News

Asia markets slide as CSI 300 hits fresh four year lows; Hong Kong stocks drop to over 1-year low

The Seoul city skyline early on December 16, 2020. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP) (Photo by ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)
Ed Jones | Afp | Getty Images

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Asia-Pacific markets fell across the board as investors assessed a slew of economic data from across the region.

South Korea's overall inflation rate in November fell to 3.3%, compared with 3.7% expected by a Reuters poll.

The inflation rate for Japan's capital, Tokyo, came in at 2.6%, down from the 3.3% in October. Tokyo's inflation figures are widely considered to be a leading indicator of national trends.

Caixin and S&P Global also released China's service purchasing managers' index today, which hit a three-month high, while private PMI readings will also be out from Hong Kong and India.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 2.07% in its final hour to its lowest since November 2022, leading losses in Asia, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 index fell 1.9% and closed at 3,394.26, hitting fresh four-year lows.

Japan's Nikkei 225 ended down 1.37% at 32,775.82, while the Topix fell 0.84% to 2,342.69.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.89% to close at 7,061.60 as the Reserve Bank of Australia held its benchmark policy rate at 4.35%, in line with expectations.

South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.82% to close at 2,494.28, and the small-cap Kosdaq lost 1.83% to close at 813.38.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes lost ground as investors took a breather following five straight winning weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.11%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.54%. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.84% as investors sold Big Tech shares, which have led the market's gains this year.

As stocks stagnated, bitcoin and gold rallied to start the week. Bitcoin passed the $41,000 mark to notch a 19-month high, while gold reached its highest nominal intraday level ever.

— CNBC's Yun Li and Alex Harring contributed to this report.

India service sector activity expands slower than expected in November

India's service sector activity expanded at a slower pace than expected in November, according to S&P Global.

The country's services purchasing managers index came in at 56.9, down from 58.4 in October and also lower than the 58.0 expected in a Reuters forecast. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.

The November reading marks 28 straight months of expansion, but this was the lowest rate of increase since November 2022.

— Lim Hui Jie

Reserve Bank of Australia holds rates at 4.35%, in line with expectations

Australia's central bank held its benchmark policy rate at 4.35% in its December meeting, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters.

In its release, the Reserve Bank of Australia explained that the "limited information" on the domestic economy that has come in since its November meeting has been in line with expectations.

The bank noted that October's CPI reading showed inflation has moderated, but did not provide much more information on services inflation.

The RBA also highlighted that while there have been encouraging signs on goods inflation abroad, services price inflation has remained persistent, and the same could occur in Australia.

— Lim Hui Jie

Hong Kong's business activity expands for the first time in four months

Hong's Kong's private sector activity expanded for the first time since June, according to private surveys from S&P Global.

The city's purchasing managers' index rose to 50.1, just above the 50 mark. S&P said the rise was supported by improvements across both new business and activity gauges, which reflected only mild contractions.

However, there were some cost pressures.

Jingyi Pan, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that "firms were limited in their ability to pass on rising costs in November as overall input prices rose at a quicker rate."

"Companies appear to be caught between raising remunerations to hold onto staff and keeping prices low to retain customers," she added.

— Lim Hui Jie

Caixin China services PMI climbs to highest since August

The Caixin China services purchasing managers' index for November climbed to its highest in three months, diverging from China's official PMI reading that showed a contraction.

This private survey reading came in at 51.5 in November, according to a release dated Dec. 5, rising from 50.4 in October and 50.2 in September.

China's official non-manufacturing PMI services sub-index for November released last week came in at 49.3, showing a contraction for the first time since December 2022 .

— Clement Tan

Japan private sector activity slides into contraction after service sector expansion slows

Japan's business activity contracted for the first time this year, according to the au Jibun Bank.

The country's composite purchasing managers' index reading for November came in at 49.6, down from the flash figure of 50.0 reported earlier last month. PMI below 50 indicates contraction, while above 50 indicates expansion.

Separately, Japan's service sector activity softened to 50.8 in November, indicating the weakest growth since November 2022.

While services activity continued to grow, the growth rate was insufficient to offset a faster drop in manufacturing, au Jibun Bank said.

— Lim Hui Jie

Tokyo inflation rate slides to 2.6%, lowest since July 2022

The headline inflation rate in Japan's capital city of Tokyo rose by 2.6% in November, its slowest rise since July 2022.

