2 hours ago
China’s big banks have cut deposit rates
China’s six state-owned commercial banks cut deposit rates on Thursday, according to checks from CNBC.
The move boosts banks’ profitability and paves the way for the People’s Bank of China to cut interest rates, Nomura analysts said.
The Chinese central bank left key interest rates unchanged for nine months. Updated rates will be released on June 15th and 20th.
2 hours ago
Central Bank of India keeps repo rate at 6.5% for second straight month
The Reserve Bank of India left its key buyback rate unchanged at 6.5% for the second straight month in May.
The Indian rupee weakened slightly by 0.1% following the announcement and last traded at 82.56 against the US dollar.
All 64 economists polled by Portal expected the central bank to keep the repo rate on hold at 6.50% for the second straight day. The Monetary Policy Committee of India consists of three members from the RBI and three external members.
The RBI kept its buyback rate at 6.5% last month, the first time since April 2022.
The repurchase rate or repo rate is the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends money against government securities to commercial banks or financial institutions in India.
– Clement Tan
4 hours ago
Commodity check: China’s coal imports are increasing, oil prices are stable
The roughly 90 percent rise in China’s coal and lignite imports in May shows the economy’s increasing demand for coal, Vivek Dhar of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a statement on Thursday.
“The surge in imports in the first five months of 2023 has been accompanied by an increase in China’s domestic coal production,” Dhar said in a daily note, adding that China’s industrial production data from early 2023 confirms the narrative of a surge in coal production, which is the demand of the superpower after coal.
Elsewhere, July copper futures hit a high of $3.8115 a pound on Wednesday, marking their highest level since May 11, when they traded as high as $3.8555 a pound. Futures last morning traded at $3.7445 in Asia.
Separate from oil, international benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.14% to $76.64 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.11% to $72.45.
–Lee Ying Shan, Gina Francolla
5 hours before
Australia’s trade surplus falls more than expected, exports fall
Australia’s trade surplus fell to A$11.16 billion ($7.44 billion) in April, well below the AU$14 billion expected by economists in a Portal poll, government data showed on Thursday.
Most notably, the country’s total exports fell 5% to AU$56.18 billion, compared with a 4% increase in April.
Exports of goods fell by 7% compared to April, but exports of services increased by 7.8%.
Total imports increased by 1.6% to AU$45.02 billion compared to March, with imports of goods and services increasing by 1.1% and 3.7% compared to March respectively.
The Australian dollar rose 0.14% against the US dollar to 0.6659.
6 hours ago
Japan’s GDP revised up significantly, growing 2.7% in the first quarter
Japan’s economy grew 2.7% on an annualized basis in the first quarter of the year, ahead of previous estimates of 1.6% last month, government data showed, as the economy continues to post robust spending.
Economists polled by Portal had expected growth of 1.9%.
The Japanese yen rose 0.14% to 139.98 against the US dollar shortly after the release. The economy grew 0.7% sequentially, beating Portal’ estimate of 0.5%.
Private demand increased by 1.2% and domestic demand also increased by 1%, while exports of goods and services fell by 4.2%. Imports also fell by 2.3%, revised government estimates showed.
– Jihye Lee
6 hours ago
CNBC Pro: Buy this cheap insurance giant with a 9.2% yield, says Bank of America
Bank of America has named a European insurance giant one of its top picks in the insurance sector because of its attractively low valuation.
In addition to the generous dividend yield, the investment bank expects the stock to rise 30% over the next 12 months.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
– Ganesh Rao
6 hours ago
CNBC Pro: Goldman Sachs is bullish on these five stocks in the AI space — one is up 140%
Goldman Sachs is bullish on generative artificial intelligence: It expects it to propel it higher in the broader S&P 500 — and in a specific area of technology.
It gives the fair value uptrend of the S&P 500 and lists stocks to buy.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
– Wheat Tan
12 hours ago
Mega-cap stocks underperform on Wednesday
On a successful day for small-cap companies, mega-cap stocks have underperformed the market.
Shares in tech giants Microsoft and Google fell 2.7% and 3.3%, respectively. Shares at several semiconductor companies also fell after the previous week’s rally. Nvidia lost 1.1% while Qualcomm shares lost 1.2%.
Financial services firms Visa and Mastercard fell 1.5% and 2.2%, respectively.
– Hakyung Kim
18 hours ago
Trade deficit widens in April, but less than expected
The US trade deficit widened sharply in April, albeit not quite as much as expected.
The imbalance in goods and services was $74.6 billion this month, down $1 billion from the Dow Jones estimate but up $14 billion from March. Exports fell $9.2 billion while imports rose $4.8 billion.
Imports are a net negative for GDP, so the April reading could mean lower growth for the second quarter.
-Jeff Cox
13 hours ago
Warner Bros. Discovery shares pop
Warner Bros. Discovery shares rose nearly 5% in midday trade after CNN announced CEO Chris Licht is leaving the company.
CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, said Licht was gone after a difficult year at the helm, which also included criticism of the channel’s town hall with former President Donald Trump. He also faced a rebellion among the talent and staff.
See grafic…
Warner Bros. Discovery
14 hours ago
According to the WSJ report, Amazon plans to introduce an ad tier on the Prime streaming service
According to a report by the WSJ, Amazon plans to set up ad-supported subscription tiers for Prime Video. The move would come as other competing streaming services are also rolling out ad-supported tiers to generate more revenue for their streaming services.
According to the report, the company is also in talks with Paramount Global and Warner Bros Discovery to potentially add the advertising-based tiers of their streaming services to Prime Video Channels.
Amazon shares lost more than 3% on Wednesday afternoon.