yen last strengthened 0.63% to 131.65 against the greenback.
—Lee Ying Shan
China’s consumer price index rises 1.8% in December
Inflation in China accelerated 1.8 percent in December from a year ago as food prices rose, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
“Fresh vegetable and fruit prices increased by 7.0% and 4.7%, respectively,” the report said.
The CPI figure was in line with Reuters expectations and higher than the previous month’s reading of 1.6%.
The reading was also flat with November, improving from a 0.2% decline.
China’s producer price index fell 0.7% in December from a year earlier, worse than expectations for a 0.1% drop.
– Lee Ying Shan
CNBC Pro: This global stock is undervalued and offers a ‘very good’ entry point for investors, says top-performing fund strategist.
Shares in a global stock exchange are trading at a “very good” entry point for investors following a recent drop in the company’s shares, according to a fund strategist.
Hannah Gooch-Peters, global equity investment analyst at Sanlam Investments, said the stock market had performed well last year due to volatility in fixed income markets and high spot commodity prices first
Gooch-Peters, who is part of the team behind Sanlam’s Global High Quality Fund, said the company was an attractive long-term investment because of its strong recurring business model.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
– Ganesh Rao
Australia’s November trade surplus beats expectations
Australia posted a trade surplus of A$13.2 billion (about $9.1 billion) in November, beating the Reuters forecast of A$10.4 billion.
The November figure also marks an increase on October’s trade surplus of A$12.74 billion.
Australia’s imports fell 1.5% in November from October, while exports fell 0.4%.
—Lee Ying Shan
CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley calls its ‘top pick’ in Chinese tech, gives it more than 70% upside
China’s tech sector has come under pressure in recent years, thanks to a regulatory crackdown and the fallout from the country’s zero-Covid policy.
But Wall Street is giving Chinese tech stocks some love again, with Morgan Stanley naming its “top pick” for the sector.
Professional subscribers can read more here.
— Xavier Ong
Cryptocurrencies trade higher as Binance announces hiring
Cryptocurrencies earned after Binance announced it plans to increase its workforce by 15% to 30% by 2023.
Bitcoin was 2.78% higher at $17,932.69, according to data from Coin Metrics. Ether was last traded 3.86% higher at $1,388.98.
Binance’s move contrasts with rivals such as Coinbase, Kraken and Huobi, which have laid off large swaths of staff amid the crypto crisis.
—Lee Ying Shan
Stocks close higher as investors prepare for Thursday’s inflation reading
Stocks ended higher on Wednesday as investors were optimistic ahead of Thursday’s CPI report.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.8%, marking a four-day losing streak. A rally of this length hasn’t been seen in the tech-heavy index since September.
The Dow ended up more than 260 points, or 0.8%.
The S&P 500 added 1.3%. The 11 sectors of the broad index finished the day, led by the real estate sector with an increase of 3.6%.
—Alex Harring
Natural gas hits a low not seen since 2021
Natural gas hit a trading low on Wednesday not seen since 2021.
The commodity fell 1.1% to $3.598.
It fell at one point to $3.442. This is a low not seen since June 24, 2021, when natural gas fell to $3.415.
Natural gas has fallen 18.9% since the beginning of 2023.
—Gina Francolla, Alex Harring
Fed indicator shows inflation could be hotter than street expects
Thursday’s consumer price index report could show inflation running at a higher pace than Wall Street expects, according to a Cleveland Fed gauge.
The central bank’s inflation tracker points to headline CPI rising at a monthly pace of 0.1%, while the core, excluding volatile food and energy prices, points to a 0.5% gain.
Both numbers beat the Dow Jones consensus estimates of a 0.1% decline in the headline and a 0.3% gain in the core.
On an annualized basis, the Cleveland Fed’s model points to a 6.6% headline gain and 5.9% core gain, compared with Dow Jones estimates of 6.5% and 5.7% respectively .
—Jeff Cox