3 hours ago
Japan approves reserved funds to cover damage from earthquake on New Year's Day
Japan's Cabinet will approve the use of its reserved funds to cover damage from the earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year's Day, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
Portal reported that the amount to be discussed at next Tuesday's meeting is likely to be double that
Nearly 2 billion yen (US$13.95 million) was used in similar disasters in the past.
The reserved funds are used by the Japanese government to address unexpected spending needs and require Cabinet approval before they can be used.
—Lim Hui Jie, Portal
6 hours ago
Caixin China's Services Purchasing Managers' Index grew at its fastest rate since July in December
A private survey showed that service activity in China continued to increase in December and foreign demand for the country's services also increased.
The Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index rose to 52.9 in December from 51.5 in November, rising for the 12th straight month. The survey also showed that the growth rate was the fastest since July.
“Growth momentum across China's services sector continued to recover at the end of 2023,” the survey report said. “Employment saw a slight increase as companies exercised caution in hiring employees. However, the slight increase was enough to absorb new orders, so backlogs remained unchanged.”
A PMI reading above 50 indicates an expansion in activity, while a reading below this level indicates a decline.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
7 hours ago
Business activity in Hong Kong is improving at the fastest rate since April
Business activity in Hong Kong's private sector improved at its fastest pace since April, according to S&P Global.
The city's purchasing managers' index rose to 51.3 in December, up from 50.1 in November.
The S&P Global report noted that new business and production in Hong Kong returned to growth, although external demand conditions remained subdued.
“The improvement in overall sales still supported faster employment growth, while companies also increased inventory levels as cost pressures eased,” the report continued.
—Lim Hui Jie
8 hours ago
Japan Airlines shares plunge over 2% as markets react to the collision
Japan Airlines shares fell as much as 2% on Thursday before recovering slightly as Japanese markets resume trading and react to the Jan. 2 collision of a JAL flight at Tokyo's Haneda airport.
The crash occurred when JAL Flight 516 collided with a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft, killing five of the six crew members on board the Coast Guard aircraft.
In a regulatory filing with the Japanese stock exchange on Thursday, JAL said the estimated damage from the plane collision was 15 billion yen (105 million), which was covered by insurance.
8 hours ago
Australian shares continue their slide, hitting two-week lows
Australian shares continued to slide after hitting a record high earlier this week, falling to a two-week low on Thursday.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.53% to trade near 7,495 – its lowest level since December 19 – pulling back from its all-time high of 7,632.70 hit on Tuesday.
Australian markets fell, tracking a gloomy global mood after minutes from the US Federal Reserve meeting in December showed interest rate cuts were likely in 2024, but provided little clarity on when that might happen.
Bets that the Reserve Bank of Australia will stop raising interest rates have boosted the country's stock market – but those hopes have been partly driven by the Fed's dovish stance.
The Australian dollar was up 0.1% against the U.S. dollar in early trading.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
9 hours ago
CNBC Pro: These 9 stocks are cheaper than the S&P 500 — and should see big earnings growth in 2024
Stock prices surged in 2023 as investors were buoyed by the prospect of an end to interest rate hikes in 2024.
Tech stocks led the way as trends like artificial intelligence boomed.
The S&P 500 gained 24%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 2023 up 43.4% in its best year since 2020.
Still, there are some stocks that trade at cheaper valuations than the broader S&P 500 and that analysts expect to see strong earnings growth in 2024.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read about it here.
– Weizhen Tan
9 hours ago
CNBC Pro: Deutsche Bank names the stock that will be the “last man standing” in autonomous driving
Building the technology that powers self-driving cars is proving incredibly difficult for automakers.
Most recently, Cruise, GM's robotaxi service, was closed in San Francisco due to safety issues.
With that in mind, Deutsche Bank has called a stock a “rare long-term growth story” in the industry, as the company's technology can find buyers from any global automaker looking to add autonomous driving features.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
– Ganesh Rao
12 hours ago
Oil prices rise more than 3% as US warns Houthis and OPEC promises unity
Oil prices rose more than 3% on Wednesday as the U.S. warned Houthi fighters of attacks in the Red Sea and OPEC promised unity to support market stability.
Libya's Sharara oil field was also shut down due to protests, two engineers told Portal.
The February West Texas Intermediate contract rose $2.32, or 3.29%, to close at $72.70 a barrel. The March Brent contract gained $2.36, or 3.11%, to close at $78.25 a barrel.
–Spencer Kimball
14 hours ago
Fed minutes show rate cuts are likely, but the path is still uncertain
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting showed that while the central bank expects a rate cut in 2024, it believes its current monetary policy stance is appropriate.
“In their submitted forecasts, almost all participants indicated that, given improvements in their inflation outlook, their baseline forecasts implied that a lower target range for the federal funds rate through the end of 2024 would be appropriate,” the document said.
It continued: “Participants generally emphasized the importance of maintaining a careful and data-dependent approach to monetary policy decisions and reiterated that it would be appropriate for monetary policy to remain on a restrictive path for some time until inflation becomes clear “moves sustainably towards a decline.” the goal of the committee.”
–Jeff Cox
18 hours ago
The yield on 10-year government bonds is over 4%
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose back above 4% on Wednesday, reversing a downward trend seen toward the end of 2023.
See grafic…
10 years back over 4%
The move put pressure on technology stocks and the S&P 500 real estate sector. It is also available in the minutes of the Federal Reserve's December meeting.
—Fred Imbert
18 hours ago
Job offers meet expectations; Manufacturing scale increases
According to separate economic reports Wednesday, job vacancies were about in line with expectations while manufacturing continued to contract.
The Labor Department's job vacancies and workforce turnover survey showed the number of job openings at 8.79 million, roughly in line with the Dow Jones estimate of 8.8 million. The number of layoffs and new hires fell.
Turning to manufacturing, the ISM manufacturing report for December recorded a reading of 47.4, just above the estimate of 47.2 and better than November's 46.7. The number represents the percentage of companies reporting expansion for the month. So anything below 50 means a decline.
–Jeff Cox