2 hours ago
Britain's inflation rate surprises with a rise to 4%, led by alcohol and tobacco
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Inflation in the UK unexpectedly rose to 4% year-on-year in December, fueled by a rise in alcohol and tobacco prices.
Economists polled by Portal had expected the annual headline CPI to fall slightly to 3.8%, after a steeper-than-expected decline to 3.9% in November.
The closely watched core CPI reading – which excludes fluctuating food, energy, alcohol and tobacco prices – came in at an annual 5.1%, above a Portal forecast of 4.9% and was unchanged from November.
“As we have seen in the US, France and Germany, inflation is not falling in a straight line, but our plan is working and we should stick to it,” British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said in a statement.
-Elliot Smith
8 hours ago
China reports fourth-quarter GDP decline as retail sales disappoint in December
China reported fourth-quarter GDP numbers slightly below expectations, indicating growth of 5.2% in 2023.
The country's economy grew 5.2% in the October-December quarter, China's National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That's below expectations of 5.3% growth forecast by economists in a Portal poll.
China's statistics bureau said the urban unemployment rate was 5.1% in December, while the unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 remained significantly higher at 14.9%.
The office temporarily suspended publication of the unemployment rate for the younger age group in the summer on the grounds that the calculation methods needed to be reevaluated. This unemployment rate had previously risen to record levels of over 20%.
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—Evelyn Cheng
6 hours ago
Hong Kong stocks plunge over 2%, led by real estate stocks
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was the worst-performing index in Asia for a second straight day, falling 2.76% as real estate and consumer staples fell.
The biggest loser in the HSI was Chinese tech giant Alibaba's subsidiary Alibaba Health Information Technology, which fell 7.43%.
This was followed by residential property manager Longfor Group and tech heavyweight Meituan, which lost 5.68% and 5.48% respectively.
9 hours ago
Business sentiment among major Japanese companies is declining
Business sentiment among major Japanese manufacturers fell in January for the first time in four months, according to Portal' monthly Tankan survey.
The manufacturing sentiment index was +6, up from +12 six points in December, while the services index rose to +29 in January from +26 the previous month.
The monthly Portal poll tracks the Bank of Japan's flagship quarterly Tankan survey and is calculated by subtracting the percentage of pessimistic respondents from optimistic respondents. A positive number means that there are more optimists than pessimists and vice versa.
Portal said the survey underscored concerns about weak foreign demand, particularly from China.
—Lim Hui Jie
10 hours ago
The market is overvalued by 9% to 10%, says NYU's Damodaran
According to Aswath Damodaran, the market appears to be overvalued by around 9-10%.
“The expectation game has turned against the market,” the professor at New York University's Stern School of Business told CNBC's “Closing Bell” on Tuesday.
Markets shocked investors in 2023, defying expectations of another difficult year. Now he fears the market has “turned too far in the other direction” as he believes inflation is under control and the economy has avoided recession.
“This year, good news is going to take a lot more than last year, and I think that's why I think stocks are in a dangerous place right now,” he said.
—Samantha Subin
11 hours ago
Interactive Brokers reports mixed earnings
Shares of Interactive Brokers fell nearly 3% after reporting mixed quarterly results.
According to LSEG, revenue was $1.15 billion, slightly above the $1.14 billion expected. However, the company posted earnings of $1.52 per share, falling short of expectations of $1.55.
According to Interactive Brokers, options volumes increased 21% and client accounts increased 23% year-over-year, while equity volumes fell 22%.
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Interactive Brokers falls after earnings
11 hours ago
Stock futures open flat
Stock futures opened flat on Tuesday evening.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17 points.
—Samantha Subin