3 hours ago
Meituan shares fall to 44-month low as delivery company warns of slower growth in fourth quarter
A delivery worker for Meituan in Shanghai, China, on Friday, May 27, 2022.
Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hong Kong-listed shares of Meituan fell more than 11% to HK$91.65 by afternoon trading.
Shares of the Chinese delivery company fell to their lowest level since late March 2020 as the company struck a cautious tone in its third-quarter earnings release, according to a FactSet transcript.
“We expect the gross profit in the fourth quarter to be slightly lower year-on-year than the growth rate in the third quarter,” Meituan management warned in the conference call.
The company said Tuesday that its third-quarter revenue rose 22.1% year-on-year to 76.47 billion Chinese yuan ($10.81 billion). Adjusted net profit was 5.7 billion yuan ($809 million).
4 hours ago
South Korean markets will see the highest earnings growth next year, according to Goldman Sachs
South Korean stocks have so far proven to be an undervalued and unpopular part of the Asia-Pacific stock market, but that could make them attractive to investors next year, according to Goldman Sachs.
Goldman even argued that South Korean markets offer the highest potential earnings growth in Asia Pacific in 2024 as the semiconductor sector recovers from sharp earnings declines. The investment firm remains overweight South Korean stocks.
“We forecast EPS growth to recover to 54% in 2024 and grow another 20% in 2025,” Goldman said, referring to Korea’s benchmark Kospi index.
South Korea is Asia’s fourth-largest economy, but its markets are often viewed by analysts as undervalued, leading to the so-called “Korea discount.”
Read the whole story here.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
4 hours ago
The New Zealand dollar rises 1% as the central bank keeps interest rates on hold and warns of further rate hikes
Pedestrians walk past the Reserve Bank of New Zealand headquarters in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, September 13, 2012.
Mark Coote | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The New Zealand dollar rose 1% to almost 0.62 against the U.S. dollar after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left its official interest rate at 5.5% and warned rates could rise to combat inflation.
The Kiwi dollar jumped to its highest level in almost four months following the decision. The currency is down 2.5% so far this year and is heading for its third straight annual decline.
The central bank noted that inflation was still too high and said monetary policy must remain restrictive to bring it under control.
Read the whole story here.
7 hours ago
Australia’s inflation rate slowed more than expected in October
Australia’s weighted inflation rate slowed more than expected in October to 4.9%, compared with 5.2% expected by economists polled by Portal.
This was also lower than the 5.6% in September. The headline inflation rate was 4.8%, the lowest since January 2022.
The country’s statistics office said the biggest price increases were in housing, food and non-alcoholic drinks, and transportation.
—Lim Hui Jie
9 hours ago
Stock futures open little changed
Stock futures were little changed on Tuesday, as investors remained hopeful that the Federal Reserve was finished raising interest rates.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 17 points, or 0.05%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.02% while Nasdaq 100 futures hovered near the zero line.
—Brian Evans