An hour ago
The Bank of Japan maintains its ultra-loose policy and lowers the core inflation forecast
The Bank of Japan was expected to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy at its first meeting this year but cut its core inflation forecast for the next fiscal year.
The BOJ unanimously decided to keep interest rates at -0.1% and stuck to its yield curve control policy, which keeps the cap on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield at 1%, it said in a policy statement released on Tuesday two day meeting.
In their quarterly outlook for the Japanese economy, BOJ board members cut their median growth forecast for core consumer prices – which it defines as inflation excluding food prices – to 2.4% for fiscal 2024 from April this year, compared with 2.8% the they had estimated in October.
All economists polled by Portal expected Japan's central bank to maintain its negative interest rate policy this month – making the BOJ the world's only central bank with negative interest rates. Governor Kazuo Ueda will explain this decision in a press conference later this afternoon.
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– Clement Tan
3 hours ago
Chinese authorities are reportedly weighing a $280 billion bailout for the stock market
According to Bloomberg, Chinese authorities are considering a package of measures worth 2 trillion yuan ($278.53 billion) to stabilize stock markets.
Bloomberg reported that it would come from the offshore accounts of state-owned companies, citing people familiar with the matter.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang recently chaired a Cabinet meeting in the country that called for “stronger and more effective measures to stabilize the market and boost market confidence.”
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 2%, driven by technology stocks, but mainland China's CSI 300 was slightly below zero.
—Lim Hui Jie
4 hours ago
Hong Kong stocks are recovering after two days of declines, while tech stocks are rising
Hong Kong stocks rose sharply on Tuesday, with the Hang Seng index rising more than 3% after two straight days of declines.
Shares of technology companies led the rise in beleaguered Hong Kong markets – Asia's worst performer last year – sending the Hang Seng Tech index up nearly 5%.
Shares of NetEase rose 5.23%, Alibaba gained 4.43%, Tencent gained 4.12% and Bilibili gained 8.3%.
The Hang Seng index had fallen almost 14% in 2023, falling for the fourth consecutive year.
Real estate stocks also rose on Tuesday, with Longfor Group up nearly 10%, Logan Group up 5.7% and Country Garden up 6.56%.
5 hours ago
Goldman Sachs raises its GDP forecast for the fourth quarter of 2023
Goldman Sachs raised its fourth-quarter gross domestic product forecast, forecasting GDP growth of 2.1%.
This corresponds to an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous estimate.
Higher-than-expected spending by state and local governments is the trigger for the revision of GDP estimates. “We expect S&L spending continued to increase by approximately 4.5% in the most recent quarter,” the company said.
The company also revised its 2023 GDP forecast to 2.8%, up 0.1 percentage points from its previous estimates.
Goldman also raised its state and local government forecast for 2024, leading to higher GDP growth estimates for the new year. The company now expects growth of 2.5% for the first quarter and 2.2% for the second quarter, an increase of 0.3 percentage points for both periods. The company raised its 2024 GDP forecast by 0.1 percentage points to 2.1%.
-Darla Mercado, Jeff Cox
6 hours ago
According to Deutsche Bank, the M&A window will reopen in the first half of 2024
“[A] “A “window of opportunity” will open for merger and acquisition activity in the first half of 2024, similar to opportunities in the IPO market,” Deutsche Bank London-based analysts Luke Templeman and Galina Pozdnyakova wrote in a report on Monday .
“With markets in relatively good shape, companies with M&A ambitions may want to push through deals ahead of a possible economic downturn and recession in the US later this year,” Deutsche Bank analysts said.
They cited reasons for optimism: “the durability of the equity rally (which tends to correlate with transaction volume), recent fourth quarter results showing a trend toward larger transactions, and the continued tightness of credit spreads despite volatility in bond markets. “
—Scott Schnipper, Michael Bloom
6 hours ago
Agilysis shares fall after third quarter results
Shares of Agilysys fell 4% in extended trading, even as the enterprise software developer reported third-quarter revenue that beat expectations.
The company reported revenue of $60.6 million, beating FactSet's consensus estimate of $60.1 million. For the year ending March 2024, the company again confirmed revenue in the range of $235 million to $238 million, compared to $237 million expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.
—Sarah Min
7 hours ago
United Airlines shares are rising following quarterly results
United Airlines rose more than 5% in extended trading after reporting strong fourth-quarter results. The airline operator posted adjusted earnings of $2 per share on revenue of $13.63 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, had expected earnings per share of $1.69 on revenue of $13.54 billion.
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United Airlines
However, the company warned that it expected a loss in the first quarter due to the grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, the model that was involved in the Alaska Airlines emergency earlier this month. On Tuesday's earnings call, United will likely face questions about the grounding and possible compensation from Boeing.
Shares of other airlines rose alongside United. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines each rose more than 2%. Alaska Air Group and Delta Air Lines each rose about 2%.
—Sarah Min
7 hours ago
Stock futures open flat on Monday
Stock futures opened little changed on Monday evening.
Dow futures fell 21 points, or 0.05%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.01% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.04%.
—Sarah Min