Equities traded mixed in Asia Pacific after losses on Wall Street

Unlike other emerging market currencies, both the Indonesian rupiah and the Indian rupiah have not gained much of reopening China, said Khun Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ Bank.

Goh told CNBC that these currencies “have lagged behind the movements…because neither of these economies are seen as big beneficiaries of China’s reopening.” Asia Street Signs” Thursday.

He added that Chinese tourists do not contribute much to India nor to the overall growth of Indonesia.

On the other hand, Goh said that the Thai baht has so far been the strongest performing currency in Asia this year, and the Singapore dollar is one of his top recommendations for 2023.

Charmaine Jacob

Currencies in the Asia-Pacific region strengthened on Thursday afternoon, a day after the Bank of Japan announced that yield curve control would be kept unchanged.

the Japanese Yen It continued to strengthen by 0.8% to close at 127.89 against the US dollar.

the The Koreans won It also boosted nearly 0.4% as the country announced plans to lift the mandatory registration process for foreign equity investors, a move seen as encouraging overseas investment.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar weakened more than 0.7% after employment data came in weaker than expected, suggesting that the central bank’s rate hike may be slowed by a deteriorating jobs market.

Asia’s prospects look more promising this year, thanks in part to the surprising reopening of China, according to James Thom, senior investment director at Aberdeen Standard Investments.

“There’s a lot to worry about given all kinds of global concerns and issues. But I feel like Asia is getting incrementally better. The outlook is improving, to some extent, in the early part of this year,” he said. CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” Thursday.

“Obviously, the reopening of China is a huge swing factor that very few people expected or predicted, and that will be a real boon to growth and a boost to markets,” Thom added.

He also emphasized that “generally weak US dollar is, once again, good for Asian markets.”

– Sumathi Bala

Cryptocurrencies trade lower as cryptocurrency lender Genesis prepares to file for bankruptcy, bloomberg Reported quoting sources close to the matter.

bitcoin It is down 2.51% at $20,742.39, according to data from Coin Metrics. ether It fell 3.66%, to stand at $1,522.93.

Last week it was Genesis, along with Gemini charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission Commission on alleged sale of unregistered securities in connection with a high-yield product offered to depositors.

Earlier this month, Genesis lay off 30% of its workforce.

– Lee Ying Chan

Roughly after 2022, some investors are flocking back into tech, but investment veteran Michael Landsberg misses out on the sector.

He favors safer sectors and shares the names of five companies he expects to weather the “present storm”.

Professional subscribers can Read more here.

– Xavier Ong

Oil prices fell by more than a dollar after a Disappointing US retail sales readThis fueled recession fears.

Brent Crude futures fell 1.21%, or $1.03, to $83.95 a barrel, while the United States declined. Midwest Texas Futures lost 1.38%, or $1.10, to $78.38 a barrel.

US retail sales in December fell 1.1%, slightly above expectations of 1%.

– Lee Ying Chan

unemployment in Australia rate increased by 3.5% in December, slightly beating a Reuters forecast for a 48-year low of 3.4%.

The number compares with the unemployment rate of 3.4% for November.

However, employment figures for December fell by 14,600, significantly missing expectations of 22,500 growth as well as an increase of 64,000 for November.

– Lee Ying Chan

Investment veteran Andrew Slomon said he thinks the stock will do “much better” than most people expect this year.

“I’m not entirely sure about the second half of this year, but I think the surprise will be that the stock market will do better earlier this year than was universally expected by many sell-side strategists,” Solomon, senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management,” he told CNBC.Squawk Box Asia” Friday.

He also named two of his favorite stocks.

Professional subscribers can Read more here.

– Xavier Ong

Japan posted a trade deficit of 1.45 trillion yen ($11.27 billion) for the month of December, according to official data.

Japan’s imports in December rose 20.6% over a year ago, slightly below Reuters’ forecast of 22.4%. Its exports rose 11.5% year-on-year, compared to an estimate of 10.1%.

The reading would cover a full year of Japan’s trade deficit.

– Lee Ying Chan

Many investors are preparing for a tough year, at least A mild recession is likely.

Because of the “dark” economic environment, fund manager Trent Masters of Alphinity Investment Management told CNBC Pro Talks that he picks stocks with one key quality: earnings elasticity.

He calls one “rock solid” stock that meets this criterion.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Wizen tan

All major averages ended the day lower on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 613.89 points, or 1.81%. The S&P 500 lost 1.56% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.24%.

– Tanaya McHale

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said on Wednesday that interest rates should continue to rise even as recent inflation readings decline.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the policymaker said the Fed would likely have to raise its benchmark interest rate above 5% in order to move inflation consistently toward the central bank’s 2% target. She noted that the markets and the economy absorbed the half-point hike in December without any problem.

“I just think we need to keep going, and we’ll discuss it [Jan. 31-Feb. 1] Meester said: Interview how much to do in any given meeting. “But my outlook and my view on the economy is we need to do more, we need to get above 5% and then hold it there for a while until we get a good hold of inflation expectations at 2%…and inflation is on that downward trajectory.”

The federal funds rate is currently targeted in a range of 4.25%-4.5%.

– Jeff Cox

Holiday sales numbers It came lighter than expected for 2022according to data from the National Retail Federation.

The industry group said sales in November and December rose 5.3% year-on-year. NRF has projected growth of between 6% and 8%.

The data does not include spending at car dealerships, petrol stations and restaurants. Sales figures have not been adjusted for inflation.

Jessie Pound, Melissa Rybko