This comes after the capital city's inflation rate spiked to 3.3% in October, after being largely on a downward trend from its peak in January. Tokyo's inflation readings are largely considered to be a leading indicator of nationwide trends.

Core inflation, which strips out prices of fresh food, came in at 2.3%, lower than Reuters expectations of 2.4% and also down from 2.7% in October.

The so called "core-core" inflation rate, which strips out both fresh food and fuel prices and watched by the Bank of Japan fell slightly to 3.6%, down from 3.8% in October.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Five stocks to buy before the year end, according to the pros

Many stocks have seen massive rallies this year as investors turned bullish on sectors like Big Tech, biotech, electric vehicles, and weight loss drugs.

As the year-end nears, CNBC Pro asked three fund managers for sectors — and stocks — they are bullish on in the lead-up to 2024.

CNBC Pro subscribers can discover their top picks here.

— Amala Balakrishner

South Korea inflation rate slumps below expectations after three straight months of acceleration

South Korea's inflation rate slowed to 3.3% for November, coming in below expectations and marking its first decline in three months of acceleration.

The November reading was forecast by a Reuters poll to moderate to 3.7%, down from 3.8% in October.

On a month on month basis, the consumer price index fell 0.6%, a steeper slide than the 0.15% expected by the Reuters poll.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: These 3 stocks could rally by another 50%, analysts say, despite big jumps this year

Three stocks — one U.S.-listed and two U.K.-listed — have risen by double-digit percentages this year. But investors shouldn't fear missing out on those gains as Wall Street analysts forecast another 50% jump in share prices over the next 12 months.

CNBC Pro screened the MSCI World Index, which includes about 1,500 companies in several developed markets, for stocks that had a positive return this year and continued to have more than 50% upside potential.

Subscribers can screen for stocks at any time using the new CNBC Pro Stock Screener.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Fed should acknowledge rate cuts in December’s FOMC meeting, professor says

Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel believes that it's due time for the Federal Reserve to acknowledge the possibility of lowering rates come December's meeting, he told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday morning.

He said the Fed was way too late to raise rates in the last hiking cycle, but hopes that the U.S. central bank will take more proactive measures this time around.

"That should be a part of the conversation given the softness of the data that we've honestly seen over the last four weeks," he said. "They can't be anywhere near as stubborn as they were on raising rates as they will have to be on lowering rates."

Siegel clarified that he doesn't believe a recession is inevitable. But cutting rates and increasing the money supply are the biggest chance for the Fed to realize the soft landing it desires, he added.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Defensive sectors lead in the S&P 500

Defensive sectors, which lagged this year's market rally, outperformed on Monday. In fact, consumer staples, health care and utilities were among the best S&P 500 sectors in the session, though they remain down on the year.

Among the consumer staples outperformers were Estee Lauder shares. The cosmetics stocks gained more than 4% in midday trading, even as it's down more than 44% in 2023. Shares of J.M. Smucker and General Mills rose more than 1%, each.

Health care stocks such as IDEXX Laboratories and Illumina also outpaced the broader market, up 5% and 3%, respectively.

— Sarah Min

Mega-cap and AI stocks drag on Nasdaq

The Nasdaq Composite slumped more than 1% during Monday's session, led to the downside by shares of popular artificial intelligence names and megacaps. It was on track to post the biggest losses of the three major indexes.

Sirius XM was the biggest laggard in the concentrated Nasdaq-100, slumping 6.5%. Trade Desk and Zoom Video lost more than 4% each. Intel, Nvidia and Palo Alto Networks shed at least 3%.

Other major underperformers included Netflix, Alphabet and Advanced Micro Devices, last down about 2% each. Meta Platforms lost 2%, along with Micron Technology and Marvell Technology.

— Samantha Subin

Oil prices continue to fall despite OPEC+ cuts

Oil prices continued to decline on Monday despite production cuts announced by OPEC and its allies.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell $1.03, or 1.39%, to to settle at $73.04 a barrel, while the Brent crude contract for February dropped 85 cents, or 1.08%, to settle at $78.03 a barrel.

Oil futures have declined 6% since Wednesday's close.

Several OPEC members and allied nations such as Russia, called OPEC+, announced last Thursday voluntary supply cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024.

But traders are skeptical that the group will actually deliver on the promised reductions, sending oil prices lower.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Bloomberg Monday that the curbs could continue beyond the first quarter of 2024. Prince Abdulaziz said he is confident that members will deliver on the announced reductions.

— Spencer Kimball

Copyright CNBC
Contact Us