China reopening is ‘needed’ to bring down U.S. inflation: Siegel
China’s economic reopening is belated, but is far needed to manage inflationary pressures within the U.S., Jeremy Siegel, Wharton School of Business professor said on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”
“For the U.S., we import a lot from China, if those supply chains get normalized, that may bring down inflation, so I applaud China’s move,” he said. “It’s way too late, it must have been earlier, but it surely is required,” he said.
Siegel added that he expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike rates over again in February’s meeting by 25 basis points before pivoting.
— Jihye Lee
China’s November retail sales see significant miss
China’s industrial production for November grew 2.2%, after seeing a growth of 5% in October, in accordance with official data. That is lower than expectations for growth of three.6% in a Reuters survey.
Retail sales fell 5.9% on an annualized basis, further than expectations of a decline of three.7% in a Reuters survey and a fall of 0.5% the previous month.
— Jihye Lee
JPMorgan expects Asian markets to finish week with cautious tone after Fed hike
JPMorgan expects markets within the Asia-Pacific region to finish the week on a cautious tone following the Federal Reserve’s rate of interest hike of fifty basis points.
“Given the U.S. market response after the FOMC meeting, we expect Asian markets to finish the week with more cautious tone,” Tai Hui, the firm’s Asia-Pacific chief market strategist, said in a note.
Tai added that a weaker inflation print is required before the Fed’s hawkishness fades, while the region could have more optimism on China’s expected reopening.
“The medium term prospects of China’s economic reopening and Asia’s domestic demand resilience might be a vibrant spot because the U.S. and Europe face more growth challenges,” Tai said. “We would wish more weak inflation data to ensure that the Fed to tone down its hawkishness.”
— Jihye Lee
South Korea’s revised trade data shows barely narrower trade deficit
South Korea’s revised trade data for November was flat, official data from the Bank of Korea showed.
Imports grew by 2.7% while exports fell by 14%, according to readings from the previous month, leading to a trade deficit of $6.99 billion, barely narrower than the previous month’s reading of $7.01 billion.
Prices for imports grew 14.2% compared with a yr ago after seeing growth of 19.8% the previous month. Export prices grew 8.6% in November compared with a yr ago, after growing 13.7% in October.
— Jihye Lee
Japan’s trade data beat estimates, reports wider-than-expected trade deficit
Japan’s exports and imports for November grew greater than expected on an annualized basis, official data showed.
Exports for the month rose 20%, beating expectations of 19.8% in a Reuters survey. Imports rose 30.3%, also higher than expectations of 27% in a Reuters poll.
This resulted in a wider-than-expected trade deficit of two.02 trillion yen ($14.91 billion) after posting 2.16 trillion yen ($15.96 billion) within the previous month.
— Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Missed China’s reopening rally? Bank of America names global stocks to ride the second-leg
Investors could have a second opportunity to participate within the stock market rally after China announced a leisure of Covid-19 restrictions, in accordance with Bank of America.
The bank named greater than 10 stocks after having found “green shoots of recovery in high-frequency data” that time toward rising earnings at corporations exporting to China.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
Australia unemployment rate according to expectations
Australia’s unemployment rate for November remained at 3.5% on an annualized basis, according to expectations from a Reuters poll and flat from the prior month.
Official data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics showed the labor participation rate also remained at 66.7%, and the employment to population ratio remained at 64.4%.
Monthly hours worked increased to 1.89 billion.
— Jihye Lee
Fed publicizes 50 point rate hike
The Fed announced it is going to raise rates of interest by 50 basis points, marking an end to the pattern of 75 point hikes seen in recent months.
Before this move, the Fed had raised rates by 75 basis points on the last 4 meetings. A basis point is corresponding to 0.01%.
The 50 basis point hike was widely expected ahead of the meeting.
It’s the ultimate policy decision expected from the central bank in 2022.
— Alex Harring
Powell wants ‘substantially more evidence’ that inflation is cooling
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday the recent positive signs for inflation aren’t enough for the central bank to ease back on rate of interest increases.
“It can take substantially more evidence to believe that inflation is on a sustained downward” path, Powell said during his post-meeting news conference.
The comments got here because the Fed raised its benchmark rate one other half percentage point and indicated at the least one other three-quarters of some extent in hikes are coming. The choice also occurs a day after November’s consumer price index reading was up just 0.1%, a sign that inflation could have peaked.
Nevertheless, Powell said inflation stays an issue.
“Price pressures remain evident across a broad range of products and services,” Powell added.
—Jeff Cox
