The RBA has ‘done enough and may now pause,’ says AMP
The Reserve Bank of Australia has “done enough and may now pause,” and continuing to boost rates carries the danger of plunging the economy right into a recession, wrote AMP in a every day not, after RBA’s decision to hike its money rate by 25 basis points.
In a separate note, Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Gareth Aird, said he expects another run of rate hike.
“We expect one further 25bp rate hike, prone to be delivered on the April Board meeting, for a peak within the money rate of three.85%,” he wrote in a note, adding that monetary policy will still be steeped in restrictive territory.
The upcoming February labor force survey next week might be a vital data the RBA might be assessing ahead of the meeting.
—Lee Ying Shan
China’s exports and imports fall as trade surplus beats expectations
China saw its exports fall by 6.8% in February, declining lower than expectations of a 9.4% drop, in keeping with economists surveyed by Reuters. The drop was also lower than the previous month’s fall of 9.9%.
Imports also fell 10.2%, down greater than expectations to see a drop of 5.5% on an annualized basis and an extra decline from the previous month’s contraction of seven.5%.
The economy’s trade surplus in U.S. dollar terms were at $116.88 billion, higher than expected and a rise from the previous month’s surplus of $78 billion.
— Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: U.S. stocks are on a ‘suckers’ rally’ and an enormous pullback is feasible, chief investment officer says
The recent rise in stocks is a “sucker’s rally,” in keeping with chief investment officer Peter Toogood.
The CIO of U.K.-based financial services company Embark Group said he now expects a pullback in U.S. equities, after the S&P 500 rose by 14% for the reason that start of October.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
Australia hikes rates by 25 basis points
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its money rate by 25 basis points to three.60%, in keeping with expectations, in keeping with a release by the central bank.
“Global inflation stays very high. In headline terms it’s moderating, although services price inflation stays elevated in lots of economies,” the RBA said in its release.
The Australian dollar strengthened marginally to 0.6725 against the U.S. dollar shortly after the choice.
— Jihye Lee
Most tech roles in Singapore saw salary jumps in 2022: latest report
Wages across most tech roles jumped in 2022 whilst firms laid off employees and hiring slowed down, in keeping with a report by salary database Nodeflair and enterprise capital firm Iterative.
Blockchain, mobile and site reliability engineers saw the best wage increases, while salaries of software engineers hit a record high, data from the Tech Salary Report 2023 showed.
Most firms pay higher — 10% or more — than the median wage, with 40% of them paying 20% greater than the common.
“The outlook for 2023 within the tech talent and hiring market is predicted to point out a continued demand for tech talents, although at a slower rate in comparison with the past few years,” said the report.
— Sheila Chiang
Philippines’ inflation shows signs of easing
Philippines’ annual inflation data for February rose 8.6% year-on-year, showing slight signs of easing from January’s reading of 8.7%, but still remained at high levels.
The figure got here in lower than Reuters’ expectations of a 8.8% rise, as a consequence of a comparatively lower rate of inflation within the transport sector, in keeping with a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco remained key drivers of the high inflation rate.
The country’s core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose to 7.8% in February, in comparison with 7.4% in January.
—Lee Ying Shan
Major cryptos fall as investors weigh Silvergate’s potential bankruptcy
Major cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ether fell in early Asia trade following news of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital’s potential bankruptcy and its suspension of its crypto payments network.
Bitcoin was down 0.18% to trade at $22,421.4, while Ether fell 0.22% to $1,564.65 in keeping with CoinDesk data.
Silvergate’s shares plunged 60% last week after the corporate delayed the filing of its annual report, citing financial challenges related to the undoing of its former customer FTX.
— Lee Ying Shan
CNBC Pro: We’re in one other bear market rally, investor says, naming the stocks and more to trade it
Latest bull market or yet one more bear market rally? Veteran investor Michael Landsberg is within the latter camp.
“Patience, in addition to careful individual stock selection, is vital going forward,” says veteran investor Michael Landsberg, naming several opportunities still present available in the market.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Zavier Ong
Australia sees narrowed trade balance in January
Australia saw a narrowed trade surplus of 11.7 billion Australian dollars in January, a decline from the previous month.
Goods and services imports grew by 5% after seeing a 1% growth in December — while exports for January rose by 1%, also an increase from a decline of 1% within the previous period.
The Australian dollar barely strengthened to 0.6729 against the greenback.
CNBC Pro: Citi sees chip stocks hitting ‘latest lows.’ Listed below are its top picks to ride out the storm
Reserve Bank of Australia expected to hike 25 basis points Tuesday
The Reserve Bank of Australia is predicted to hike its overnight money rate by 25 basis points to three.6%, in keeping with economists surveyed by Reuters.
That will mark the best rate since June 2012, when Australia’s money rate stood at 3.75%.
Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index, noted the tone of the central bank’s statement could determine how much further the RBA would hike rates to tame inflation.
Pointing to the RBA’s statement of needing further increases in rates “over the months ahead,” Simpson said, “Any adjustments to the wording of this sentence may very well be the difference between one or two more hikes from here.”
“An extra increase over the months ahead would suggests another hike is to follow, with a terminal rate at 3.85%,” he said.
— Jihye Lee
Apple extends 3-day rally to as much as $11 or 7.6%
Apple is having an outsized influence on the S&P 500 Monday because, well, — Apple is outsized (with a $2.47 trillion market value, Apple is the only largest stock and accounts for six.82% of all the index.)
In late morning trading Monday, Apple alone added about a degree to the S&P 500’s advance. Along with Microsoft and Amazon and Alphabet, the 4 combined so as to add almost two points.
Apple yr up to now 2023
Apple prolonged its latest advance to a few days, during which it’s climbed about $11 per share or 7.6%, just for the reason that market close on Wednesday March 1.
A latest analyst at Goldman Sachs on Monday began research coverage of Apple with a buy rating and a $199 price goal, saying Apple could get an enormous boost from its services business.
Based on FactSet data, Apple is 13% below its 52-week high reached last March 30, 2022, but 26% above the 52-week low that it touched last January 3, 2023.
Month-to-date, Apple is about 5.8% higher, bringing the year-to-date gain to a shade above 20%. The iPhone maker is trading about 10% above its 50-day moving average, and sports a consensus price goal amongst analysts of $169 — representing potential upside of just about 9%.
— Scott Schnipper
Morgan Stanley names Ferrari its top pick, replacing Tesla
Morgan Stanley replaced Tesla as its firm-wide top pick with Ferrari.
Analyst Adam Jonas increased Ferrari’s price goal by $30 to $310, implying the stock could rally 14.2% over the subsequent yr. He said the carmaker’s defensiveness and hard-to-replicate luxury brand can be assets in amid a changing economic backdrop.
“We imagine RACE is the very best positioned company in our coverage in a highly uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical tape,” he said in a note to clients Monday. “Along with its strong fundamentals, we imagine RACE has levers to tug for each growth or downside protection, inside a large dispersion of macro outcomes.”
He also said the stock “avoids much of the EV hype and EV risk.” Still, he said the corporate had an underappreciated opportunity within the space because it could move away from internal combustion engines without losing the core of the brand.
Ferrari shares gained about 1%, while Tesla dipped about 1%.
— Alex Harring
Tesla shares fall following vehicle price cuts
Tesla’s stock slipped 1% after the electrical vehicle maker implemented price cuts on its two most costly models within the U.S. to enhance demand.
Following the value cuts, the Tesla Model S now starts at $89,990, in keeping with Tesla’s website. That is about 5% below its previous price. The Model X, meanwhile, begins at $99,990, representing a 9% reduction in cost.
— Ryan Browne, Samantha Subin