Singapore non-oil domestic exports fall 25% in January, further than expectations
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports in January saw a 25% drop as in comparison with a 12 months ago, following the 20.6% fall recorded in December 2022.
The drop was steeper than economists polled by Reuters had expected estimated — forecasting a 22% drop on an annualized basis.
Meanwhile non-oil re-exports fell 10.4% in January, following the 7.2% decline in December.
Total trade also fell by 10.4% with total exports dropping 9.6% and imports contracting by 11.3%
Standard Chartered expects China’s economy to grow 5.8% this 12 months
Standard Chartered expects China’s economy to expand by 5.8% this 12 months, CEO Bill Winters said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
“We’re expecting China to grow 5.8% this 12 months, obviously getting back from quite a difficult Covid period,” Winters told CNBC’s Geoff Cutmore, adding that “Hong Kong is back to life.”
“The recession outlook does look a bit tough within the west, [but] the markets where we do the majority of our business Asia, Africa and the Middle East, are looking pretty good,” he said.
China’s economy grew by 3% in 2022, in keeping with data released in January.
— Jihye Lee, Hannah Ward-Glenton
CNBC Pro: This semiconductor stock is soaring — and is about to rise one other 20%, Morgan Stanley says
Investor interest within the semiconductor sector has rebounded in recent months with the iShares Semiconductor ETF up nearly 50% from its October lows.
2023 might be a “recovery 12 months” for semiconductors, in keeping with Morgan Stanley, and the bank has raised its price goal on one “prime quality” chip stock.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Zavier Ong
CNBC Pro: We’re ‘a good distance’ from this rally’s top, says Morgan Stanley’s Slimmon, who names stocks to purchase
Have markets hit “peak pessimism”? Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Andrew Slimmon says that stocks are set to rally further.
“With the [S&P 500] up 8% [year-to-date], a few of that pessimism has began to recede but we’re a good distance from the highest on this rally,” he said.
He also named three stocks to purchase.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
Australia central bank chief warns of ‘damaging’ and ‘corrosive’ high inflation
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe warned of the risks that top inflation may have on the country if it is just not brought under control in a timely manner.
Chatting with the standing committee on economics in Australia’s House of Representatives , Lowe noted that inflation within the country had reached 7.8% in December 2022, the best rate since 1990.
Calling high inflation “damaging” and “corrosive”, Lowe also noted that “It might be dangerous, indeed, to not contain and reverse this era of high inflation.”
“If we do not get on top of inflation and convey it down in a timely way, the final result might be even higher rates of interest and more unemployment in the long run,” he added.
— Lim Hui Jie
Asia currencies weaker as concerns over more Fed hikes grow
Currencies within the Asia-Pacific traded at weaker levels on Friday morning on concerns of more U.S. rate hikes to return.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.16% to 134.16 against the U.S. dollar, South Korea’s won also weakened 0.16% to 1,291.53 against the greenback.
The Australian dollar fell 0.22% to 0.6862 and the Chinese yuan weakened 0.1% to six.8760 against the U.S. dollar.
— Jihye Lee
Pentagon’s top China official to go to Taiwan: Financial Times
The U.S. Department of Defense’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Michael Chase will visit Taiwan amid growing tensions between the 2 countries over a suspected spy balloon from China, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar.
He could be the primary senior official from the Pentagon to go to Taiwan after Heino Klinck, the report said, who visited in 2019 and marking probably the most senior-level trip in 4 a long time.
Chase is now in Mongolia for military discussions, the report said.
— Jihye Lee
Standard Chartered ‘absolutely not’ on the market, bank CEO says
Standard Chartered is “absolutely not” on the market in keeping with the bank’s CEO.
Bill Winters told CNBC’s Geoff Cutmore Thursday that a possible sale is just not what the corporate is targeted on.
“On the suitable terms, any individual wants to return and thinks that they will so something, I might encourage engagement quite than … speculation through the press,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
The comments come after First Abu Dhabi Bank said Friday that it was not evaluating a proposal for Standard Chartered.
The complete story will be read here.
— Hannah Ward-Glenton
Fed’s James Bullard sees possible half-point rate hike ahead
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said Thursday that he pushed for the next rate of interest increase on the last meeting and will see a more aggressive move ahead.
The policymaker said he advocated for a half percentage point rate increase on the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 Fed meeting and said he would not rule out pushing for one on the March session.
“I used to be an advocate for a 50-basis-point hike and I argued that we should always get to the extent of rates the committee viewed as sufficiently restrictive as soon as we could,” Bullard said during a speech in Tennessee, in keeping with Reuters.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester also said Thursday she wanted the next increase than the quarter-point approved by the Federal Open Market Committee. Neither Mester nor Bullard vote this 12 months on the FOMC.
Bullard added that he sees the larger economic trend moving toward disinflation, despite recent high readings for inflation.
“Partly resulting from front-loaded Fed policy during 2022, market-based measures of inflation expectations are actually relatively low,” Bullard said.
“Continued policy rate increases may help lock in a disinflationary trend during 2023, even with ongoing growth and powerful labor markets, by keeping inflation expectations low,” he added.
The comments come despite separate data releases this week showing that each consumer and producer prices increased greater than expected in January. Bullard acknowledged that inflation remains to be too high, but said higher rates of interest will keep it in check despite continued economic growth and a sturdy labor market.
“These aspects may mix to make 2023 a disinflationary 12 months,” Bullard said.
—Jeff Cox
Dow falls to every day low in final minutes of trading, stocks close lower
Stocks sold off sharply in the ultimate minutes of trading Thursday, sending the Dow to a fresh every day low. All three indexes ended the day lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 431 points, or 1.26%. The S&P 500 dipped 1.38% and the Nasdaq-Composite fell 1.78%. Microsoft and Disney contributed probably the most to the Dow’s decline, down greater than 2% each.
—Carmen Reinicke
Wholesale prices rise greater than expected in January
The producer price index, an inflation indicator that tracks wholesale prices, rose 0.7% in January, topping a Dow Jones consensus forecast for a 0.4% increase.
That is the most recent inflation report this week to are available above expectations. On Tuesday, the Labor Department said the buyer price index — a widely followed inflation gauge — rose 0.5% last month. That surpassed a consensus estimate of 0.4%.
— Jeff Cox
Weekly jobless claims show a surprise dip
Initial claims for unemployment advantages dipped 1,000 to 194,000 for the week ended Feb. 11, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast jobless claims at 200,000.
The number from the prior week was revised to 195,000 from 196,000, in keeping with the Labor Department.
The labor market has remained resilient even amid the Federal Reserve’s series of rate of interest hikes.
— Yun Li
