Alibaba shares rise after Ant Group receives approval for capital plan
Shares of Alibaba listed in Hong Kong rose 6.43% in Wednesday’s morning trade – after China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission approved a plan for Ant Group’s capital expansion plan for its consumer financial unit based in Chongqing.
In line with a notice posted last week, Chinese regulators gave the greenlight to billionaire Jack Ma’s financial technology firm to boost 10.5 billion yuan ($1.5 billion).
Ant Group is an affiliate of Alibaba by which the e-commerce giant owns 33%. Ant Group runs the Alipay mobile payments wallet in China. Alibaba’s shares rose 2.78% on Tuesday, the primary trading session after the notice was posted.
Other corporations named within the notice included Hangzhou Jintou Digital Technology Group, Nanyang Industrial Bank, Zhejiang Sunny Optical and China Huarong Asset management.
The approval marks progress within the state-led regulatory overhaul of the fintech giant.
– Jihye Lee, Evelyn Cheng
CNBC Pro: Analysts see these 10 global renewable energy stocks rising despite higher rates with one offering 50% upside
Skyrocketing energy costs have spurred investment in renewable energy the world over.
Swiss investment bank UBS named 10 distinguished renewable energy players capitalizing on the trend and are set to outperform over the following 12 months.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
Japan’s manufacturing activity marks weakest in greater than two years
The au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing manager’s index for December posted a reading of 48.9, marking a second consecutive month in contraction territory.
The reading inched down from November’s 49.0, and marked the weakest figure since October 2020’s figure of 48.70.
The sustained contractions in production was attributed to “weak global economic trends,” the report stated.
—Lee Ying Shan
Tesla’s Asia suppliers fall after deliveries report
Tesla’s suppliers in Asia fell after it reported its fourth-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers for 2022 that fell in need of expectations.
The deliveries report showed 405,278 total deliveries for the quarter and 1.31 million total deliveries for the 12 months, lower than expectations to see around 427,000 deliveries for the ultimate quarter of the 12 months.
Japan’s Panasonic lost 1.82% in early Asia trade – South Korea’s LG Chem fell 0.17% in earlier hours and Samsung SDI shed about 2%.
Shenzhen-listed shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology, or also generally known as CATL, fell 1.7%. Shares of Tesla closed down 12% on Tuesday on Wall Street.
– Ashley Capoot, Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Wall Street is bullish on this chip giant, with Morgan Stanley giving it 55% upside
The once-hot chip sector suffered in 2022, but Wall Street looks to be turning more optimistic on semiconductor stocks for the 12 months ahead.
Recently, several pros have urged investors to take a longer-term view on the sector, given the importance of chips in several key secular trends.
Analysts named one stock specifically they’re bullish on, citing its earnings potential and future profitability.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
Apple’s Asia suppliers trade mostly up despite production cut reports
U.S. manufacturing PMI slips at fastest rate since May 2020
The U.S. manufacturing price managers’ index, a measure of output, fell on the fastest rate in December since May 2020, in response to S&P Global.
The index was 46.2 in December, down from 47.7 in November, in response to data released Tuesday. Lower prices and contracting production levels weighed on the index. As well as, December saw a sharper than expected decline on recent sales, with corporations noting uncertainty as a result of the economic backdrop.
—Carmen Reinicke
Tesla sheds 13%, hits recent 52-week low
The stock slipped greater than 13%, hitting levels not seen since August 2020. The slide is coming off the worst annual performance for the stock – Tesla fell 65% in 2022.
—Carmen Reinicke
Apple market cap falls below $2 trillion
A selloff in Apple shares pushed the iPhone maker’s market capitalization below $2 trillion on Tuesday.
Shares shed 4% amid news that it’s reportedly cutting production on some items as a result of weak demand. Concerns over iPhone supply throughout the holiday period have mounted in recent weeks and pressured shares as shutdowns rippled through Apple’s major supplier in China.
The drop in shares contrasts a 12 months ago, when Apple became the primary U.S. company to hit a $3 trillion market cap.
Apple was the last of the mega cap technology stocks to hover above the $2 trillion level.
— Samantha Subin
U.S. will avoid recession in 2023, Goldman Sachs says
Goldman Sachs has an out-of-consensus forecast for the U.S. economy in 2023.
“Our economists proceed to imagine that the US will avoid recession because the Fed successfully engineers a soft landing of the economy,” analysts wrote Tuesday.
“This out-of-consensus forecast partly reflects our view that a period of below-potential growth is sufficient to regularly rebalance the labor market and dampen wage and price pressures,” the note said. “But it surely also reflects our evaluation that indicates that the drag from fiscal and monetary policy tightening will diminish sharply next 12 months, in contrast to the consensus view that the lagged effects of rate of interest hikes will cause a recession in 2023.”
As well as, the bank today raised its 4Q22 GDP growth forecast by 10bp to +2.1% on the back of a surprisingly strong November Construction Spending release
“The disconnect between the resilience of the US economy in 2022 and the downdraft experienced by stocks is has been a key narrative of the past 12 months,” Goldman said. “And, whether this disconnect continues, or the economy matches the market downdraft, or the market rebounds within the wake of an economic soft landing could also be at the least a part of the narrative of 2023.”
—Carmen Reinicke
