4 hours ago
China’s consumer prices fall in October
China’s consumer prices fell in October as the world’s second-largest economy struggled with an uneven recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed the consumer price index fell 0.2% year-on-year, more than the 0.1% decline expected by economists polled by Portal.
This came after China’s CPI unexpectedly stagnated in September, highlighting the need for further policy support.
Producer prices fell 2.6%, slightly less than the expected 2.7% decline and marking the 13th straight month of declines.
Read the whole story here.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
4 hours ago
Country Garden shares plunge 6% in volatile trading
Hong Kong-listed shares of Country Garden, one of China’s largest property developers, fell over 6% in volatile trading.
Portal reported on Wednesday that China’s State Council had ordered the local government of Guangdong province to help Ping An Insurance Group rescue Country Garden.
Ping An denied the report in a statement later on Wednesday, saying: “The Portal story is untrue and there have been no such requests from relevant government departments/agencies.”
Hong Kong shares Ping An fell 1.43%, while the broader Hang Seng index fell 0.32%.
China’s CSI 300 was flat.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
6 hours ago
CNBC Pro: ‘Golden Opportunity’: Morgan Stanley says it’s a good time to buy gold stocks – and names its top global picks
According to Morgan Stanley, now is a good time to buy gold stocks.
Tensions in the Middle East sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas had sparked a rally in safe-haven gold as investment in the precious metal increased. The rally has since stalled, with spot gold prices up around 0.05% year to date.
What’s notable, however, is that gold stocks have underperformed the gold price by about 20% over the past three months, the investment bank’s analysts said, naming several stocks that could take advantage of the “golden opportunity.”
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
—Amala Balakrishner
6 hours ago
CNBC Pro: Want an 8% return? Buy “fallen angels” in the US bond market, says BNP Paribas
The bond bear market is the worst in more than 200 years, according to BNP Paribas’ global chief investment officer.
But, he said, one corner of the bond market represents an opportunity for investors: the U.S.’s “fallen angels” in the high-yield credit segment.
According to Morningstar, CNBC Pro takes a look at some of the top-rated funds and exchange-traded funds.
Subscribers can read more here.
– Weizhen Tan
13 hours ago
Stock pickers outperformed benchmarks in October as passive allocations increased
According to Bank of America, a difficult October for major averages was a good month for stock pickers, at least in relative terms, even as allocations to active strategies shrank.
About 68% of active large-cap managers outperformed the monthly average, which is well above average. The beat rate since the beginning of the year was 41%, above the average of 38%. The average active large-cap fund lost 1.9%, compared to a loss of 2.5% for the benchmark.
However, investors reduced their allocations to active funds to 47% of total assets under management. Bank of America equity and quant strategist Savita Subramanian said managers are “embracing the benchmark” as conviction about market direction fades.
Both value and core managers also had strong months, posting beat rates of 84% and 80%, respectively.
–Jeff Cox
20 hours ago
Mortgage rates post their biggest weekly decline in over a year
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances fell from 7.86% to 7.61% last week, marking the largest one-week decline in over a year.
Total mortgage application volume rose 2.5% last week compared to a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
—Diana Olick, Samantha Subin
11 hours ago
Gasoline futures fall to their lowest price since last Christmas as the energy complex weakens
The energy complex continued to decline throughout the day on Wednesday, pushing benchmark December RBOB gasoline futures as low as $2.1220 a gallon, the lowest level since December 16, 2022.
On the crude oil side, West Texas Intermediate contracts hit an intraday low of $74.91 per barrel in December, while Brent contracts hit a low of $79.20 per barrel in January, in both cases the weakest price since then 20th of July.
The S&P 500 Energy Index was among the hardest-hit groups of stocks on Wednesday. It fell 0.9% in late trading and has fallen nearly 9% so far in the fourth quarter, the worst of the S&P 500’s 11 major sectors.
Brent crude futures fell $2.07, or 2.54%, to close at $79.54 a barrel. U.S. crude oil lost $2.04, or 2.64%, to close at $75.33.
See grafic…
S&P 500 Energy Index since September 30th.
—Scott Schnipper, Christopher Hayes